VW Buggy Up production-bound?
Volkswagen's Buggy Up concept has been granted a US design patent, suggesting it may be given the production green lightThe covers were whipped off Volkswagen’s Buggy Up concept at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show, but at the time it seemed the open-topped beach buggy was nothing more than a design study.
However, Volkswagen obviously had more serious aspirations for the car as it applied for a patent for the vehicle in March 2012 and received approval for the same last month.
This will give VW a 14-year lock on the design while it decides whether to push ahead with a production version of the concept.
The Buggy Up was inspired by the iconic beach buggies that populated California beaches during the 1960s. These vehicles were based on the original air-cooled, rear-engined Beetle and featured corrosion-resistant fibreglass bodies that made for a simple and cheap all-terrainer.
The modern-day take on the theme recaptured the look of the originals, albeit with more contemporary styling and chrome-laden 18-inch wheels.
Conceived by a team led by VW design boss Klaus Bischoff, the Buggy Up’s design was credited to Peter Wouda and Thorben Kochs, who are based at VW’s advanced design studio in Berlin.
According to Euro sources, the rationale for doing a modern-day beach buggy is to recapture the hip and cool image VW enjoyed in the 1960s with vehicles such as the Beetle, Camper and slinky Karmann Ghia coupe.
Although the buggy was an aftermarket creation built by small external companies, it added to the lustre of the brand.
A modern-day buggy could also further boost VW’s fortunes in America, which have been stimulated by the new Chattanooga assembly plant that has been producing the US-spec Passat since 2011.
Of course, even if the Buggy Up is given the production green light, it would be a much smaller volume proposition than the Passat, but its halo effect could still be significant.
VW sources have reportedly admitted they would like to put the Buggy Up into production, but are still doing the sums on whether the business case for the vehicle stacks up.
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