Volkswagon Space Up! concept (Tokyo Autoshow 2007)

VW's first up! concept made its debut at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show in September. That one was a two-door city car that put viewers in mind of the Smart Fortwo.

Now the second one- space up! is a four-seater van concept with four doors, although VW says, "in actuality there are even six" because it has a two-part rear door instead of a tailgate. The rear bench seat has two integrated child safety seats and can be removed, as can the front passenger seat.

The space up! is 60.6 inches in length and rides on a 100.8-inch wheelbase. It's 9 inches longer than the up! concept shown at Frankfurt. It is the bigger than the Volkswagen Beetle.

Volkswagon Space Up! concept (Tokyo Autoshow 2007)

VW's first up! concept made its debut at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show in September. That one was a two-door city car that put viewers in mind of the Smart Fortwo.

Now the second one- space up! is a four-seater van concept with four doors, although VW says, "in actuality there are even six" because it has a two-part rear door instead of a tailgate. The rear bench seat has two integrated child safety seats and can be removed, as can the front passenger seat.

The space up! is 60.6 inches in length and rides on a 100.8-inch wheelbase. It's 9 inches longer than the up! concept shown at Frankfurt. It is the bigger than the Volkswagen Beetle.

Golf GTI W12 concept

Golf GTI W12 concept. It looks like pure show candy: a
642-hp, mid-mounted W12 engine under cartoonish stretched bodywork. Yet not only is it a
driver, complete with a 202-mph top speed, but the company let us put it through its paces
at Gros D�lln in Germany, a former Soviet airbase.

The GTI W12 was commissioned to wow the crowds at this year�s Worthersee GTI festival in
Austria,
but designer Marc Lichte was told that it also must be a full runner. Therefore, it was
built to standards far closer to a prototype, and Lichte had the chance to rummage through
the more exotic reaches of the corporate parts bin.

It�s got Audi RS4 front brakes, a Lamborghini Gallardo back axle, a VW Phaeton six-speed
automatic gearbox and a twin-turbocharged, 6.0-liter W12 engine from the Bentley
Continental sitting where you�d expect to find the groceries in a standard GTI. Vast sill
extensions add six inches of width, while mammoth air intakes (including scoops integrated
into the roof and rear side windows) feed air to the mid-mounted motor.

And it drives almost as nicely as it looks. With drive to the rear wheels only, VW decided
to limit the engine�s torque output to 222 lb-ft in first gear and 331 lb-ft in second.
But from third gear upward, the full 553 lb-ft is available. The official 3.7-second 0-to
-62-mph time makes it quicker than a Gallardo.

It even corners pretty well, certainly considering its short wheelbase and lack of any
kind of stability control. Without the weight of an engine in the front, turn-in is a fair
bit blunter than with a standard GTI, but the big 295 profile tires find plenty of grip,
and the cornering line can be tightened up nicely on the throttle.

Relevance? None whatsoever. You won�t be surprised to hear that VW has no plans to put a
642-hp, mid-engined, rear-drive Golf into production. And it won�t be a U.S.-market
Rabbit, either. That�s not going to stop us from thinking the world would be a more
entertaining place with cars like this in it.

Golf GTI W12 concept

Golf GTI W12 concept. It looks like pure show candy: a
642-hp, mid-mounted W12 engine under cartoonish stretched bodywork. Yet not only is it a
driver, complete with a 202-mph top speed, but the company let us put it through its paces
at Gros D�lln in Germany, a former Soviet airbase.

The GTI W12 was commissioned to wow the crowds at this year�s Worthersee GTI festival in
Austria,
but designer Marc Lichte was told that it also must be a full runner. Therefore, it was
built to standards far closer to a prototype, and Lichte had the chance to rummage through
the more exotic reaches of the corporate parts bin.

It�s got Audi RS4 front brakes, a Lamborghini Gallardo back axle, a VW Phaeton six-speed
automatic gearbox and a twin-turbocharged, 6.0-liter W12 engine from the Bentley
Continental sitting where you�d expect to find the groceries in a standard GTI. Vast sill
extensions add six inches of width, while mammoth air intakes (including scoops integrated
into the roof and rear side windows) feed air to the mid-mounted motor.

And it drives almost as nicely as it looks. With drive to the rear wheels only, VW decided
to limit the engine�s torque output to 222 lb-ft in first gear and 331 lb-ft in second.
But from third gear upward, the full 553 lb-ft is available. The official 3.7-second 0-to
-62-mph time makes it quicker than a Gallardo.

It even corners pretty well, certainly considering its short wheelbase and lack of any
kind of stability control. Without the weight of an engine in the front, turn-in is a fair
bit blunter than with a standard GTI, but the big 295 profile tires find plenty of grip,
and the cornering line can be tightened up nicely on the throttle.

Relevance? None whatsoever. You won�t be surprised to hear that VW has no plans to put a
642-hp, mid-engined, rear-drive Golf into production. And it won�t be a U.S.-market
Rabbit, either. That�s not going to stop us from thinking the world would be a more
entertaining place with cars like this in it.