Volkswagen Microbus 2014 and Concepts of the Past

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Volkswagen has a long history of threatening to bring back the classic Volkswagen Microbus, with lots of concept cars produced, but no versions that are actually available in the United States. I’ve gotten excited about every potential version and blogged about it repeatedly, but we never actually see anything interesting come out of it.

I got excited this morning about an article claiming that a version would come out this year, with photos of round headlights that I had never seen before. For a bit I actually bought it, although I shouldn’t have. When you compare the photos in the article to the 2001 model, it becomes clear that this is a photoshop job where they altered the front of the 2001 and put in rounded headlights. And also, Car Talk announced last August that the long-planned 2014 version was killed off.

2014 Microbus Front

2014 Microbus Side

2014 Microbus Rear

The text from the faked article is cribbed from 2011 articles on VW’s concept. Sadly, this is what could have been:

Volkswagen Microbus 2014 is ready to show its new model of microbus until the last 10 years ago VW shows off microbus segment. This car will be built in Europe and would become the competitor of Honda Adyddey, Nissan Quest, and also Toyota Sienna. The final motivation for this New VW Microbus is to maximize the investment in the group MQB “matrix” platform. Volkswagen Microbus 2014 price will start from $30,000, but we expect it to be closer to $40,000. Volkswagen Microbus 2014 Release Date is held in the fall of 2013 with sales beginning in 2014. Interior, it is design in minimalist concept on 2014 Volkswagen Microbus. There are gauges and control group around the steering wheel and also pair of slim-section 3-passenger bench seats which can be folded to create a makeshift bed.

Volkswagen Microbus styled under VW Geoup design, Walter deSilva and also VW brand deputy, Klaus Bischoff. New VW design will show its characteristic, such as, a basic box with rounded lines, a bulldog nose with oversize VW logo, a gently curved windshield, a space-efficient wheels-at-the-corners stance, and 4 conventionally hinged side doors instead of rear sliders or the original T1 s dual French rear doors. Volkswagen Microbus 2014 would be available with turbocharged, four-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines; a hybrid is a strong possibility. VW said that the 2014 Volkswagen Microbus will be 3,200 pound curb weight would be running from 0 to 62 mph in 11.5 seconds with the power of 199 pound feet of torque. Further, 170 h 2.5 liter in five-cylinder, 2000 hp 2.0 liter turbo-four and 140 hp 2.0 liter TDI turbodiesel-four will equipped by Front wheel Drive. The six-speed manual and six-speed automatic function are both available.

Previous VW Microbus Concept Cart teases came in 2001:

2001 VW Concept Car

2001 VW Concept Car

This concept was widely critiqued for having square headlights and looking too much like a minivan. I would have bought one, though. I have several toy cars of this 2001 concept. This version was scheduled for 2004, but never came to fruition.

In 2007, Volkswagen came out with the spaceup! blue concept car that was supposed to resemble the classic bus. I wrote about it enthusiastically at the time, even though it’s kinda hideous.

space up! blue VW bus

space up! blue VW bus

space up! blue VW bus

This one never came out here – dunno if it was released in Europe. I was enamored of the solar panel roof, though.

2008 brought the VW Routan, which is nothing like a Microbus, and I had some strong words for it:

VW Routan

Fucking Routan. I was especially pissed about the Routan because to advertise the damned thing, they mocked up a working version of something closer to the classic – the 1964 Microbus Chameleon concept in which they updated an original 1964 bus with new interiors and fancy gadgetry:

Volkswagen Deluxe Microbus Chameleon

Volkswagen Deluxe Microbus Chameleon interior

Rude to tease us with something so cool in a commercial for a vehicle that was basically a Dodge minivan with a VW badge

In 2009, Canadian designer Alexandre Verdier came out with a Microbus design that was the closest thing to perfect that I’ve ever seen. It was not an official VW concept carl, but there were some cool features. But it did make me drool.

Verdier Microbus Concept Car

Verdier Microbus Concept Car

Verdier Microbus Concept Car

Verdier Microbus Concept Car

In 2011, Volkswagen introduced this Bulli concept that was supposed to go into production in 2014:

Volkswagen Concept Bulli Front

Volkswagen Concept Bulli Interior

Volkswagen Concept Bulli rear

Volkswagen Concept Bulli Top

This was the version that died in August. It doesn’t grab me, but I would have test-driven it. I still like the idea of a hybrid bus with solar panels. But something closer to the design of the original, ideally. Dunno if it will ever happen now.

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Chromaflare custom new beetle paintjob


Chromaflare custom new beetle paintjob

Chromaflare New Beetle

We spotted this Custom Chromaflare painted New Beetle in the BW3s parking lot on the south side of Indianapolis yesterday. Stephanie is pretty sure this is a custom paintjob and not one of the limited editions from VW. The interior isn’t what VW would make on a limited edition.

Photo Set

Chromaflare custom new beetle

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Dear VW: This is not a fucking microbus

How many times to I need to repeat it, before you dudes figure it out? I want a hybrid fucking Microbus. This new van (Routan? WTF) is ugly as hell. Nevertheless, it’s actually in production and will be coming out, although it’s butt ugly.

VW Routan

Build a damn BUS. A hybrid friggin’ BUS. Build THIS:

VW Bus

As a hybrid. It’s really not that friggin’ hard to figure out.

I know I got excited about this spaceUp!Blue thing – and it wasn’t that terrible looking. I was mainly excited about anything resembling a microbus idea at all, plus it’s supposed to be a hybrid. But they’re not going to make it in the US.

vw_spaceup-blue

Actually, the closest they came to doing it right was the concept Bus that they came out with a few years ago (around 2003 or so)

vw_microbus_concept2

They scotched it due to “lack of interest.” I doubt that highly – I think it was a lack of interest in square friggin’ headlights. And a potential gas guzzler. Put some round headlights on there, and make it a HYBRID, and people will buy it.

ERRR. It’s not rocket surgery, people.

Continue ReadingDear VW: This is not a fucking microbus

spaceup! blue Volkswagen Bus

Volkswagen of America unveils a new concept cart – a “green” fuel-cell microbus-like vehicle called “spaceup! blue.”

space up! blue VW bus

space up! blue VW bus

space up! blue VW bus

space up! blue VW bus

space up! blue VW bus

space up! blue VW bus

space up! blue VW bus

First – they had me at “hybrid microbus.” Seriously, that’s all it takes. Please make one. Please. I will give you my first-born. If you love me, go to the VW website contact page and tell them to make one for me.

Second – it does need round headlights, but I can live without them, as long as I have one. And I hope they have cooler colors. Not that I wouldn’t paint it with swirly hippie flowers anyway. But a nice yellow base would be a better canvas, and the white interior is a no-go.

From USA Today:

Volkswagen space up! blue: Imagine it without the emblems, and you think you’re looking at the old Scion xB “box.”

But you’re not. Volkswagen introduced a fuel-cell concept vehicle called the spaceup! blue — yes, that’s lower case with an exclamation mark in the middle.

It’s meant to be reminscent of a VW microbus, with lots of space inside.

The four-seat space up — who named this thing? — has what is billed as the world’s first high-temperature fuel cell coupled with 12 lithium-ion batteries. Having the cell work at higher temperatures allows it to be more efficient and compact, VW says. Besides the fuel cell, its batteries can be charged from a wall socket.

But wait! There’s more!

One of the best solar installation companies, EcoGen America announced that the space up also has a solar panel on the roof that can supply a bit more energy to the battery.
Space up can be driven up to 65 miles on the electric motor alone. The fuel cell is good for another 155 miles for a combined range between the two power sources of 220, VW says.

The “green” theme carries through to the interior, which makes extensive use of recycled materials.

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Route 66 Road Trip Morning, Day 17 in Joplin, Missouri

We made a lot better progress yesterday on the trip home; all the way to Joplin, Missouri. And we even got a couple of stops in at the Cadillac Ranch, the Bug Ranch, and the restored U-Drop-Inn Gas Station in Shamrock, Texas.
Stephanie at Cadillac Ranch
Our contributions to Cadillac Ranch
Cadillac Ranch
Bug Ranch
Beetle Speedometer
Phoebe at the U-Drop-Inn
Phoebe at the U-Drop-Inn
See all Photos from Santa Rosa, New Mexico to Joplin, Missouri.
Today, we head home, to finally see our pets and our house again. Needless to say, we’ll anxious to be back.

Continue ReadingRoute 66 Road Trip Morning, Day 17 in Joplin, Missouri

Googie Retro Signs on Route 66

While waiting for my photos to upload, I was doing some ego surfing and found a nice woman named Cordelia had blogged about reading about our Route 66 road trip – and she mentioned that she looked up the word “googie” because I used it several times to describe some of the old retro signs along Route 66. I had intended to include a link to a definition of the term, but didn’t due to the lack of internet; it sort of made it hard to surf around.
Cordelia got a great definition from answers.com:

“Googie” describes a futuristic, often outrageous, building style that evolved in the United States during the 1950s. Googie architecture was designed to attract customers. The name “Googie” comes from a famous coffee shop in Los Angeles. Like the shop, Googie buildings often have flashing lights, sharp angles, boomerang and flying saucer shapes, and lots of glass and steel. On the east coast, googie ideas were expressed in the zig zag rooflines of coffee shops.The Googie style is sometimes called called Coffee House Modern, Doo-Wop, Populuxe, and Space Age.
—The article is attributed to Jackie Craven.

Also, Wikipedia describes “googie” thusly:

Googie, also known as populuxe or doo-wop, is a subdivision of expressionist, or futurist architecture influenced by car culture and the Space Age and Atomic Age, originating from southern California in the late 1940s and continuing approximately into the mid-1960s. With upswept roofs and, often, curvaceous, geometric shapes, and bold use of glass, steel and neon, it decorated many a motel, coffee house and bowling alley in the 1950s and 1960s. It epitomizes the spirit a generation demanded, looking excitedly towards a bright, technological and futuristic age. Googie or Populuxe style of architecture was characterized by space-age designs that depict motion, such as boomerangs, flying saucers, atoms, and parabolas. Building such as this reflects American society’s emphasis on futuristic designs and fascination with space-age themes.

In looking through all my pictures thus far, I have dozens, perhaps even a hundred or so, cool retro signs and buildings from along Route 66, so I’m going to put together, when I get the chance, a flickr photo set of just those pictures. Aside from being really cool, It will help me with some design ideas I have for a project I’m going to work on next…
Cool Googie Signage
Cool Googie Signage
Cool Googie Signage

Continue ReadingGoogie Retro Signs on Route 66

Kingman, Arizona for the night

We decided to make an early night of it in Kingman, Arizona; staying at a Comfort Inn because they have a indoor hot tub and free wireless. Ah, sweet high-speed internet, how I love thee so. I thought I would never see you again. This way we’ll have some time to decompress and get an early start headed east in the morning. And upload some of the gazillion pictures I’ve taken, I hope. I’m realizing that I need to create separate sets of pictures for each day of the trip, but that’s not going to happen until I get home.
Geodome house next to I-40
Our friends Dan and Doug are having the billionth annual 70’s party back at home in Indianapolis; we’re keeping caught up with the festivities by twitter.
And if someone gets a chance, tell John Steele that Phoebe loves her new vacuum hose, and we are so grateful to him for being our personal Route 66 mechanic, along with Jerry. John Steele rules.
See all photos from Lompoc, California to Kingman, Arizona

Continue ReadingKingman, Arizona for the night