June 20: A new/old VW

Ah, the good ol' days. Those days starting from the late 1930's and going thru to the early 2000's. That is a very long run for good ol' days, but the car on the right did just that. Remember the VW Beetle? Stupid question. That car hung out on every street corner, everywhere in the world and when it stopped doing that, it still found a home and a production line in Mexico. So popular was this people's car, that VW moved the motor to the front and brought it back as the New Beetle. Just a little bit of history to put this blog into perspective.

Remember this........

An old Microbus from the '50's, restored to the nines and run across the block at the famous Barrett-Jackson auction. That $10K figure was a starting bid, as this anomaly(?) ran up to about $115K USD before the hammer fell. Sure, folks seemed to remember them fondly, but this may have gotten a few marketing types to thinking, 'What if?".

Maybe this could be the new New Beetle? Maybe VW could take another run at nostalgia and do an updated version of these old hippie vans, that rusted away into the sunset?

Sure, they teased us with a couple of concepts. You know, the inexpensive way to test the waters before diving in. Seems they struck a cord with folks.

What to do, what to do?

Then VW did the unthinkable, they lied. They told us its diesels didn't polute. Shame on them, as it was found that they did. So, all that cheating and lying cost billions and kicked the diesel out the door and down the block, probably never to grace a VW engine bay again.

What to do, what to do?

Well, folks, VW didn't get to be the numero uno car company in the world by being fools (the diesel debacle not withstanding). Diesel's dead, let's go electric. Good thinking or at least timely thinking, as electric cars seem to be worshipped as the saviour of our crazy, mixed up world. And what better way to really get people's attention than by making an electric that would really stand out?

Yes, of course, bring back the Microbus.......

Only make it as an electric, like Toyota has only made the Prius as a hybrid. Brilliant? I don't know. I just sell cars and write a blog, but the thinking seems reasonable to me. Cute sells (Kia Soul, please take a bow). Nostalgia sells. Electric sells. Seems like a good receipe for success.

Viola', behold the 2020(?) VW electric van........

Whatever it will be called, VW has given this little gem the green light. Note all those old Microbus design cues, like the BIG VW logo at the front and that unique tutone paint scheme. In '50's colours, naturally. Yes folks, all it's lacking are those useless old bumpers, that back in the day may have protected the Microbus from flying insects and not much else. Could they be offered as an option, like running boards?

What's missing to complete the picture? A diesel engine, but we've just been thru that.

Rising from the ashes like the legendary Phoenix, the old Microbus is new again and ready to serve tree huggers everywhere.

Until next time.......