Bulk up! Volkswagen's Smallest Heftier Than Forebears
Yesterday, we talked a little about Volkswagen’s latest small car, the up! We walked down memory lane, and compared the 2012 up! with the Polo of 1975. The up! is nearly as short as the Polo of ancient times (3.54 meters). The heftier bumpers don’t leave a car designer much choice. And speaking of heft: We wondered how the up! is doing in the weight department.
When the Polo was launched in 1975, it weighed in at 685 kg (1,510 lbs) – with four guys, you could solve parking problems manually. We didn’t have much entertainment in those years, and sometimes carried a Polo to spots that were a bit inaccessible on wheels, like up a flight of stairs. This was a source of a lot of fun, especially when viewed from a beer garden across the street.
Volkswagen did not disclose the curb weight of the new up!, so we called up! Herr Schröder in Wolfsburg on Monday morning and asked.
“It’s below 1,000 kilo.”
“Can we have this with a little more precision?”
“There is a 9 in front.”
“Is that because it’s a secret, or because you don’t know yet?”
“It’s a secret.”
“I see.”
“If you guess around 950 kilo, you probably won’t make a mistake.”
“Alright.”
Then we both lamented the fact that it’s pretty much impossible to make a real light car anymore, given all the junk the car is required to drag around these days, and bid each other a wonderful week.
Now, if the powers that be are real serious about saving gas, then they should allow cars to lose weight. Less weight, less filling!
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Do you actually want an original Polo? Who would buy that, even if it were legal?
I heard that Ralph lauren collects cars...