[goldstategop]

Not to be outdone by Daimler with the Smart Car, Volkswagen is seeking to go back to its "people's car" roots in the next decade with its UP! Concept car. They are as one can see, typically VW in heritage and conception and timeless. Which recalls that iconic car, The Beetle. 2010 is worth looking forward to, if only to see what the new union of Porsche and VW can do with car design.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Petronski]

It looks like the bastard demon spawn of an AMC Pacer and a Microsoft Zune.

[Old Sarge]

Wii would like to play...

[dit_xi]

My Ford F-450 Super Duty pickup truck will crush that little thing UP!

[Proud2BeRight]

Looks like a population thinner. I can hear Rush’s “In a Yugo” in the background.

[ikka]

If it as slab-sided as my Toyota Echo, crosswinds will toss it around a great deal...

[kingu]

Vs the dumb car, VW has realized that the biggest market for this will want to take more than one person with them - either kids, as in small families, or even friends (as in college students). Hopefully they’ll be wise with the pricing as well.

[RayChuang88]

What I find interesting is that there is SERIOUS talk something based on the Up! platform could not only be sold here in the USA, but possibly manufactured here in the USA, too. I'd buy one if they fit in a small 1.3-liter clean turbodiesel rated at around 90-95 bhp but with a high torque peak on a car that might weigh around 2,200 pounds in US-legal form.

[LukeL]

When Honda and Toyota can get better fuel mileage out of a safer and more stylish car at a cheaper price, why would anyone want to buy something like this.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

Looks a lot better than that stupid "smark" car.

I want to be in charge of the marketing.

"Make an 'up!' yours today!!"

[rockinqsranch]

Sheeeeeeezzz! No way would I buy one of those things. I’ll stick with my Saabs.

[MarkL]

One thing I see is a car that's going to be incredibly expensive to repair after even low speed collisions. The last time I was rear-ended at a stop light in my Corolla, the repair cost was over $2500, and the only parts that needed to be replaced was the rear bumper and light assemblies. A rear impact on this VW would be catastrophic.

Mark

[Mr Rogers]

Kinda like my 1975 Honda Civic - 144” long, 60” wide, held 4 tiny people in comfort, 2-3 adults in some pain. Hope it has more than 53 HP...gotta show some progress over 35 years!

[Centurion2000]

not bad ... make it a high efficiency diesel and rip out that touch screen crap and replace with decent analog stuff and you have a REAL winner with the cheap college crowd and people needing a cheap commuter.

[Mr Rogers]

Try here: http://www.1stgencivic.com/

Kinda looks like a Honda Z600

What is a Honda Z600?

The sporty Z600 coupe was introduced in the US in 1971 with a total production of 40,586 sedans and coupes were sold here. Approximately less than 2-1/2% remain today of that number of which most were sedans.

The 2door Z600 hatchback originally had a 345cc engine in the Japanese market, a more robust 599cc engine was squeezed in for the European markets. It came in basic colors of primarily orange, yellow, olive green and blue. The power plant was a Air-cooled, two cylinder SOHC aluminum engine, this gas miser came through during the oil crisis of the 70’s giving the owners a excellent fuel efficient car, it was rated to get approximately 40mpg while it only held 6.9 gallons of gas.

The Honda Z600 was built on a 123in x 51in chassis and approximately 51in high with a Curb weight of 1312lbs. Given it’s small size it was found to still give reasonable comfort to the driver and front passenger. The back seat would be described as storage only because of the little wiggle room in the back. This car had some interesting advances like retractable seat belts and a in dash seat belt warning system, front wheel drive and power assist brakes.

[I see my hands]

Pleasing to look at. Imagine without the smilie and front logo.. even better.

[SunkenCiv]

Daimler expects huge US demand for tiny Smart car
www.physorg.com | 12/03/2007 | Staff
Posted on 12/04/2007 4:36:45 PM EST by Red Badger
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1934687/posts

Deal Reached to Boost Gas Mileage
Associated Press | December 1, 2007 | H. JOSEF HEBERT,AP
Posted on 12/02/2007 8:45:43 AM EST by libstripper
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1933530/posts

Chery and Chrysler Group Finalize Cooperative Agreement
(US to import cars from China)
Chrysler press release | July 4, 2007
Posted on 07/04/2007 2:18:15 AM EDT by HAL9000
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1860629/posts

[BurbankKarl]

Uh, that is a concept.

There smarts are on boats on their way to the US, with 30000 orders.

[giotto]

For a car that’s supposed to be the People’s car, it doesn’t seem very people friendly. Its size guarantees that its occupants will be injured or killed in an accident with almost any other vehicle. That massive blind spot in the rear corners will make changing lanes at 85 mph very difficult. Its best safety feature will be that VW’s are brilliantly responsive and maneuverable; as long as the driver is reasonably competent, he will be able to avoid situations that would be disastrous in an SUV, such as swerving to avoid a deer.

[mylife]

Nooooo! I refuse to relive the days of Jimmy Carter and “le car”

[Chode]

so long as it doesn't SNOW!!!