Posted on 04/23/2007 12:18:49 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
WOLFSBURG, Germany — The head of the Volkswagen Group's supervisory board, Ferdinand Piëch, used celebrations surrounding his 70th birthday over the weekend to point at the resurrection of plans for a new super-economical small Volkswagen.
In an interview with the Braunschweiger Zeitung newspaper, Piëch said the production of a car capable of traveling 100 kilometers on just one liter of fuel (the equivalent of 235 miles per U.S. gallon) is now achievable, citing advances in materials and general reductions in costs.
Piëch hinted that newly installed Volkswagen chairman Martin Winterkorn will likely make the car a reality, although he declined to provide any time frame for its introduction or price. The paper quotes Piëch as saying: "I have spoken with a manufacturer. He believes he can deliver components within two years for €5,000 rather than €35,000 [U.S. $6,775 rather than $47,400]. It then comes into the sort of territory where a normal customer can afford it. That was at my time [as chairman] not possible."
Piëch's comments come five years after he and then incoming Volkswagen chairman Bernd Pischetsreider made a media event of their time inside a teardrop-shaped Volkswagen with an 8.5-horsepower, 299cc one-cylinder engine. They piloted the little concept car 135 miles from the company's Wolfsburg headquarters to its annual shareholder meeting in Hanover, averaging a claimed 222 miles per U.S. gallon.
Along with production of Volkswagen's Lupo 3L (a weight-optimized version of the German carmaker's former entry-level model, capable of 78 miles per U.S. gallon), development of the super-frugal research vehicle was halted by Pischetsreider in 2005.
In a controversial swipe at his successor, Piëch told the Braunschweiger Zeitung, "As I relinquished the chairmanship of Volkswagen I gave my successor the job of further developing the 1-Liter Car [Piëch's name for the research vehicle] and the Lupo 3L. Both were stopped. But we will resurrect them."
What this means to you: When Piëch proposed a 1,001-hp, 8.0-liter, 16-cylinder Bugatti-badged supercar capable of 252 miles per hour, few took him seriously. A 235-mpg car appears equally impossible. But no one's laughing this time around.
I was in Germany one time and a friend with us ordered a “Hamburger Schnitzel”.
Another at the table asked, “What’s in a Hamburger Schnitzel?”
Another offered, “Hamburger, I guess....”
The waiter, indignant (as per usual) exclaimed, “THERE IS NO HAMBURGER IN OUR HAMURGER SCHNITZEL!”............
Of course, a Hamburger is someone from Hamburg, or as in this case, “Prepared the way it is Hamburg”............meaning, “with a fried egg on top”.......
The “WOBBLE 1”?..........
Those wacky Germans...they make great cars (and tanks) though...
Regards,
They make the best BEER on earth!.............
Note to VW: If I can't sit in it, it won't matter how good the mileage is.
I want fuel efficiency, but I need head and leg room.
If I wanted to drive one of those, I’d go golfing.
Well, the Czechs make pretty good beer, as do the Poles (but those areas used to be German...)
Regards,
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