Volkswagen working on Elise-style roadster | Roadsters

Home

News

Volkswagen working on Elise-style roadster

Written by Christian Wurfel

Thursday, 07 August 2008

Volkswagen is reportedly working on an affordable mid-engine sports car along the lines of the Lotus Elise and now-defunct Toyota MR2, which it plans to release sometime early next decade. The car is expected to be available in both coupe and roadster bodystyles, and production could even be outsourced to an independent vehicle manufacturer such as Karmann. The information comes from the boss of VW, Martin Winterkorn, who also confirmed that a concept version of the roadster will be showcased at this November’s Los Angeles Auto Show.

New roadster being designed with an eye toward real-world production costs
The new concept is being developed under the supervision of VW design chief Walter de’ Silva and will ostensibly be used to gauge public opinion in preparation for development of the production version.

To keep costs low, the car will share parts with a number of existing VW models and there’s speculation that it may even spawn an Audi variant, the long-rumoured R4 (a smaller sibling to the highly regarded R8). Elements unique to the cars will be an aluminium-spaceframe chassis, a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, and a range of high-output 2.0-litre forced-induction engines.

Rumours are also circulating that Porsche could build a version of the car as a successor to the 1970’s 914, though it’s doubtful Porsche would want to take its range that far down-market considering the placement of the existing Boxster lineup.

Volkswagen’s history of cancelling roadster concepts
A number of previous VW roadster concepts have been revealed to strong receptions, but were never given the green light for production. Some of these include 2003’s Concept R, a high-end roadster penned by the company’s former design guru Peter Schreyer, as well as 2005’s Eco Racer (pictured) and the GX3 trike from 2006.

The Concept R, revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show, was even claimed to be headed to production, with VW’s then-chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder saying it would be built. In the end, however, the design never made it out of the concept stage.

One of the most anticipated roadsters of VW’s recent past, the GX3 concept was a three-wheeled, low-slung car based around a motorbike design. The high-performance roadster seemed very near production for a period, but was unceremoniously dumped as impractical shortly after its Los Angeles Auto Show debut in 2006. The news of VW’s latest Roadster plans indicates that it will escape the GX3’s ignominious fate, though until official announcements are made, it remains only a possibility.

Latest Galleries

News