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Tag: Volkswagen

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2001 Volkswagen Lupo 3L

2001 Volkswagen Lupo 3L

Published April 12, 2016 by Paul

Those who know me are aware I have a hatred for one vehicle stronger than any other: the Toyota Prius. As someone who travels a lot on business, the last thing I look forward to upon returning to the US is having to ride in one of these dreadful machines, be it a cab or Uber, back to my residence. Not only does the suspension crash about, providing a feeling similar to a 17th century horse drawn cart, but the CVT transmission is unnerving, especially when you have a driver who is on and off the throttle like grandpa. Now Toyota has unleashed a new for 2016 Prius. If you haven’t laid eyes on the latest eco warrior, careful. It may cause blindness. I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but Toyota has a lot of nerve selling something this aesthetically displeasing. Anyone who spends the almost $25,000 base entry fee to put one of these in their garage should have their head examined.

There, I’ve said my piece.

According to official government figures, the 2016 Prius can return just under 60 mpg in the city. However, over 15 years ago, Volkswagen brought to market the Volkswagen Lupo 3L, a car which can still beat any Prius handily in the fuel economy race. This little car was the first series production vehicle to travel 100 kilometers on three liters of fuel (hence the name). The Lupo 3L had a very impressive resume at the time of its launch, with a 1.2 liter turbocharged three cylinder engine mated to a 5-speed tiptronic transmission. In addition, the Lupo 3L included start/stop technology, low rolling resistance tires and styling tweaks that helped it achieve a low coefficient of drag of 0.29. On top of all this, through the use of aluminum and magnesium alloys for the doors, hood, rear hatch, seat frames, engine block, wheels and suspension, the Lupo 3L weighed in at just 1,830 lb. A new Prius weighs over 3,000 lb. Granted, it’s a larger car, but I question Toyota’s commitment to using innovative materials in order to improve economy. At least BMW is making good on this front with their i series of cars.

While we can’t legally import a Lupo to the US (yet), it’s fairly impressive that you can get all this fuel saving technology for practically peanuts right now. This Lupo 3L for sale near Hanover, Germany is a prime example.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 Volkswagen Lupo 3L on Mobile.de

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1977 Volkswagen Scirocco

1977 Volkswagen Scirocco

Published April 8, 2016 by Carter

One of the joys I’ve experienced in fatherhood has been to share some of my prized toys with my son. Watching him play with my treasures again fills me with nostalgia and, occasionally, curiosity. Last night, for example, he charged about the house with two Hot Wheels trucks that I had as a child. Now, I didn’t have the most extensive collection of toys when I was a boy, but I did have some really neat pieces. Two of them were these steerable trucks; a cab-over Peterbuilt and a more traditional Ford tractor that for some reason had flames and “Hot Sauce” decals on it. I don’t remember applying those, but more importantly somewhere in the past 30 years the steering trailers just went missing. I never thought about it much until yesterday, when I saw my son excitedly playing with them. I mentioned to him that they used to have trailers, but I was unsure about where they were. Inquisitive as most four year olds are, he simply asked “Can’t you get a new one?”. Huh. I hadn’t considered that. But in the age of the internet and eBay off I went. It didn’t take too much research to find out they were from the “Truck Co” series from Hot Wheels. It took even less time to figure out they were fairly rare. But on eBay, sure enough, there were not only used examples that matched mine, but brand new ones in package with the steering trailers. COOL! Then I looked at the “Buy It Now”. WHAT?!?! I exclaimed as I could barely believe my eyes. $250. That was the price – for one. Even used examples of just the cabs were asking $30-50, and the harder to find trailers trade above $100 used. Is this what recreating your childhood costs now? But, the thing is, you can’t go down to your local hobby or toy store and buy a brand new 1985 Hot Wheels car or truck. And you certainly can’t go down to your local Volkswagen dealer and buy anything near as cool as this 1977 Scirocco:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1977 Volkswagen Scirocco on eBay

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2013 Volkswagen Transporter “56 Years Last Edition”

2013 Volkswagen Transporter “56 Years Last Edition”

Published April 5, 2016 by Paul

Fellow GCFSB contributor Nate features a lot of Volkswagen people movers, many of which are the T2 like you see here. However, most people are not aware that this particular Volkswagen just ceased production. That’s right, you could buy a new Volkswagen T2 Transporter in certain markets up until 2013. To mark the end of this very long production run, VW decided to commemorate the event with a special edition model, “56 Anos Kombi Last Edition.” Fifty six years. More than half a century with minimal changes. Outlasted the beloved Beetle. That’s just a few points the T2 notches up on its resume. This example of the ultimate T2 for sale in Monaco has yet to cross the 2,000 mile mark, so for those who can register this van legally in their country, you have one more chance to buy a new Bus.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2013 Volkswagen Transporter 56 Years Last Edition on Classic Driver

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1995 Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V

1995 Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V

Published April 1, 2016 by Paul

Whatever the reason might be, Volkswagen enthusiasts never seemed to hold the third generation GTI in as high regard as some other iterations of this hot hatchback. While the Mk2 GTI 16V seemed to hit the nail on the head in terms of what boy racers desired, the Mk3 fell just a bit short of that mark, in four-cylinder form. No one was complaining about the superb new VR6 engine available, however, US customers were left with a modest 2.0 liter 8V four-cylinder that produced only 115 horsepower. It was a torquey unit, but performance at the top end was less than stellar. Regardless, I enjoyed my time with my final year 1998 GTI 2.0. I miss that car to this day, even if my 2006 MINI Cooper S blows the doors off it performance wise. Like the Audi A8L 6.0 W12 we saw yesterday, this 1995 GTI 16V was a model not offered in the US. Looking great with just over 100,000 miles on the clock, you don’t see Mk3s this nice hanging about anymore.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V at PCH Automotive

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Motorsports Monday: 2007 Volkswagen GTi

Motorsports Monday: 2007 Volkswagen GTi

Published March 28, 2016 by Carter

There are some (quite a large number, in fact) who claim you can’t have fun on a race track in a front wheel drive car. I know quite a few of them. And in the wrong front driver, they’re likely right. Take a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado with its 8.2 liter V8 channeled through one front tire at any time and enough body roll to mimic a rowboat during Katrina and the recipe might be humorous, but doubtfully fun. However, 1976 also saw the introduction of a revolution in front drive platforms – the very first Golf GTi. Consider, for a moment, that GM’s replacement in 1977 for the thirsty 8.2 V8 was a every-so-slightly less thirsty 7.0 liter V8 (it was, after all, fuel crisis time….). That cast iron monster produced a heady 180 horsepower. Volkswagen engineers took a inline-4 with only 1.6 liters and twisted 110 horsepower out of it in a car that weighed about the same as the motor in the Cadillac. That was the magic of the GTi and it’s why it started the trend of hot front wheel drive cars that still is running arguably stronger than ever today. With clever transmissions, electronics and differentials, perceived weaknesses in the design have been nearly eliminated and most of the really trick nose FWD cars are as quick – if not quicker in some cases – than their rear-drive counterparts around a track. Therefore racing FWD cars is still a popular past time as today’s quite successful GTi is a testament to:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2007 Volkswagen GTi on Racer Connect

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