Volkswagen is one of the most innovative and forward-thinking automotive companies of all time. As such, they have made some incredible concept cars over the years. Some of these have resulted in iconic cars, while others were made to demonstrate certain technologies and ended up in museums or under covers in warehouses. Here are the stories of three incredible concepts that may not have seen production, but revolutionised Volkswagen as a brand the automotive industry.
While Volkswagen would never end up making the leap to producing true ‘luxury’ vehicles, they certainly tried to dip their toes into that market. The EA128 concept from 1963 was supposed to lead VW into the upper echelons of car buyers. Volkswagen gave the car a boxy and futuristic look, while boosting the car’s power by fitting it with a Porsche 6-cylinder engine. However, the project would end up mothballed after VW executives felt that the profit margins on the car would be too thin to warrant a large production run.
By the late-1980s, the Golf had been in service for over a decade. While Volkswagen did not intend to replace it anytime soon, they decided to stir up some attention for the upcoming launch of the gen 3 Golf. As such, they put their best designers to work in order to come up with ‘the Golf of the future’. The aptly titled Futura concept was shown at the 1989 Frankfurt Motor show, where it impressed with its unique look, gullwing doors and supercharged 4-cylinder engine. While the Futura would never be more than a concept, design cues from this futuristic concept would in fact be used by a car in the future- the id.3 electric car.
Perhaps one of the most iconic concepts, the Volkswagen W12 was a concept that almost resulted in what would have been the fastest production car of all time. In 1997, Volkswagen designed a whopping 5.6-litre W12 engine capable of producing around 310 kW of power. They then got to work designing a car to put around this monstrous engine. This resulted in the W12 Syncro being introduced at that year’s Tokyo Motor Show. The concept was well-received and although it was initially just a showcase for the engine, the reception resulted in Volkswagen intending to produce the sports car. The initial concept was refined into the VW Nardo concept by 2001, which was one of the fastest cars in the world, capable of achieving speeds over 320 km/h. However, the Nardo would never see production as VW would end up buying Bugatti. The engine from the concept saw service in many of VW Group’s flagship cars, while also serving as the basis for the W16 monster that would end up in the back of the Bugatti Veyron.
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