Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 12:29:45 -0800
Reply-To: BRENT CHRISTENSEN <brent@VANAGON.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: BRENT CHRISTENSEN <brent@VANAGON.COM>
Organization: InfoGenesis
Subject: FWD: MICRO BUS Concept at Detroit Autoshow..
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Interesting tidbit. I'd be curious to see pictures if anyone has seen them...
Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy, "Klaus"
Santa Barbara, CA
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
FROM: "Michael Motora" <motora@home.com>
TO: <info@vanagon.com>
DATE: Sun, 12 Nov 2000 21:27:56 -0500
RE: MICRO BUS Concept at Detroit Autoshow..
Thanks for your VW info. !!!!
Thought you might like this...
-------------------
AutoWeek (7/6/2000)
"Retro Bully for you"
Volkswagen said months ago it won't build a Microbus-style minivan in the
vein of its successful New Beetle. The short front overhang of the 1950s to
'70s Microbus, which the Germans nicknamed "Bully," doesn't crash-test well.
Now VW's head of worldwide truck sales, Stefano Chmielewski, says a luxury
minivan named Retro Bully will debut at the Detroit show next January.
Production begins in 2003.
"We want a vehicle for U.S. New Beetle and Passat buyers to move up to when
they start having families," Chmielewski said.
Retro Bully will be based on the next generation Transporter commercial van
that debuts in 2002, but with unique body panels. VW designers apparently
have figured out a way to update the original van's look without
sacrificiang front overhang.
Features will include a full-length glass slatted sunroof and modular
seating for up to eight passengers.
Unlike the original, the Retro Bully won't have trouble passing or climbing
hills--not with a 225-horsepower 3.2-liter V6 under its hood. That engine
was introduced in the European-market New Beetle RSi and is slated for the
VW/Porsche sport/utility.
------------
Autoweek, November 6, 2000 edition.
"Back to the Future II"
If you like the New Beetle, you're going to love this.
Volkswagen is planning to pull the wraps off a retro-inspired multipurpose
vehicle at January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The
new seven-seat concept car draws heavily on that enduring symbol of the
flower-power generation, the old VW microbus.
Styled at Volkswagen's Simi Valley studio in California - where the hugely
successfully New Beetle was drawn - the new MVP will be used to guage public
reaction before a definitive decision on its production future is taken next
spring. Details remain scarce, though Volkswagen higher-ups want to
establish a foothold in the highly lucrative U.S. MVP market. They have
already given the go-ahead for a Jetta-based MVP, though it is considered
too small and conservstively styled for American tastes and will be likely
offered exclusively in Europe.
The New Samba, as the concept car is called, is rumored to be based on a
modified version of the existing T4 microbus platform with suspension
components from the upcomming Colorado off-roader. Among the possible
engines is a new, 225 hp 3.2 V6 that has just gone into service in the hot
Beetle RSi and will be soon offered in upmarket versions of the Passat due
out in April.
