TTAC Photochop: New Volkswagen Passat

Andrei Avarvarii
by Andrei Avarvarii

When I started working on this project, I was wondering about the Passat's role in the current VAG line-up. Audi sedans are the premium German blend of luxury and performance. Skodas are the true “people’s cars.” And the SEATs are (at least in theory) the exciting toys stuffed with “Auto Emocion.” So what's left for the Passat? Well, in Romania, the sedan is the (dream) car of the parvenus, and the wagon is the nightmare of the wrongdoers (as a police vehicle). I guess it's a “default vehicle;" if you don’t really know what car to choose, if you're not loaded but not poor, if don’t need a car to suit your personality, you go for the Passat. It's the car they should have used in “Equilibrium” (the movie): totally feeling-free. To put the aesthetic paddles to the Passat's heart, I've lost the chrome surrounding the grille and placed it underneath (so we can still tell it's a VW), given the headlights LED-disease, stolen a little youth and stamina from the Ford Mondeo (the popular kid of the day) and smoothed-it-up with fine e-emery paper. Of course, the real thing should be infinitely more boring…

[For more Avarvarii photochopistry, click here]

Andrei Avarvarii
Andrei Avarvarii

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  • BostonTeaParty BostonTeaParty on Feb 25, 2008

    Your chops generally look good, but theres something funny about the proportion of the upper to the waist line and door handles, you had same problem on your BMW too. This has a kind of bad Peugeot feeling to it. Front looks tidy though.

  • Andrei Avarvarii Andrei Avarvarii on Feb 25, 2008

    @ guyincognito I'm sill laughing like mad...

  • Bmilner Bmilner on Feb 25, 2008

    BlueBrat: I'm not sure where you got those values from (might I suggest the TrueDelta pricing links at the top of this page). You probably aren't comparing appes to Apples. Audis tend to be 2.5-5K more expensive than the equiv VW's. Judging from the way I've seen Volkswagon decontent their interiors, you certainly get what you pay for in interior trim quality though. I do see your point though, that at that upper end of the VW line, things get very competitive with other luxury makes. Judging from what I see on the road, Passats sell mostly in their base trim which are WAY cheaper than the cheaper Audi/Mercs etc. BTW, regarding this Photocop, I like it basically, but I think the grill looks too Mercedes S-class overall.

  • BlueBrat BlueBrat on Feb 25, 2008
    bmilner: According to autos.aol.com which was stated in the beginning of my mini rant. It was a quick source to find. And yes, there's dealer markup after that, but at least you got my point.
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