What is it?
A whole family of up!s (god I hate the VW naming department). The two buggy up!s are pure car show frivolity and unlikey to see production but the rest of the up! family looks interesting.
Why's it here?
VW obviously has big plans for its smallest car. The e-up! isn't a Yorkshire specific model, but instead an electric variant that has already been confirmed for production in 2013. The 60kW (80bhp) motor will be good for a range of 80 miles and a top speed of 85mph. The eco up! promises ultra-low CO
2 from its 66bhp three-cylinder engine and VW says it is a production reality.
The Cross up! is on dual duty showcasing no tonly a five-door variant that I have christened the 4 up! (name available to purchase) and also a more rugged crossover model.
Most exciting is the GT up! Said to be in the spirit of the original Golf GTI the GT manages to extract 98bhp from its three-cylinder engine and has a kerb weight of just 900kg. Maybe we can persuade VW to make an up! R with the 1.4 TSI engine.
The two buggy concepts are typical car show madness sharing a nautical theme. The Buggy up! takes its inspiration from the Beetle buggies of California in the sixties while the up! Azzurra was co-designed by Walter de Silvia and Giorgetto Giugaro and is based on a more laid back Mediterranean theme.
Show stopper or floor filler?
Ironically it will probably be the buggy concepts that attract most attention from casual observers but the near production ready status of the rest of the range shows how seriously VW is taking its little city car. Could the up! form its own sub-brand to rival the many variations of MINI?
Frankfurt Motor Show
Paul Healy - 14 Sep 2011