An alternative title for this article could have been, “The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same.” What today’s automakers now tout as the next Big Thing has been around for at least 50 years: so-called “crossover” or multiple-use vehicles. Similarly, while most people credit Chrysler Corporation for inventing the modern, multi-tasking minivan in 1984, there were many that predated the original Caravan/Voyager-but only one that started it all. “The More Things Change…” certainly worked for Volkswagen with the New Beetle a few years back. Could there be more mileage left in this whole Retro/Heritage Design thing? The answer appears to be yes.VW’s Microbus Concept stole the hearts of everyone who attended the North American International Auto Show in Detroit-not an easy task, as nearly every manufacturer served up at least one “world debut” concept vehicle.
But the talk of the show floor, among media and the public alike, was, “Didja see that totally cool VW bus?!” The original VW bus stands as the ’60s’ ultimate surf wagon, so it’s only appropriate that any new version be designed at VW/Audi‘s Southern California advance product studio-also the birthplace of the New Beetle. The team’s aim was to create another Volkswagen original, not just a copy of the old style. Observers and critics, ourselves included, think they’ve succeeded and failed. For the Microbus concept is a little of both. About the same overall size as the current, boxy EuroVan (including its hallmark short front and rear overhangs), the Microbus measures 15.5 ft long. Yet its sleek, modern design tends more toward high-tech flexible transport of the future, than utilitarian-though-huggable Microbus of the past. Xenon headlamps housed in angular rectangles combine with the Micro’s high, blunt nose, large VW badge, two-tone paint, and stylized grille to make a face one might see in modern Japanimation-and some don’t find it particularly cute. In profile, the clean, restrained lines and bold wheel arches (with show-car-size 20-in. wheels) work well to give it a modern and stable-looking stance. Around back, the front-end styling theme is repeated, where it looks more plausible and attractive. The ultra-stylized interior shown here is multi-configurable and looks like it might have been plucked out of the business-class section of a passenger jet. However, it’s already being revised and softened for its next showing. One VW AG executive reportedly admitted that the seats look like dental chairs; so new, warmer fabrics and colors are being chosen. The third-row seat also will be updated with a new design that’s fully removable through the one-piece rear hatch, further meeting today’s market needs and expectations.
As long as VW’s at the drawing board, it should seriously consider adding the ubiquitous third-row seat that folds flat into the floor. We’ve dinged other manufacturers for not applying this concept to ground-up minivan designs or redesigns, as people hate hauling the third-row seat out, or being caught without it. Electronically activated dual sliding doors (no double swinging doors as in the original) open to reveal second-row seats that rotate 180 to face both directions. A multitude of seating configurations and video monitors treat all passengers to the latest modes of entertainment and information technology. For example, the screen that presents itself from the third-row bench seat (again, not unlike a tray table in business class) can be used either as a small table when left flat or a two-sided video monitor when fully extended.
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