On the resurrection of classic old cars
Is Volkswagen still a good hand?
In the history of the Volkswagen brand, there has never been a shortage of classic models that can evoke people's memories, but the symbol that can really represent volkswagen classics, in addition to the Beetle, must be the Volkswagen T1 that represents hippie culture.
As a former "national car", the Volkswagen Beetle was successfully resurrected more than 20 years ago, causing a global sensation. For a time, the Beetle transformed into a fashionable car, becoming a product of the collision of classics and modernity.
The volkswagen T1 is no less brilliant than the Beetle, born from the end of World War II in a withered Europe, from the advent of 1950 to the 1967 production of production in the 18 years, the volkswagen T1 production reached a staggering 1.8 million units. In a sense, volkswagen T1 in Europe is like the current domestic Wuling Hongguang, is a well-deserved "god car".
But the Volkswagen T1 is no ordinary car, and it quickly became a symbol of automotive culture after its birth. Especially after the hippie culture that prevailed in the United States in the 1960s spread to Europe, the Volkswagen T1 became the standard for these young people who yearn for freedom.
It can be said that the Volkswagen T1 is one of the labels of hippie culture.
The Volkswagen T1 is not an ordinary car, but also because it is not the hand of a well-known designer.
In 1947, the Dutch car importer Ben Pon saw a Volkswagen truck used in the Volkswagen factory, Plattenwagen, and he suddenly thought that he could develop a completely new model on this basis, so he had the first sketch of the Model T.
Volkswagen's executives showed great interest after seeing this picture, so it took only two years for the prototype of the T series to enter mass production. It should be noted that the T in T1 represents its factory code name Type 1, and today's Matway, T represents Transfer.
What is classic is classic is because it has an extraordinary story and symbolizes a certain meaning that others cannot represent, and the reason why Volkswagen T1 is classic.
Although Volkswagen has continued the T series well after the discontinuation of the T1, today's T series has long been reduced to an ordinary car that is not well known to everyone. Even the Volkswagen T2 with a "small school bag" hanging on the front of the car and the shape borrowed from the T1 design is difficult to hide the legendary aura of the T1.
History is always strikingly similar.
In the fuel era, Volkswagen T1 has created another classic in the history of Volkswagen, and in today's era of electrification, can Volkswagen create another classic and open a new era?
"Legends will return on March 9, 2022," was a quote Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess shared on Twitter earlier. The design sketch of the new car below is obviously the Volkswagen ID.BUZZ.
At the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, volkswagen ID.BUZZ concept cars made their debut and caused a sensation. And this scene seems to have been similar, when the Beetle was successfully resurrected more than 20 years ago, the world was also shaken.
As the first MPV model on volkswagen's MEB platform, Volkswagen ID.BUZZ Concept's design can make people think of the Volkswagen T1 at a glance. As Herbert put it, this is a legendary model in Volkswagen's history, and there is no doubt that Volkswagen paid tribute to the T1 ID.BUZZ Concept.
Today, almost 5 years later, volkswagen ID.BUZZ Concept has finally come to fruition, and it has become an epoch-making MPV, paying tribute to the classics while embracing the times. This is bound to make it a unique seedling in the era of electrification, because there will be more electric MPVs in the future, but none of them will have the possibility of becoming classics.
Of course, "resurrecting" Volkswagen T1 and creating a ID.BUZZ is inseparable from the malleability of Volkswagen's MEB pure electric platform.
At present, the Volkswagen MEB pure electric platform has been used in many of its brands, and the ID.3, ID.4 and ID.6 models in the Volkswagen ID.family have also been domestically produced and listed. The ID.BUZZ will become the largest member of the current MEB pure electric platform.
Thanks to the malleability of the MEB platform, this allows models under the platform to cover small cars to large cars. At the same time, the advantages of the MEB pure electric platform can also bring more reasonable layout and better space advantages.
The length of the ID.BUZZ is 4712mm, which is much shorter than the T6 Metrowe's 4904mm, but the ID.BUZZ has achieved a wheelbase similar to that of the T6 Matway, reaching a staggering 2988mm.
This allows the ID.BUZZ to have a short front and rear overhang, allowing the four wheels to be placed on the four corners of the body as much as possible. Also for the sake of pure electric platform, there will be no bulge in the central floor of the rear row ID.BUZZ, so that the space has been used very reasonably, bringing better comfort.
As an MPV model, ID.BUZZ of course provides a sliding door design. Of course, as a VAN model, in addition to providing a passenger version, ID.BUZZ will also provide a closed cargo compartment version for the European market, and will carry out corresponding "simple matching" for wheel hubs and doors.
Of course, even if the van version ID.BUZZ, it will also become the most beautiful boy on the street.
ID.BUZZ borrowed a lot of classic elements of T1 in the design, the front of the car has a huge Volkswagen logo, and the bottom also has a "V" shape design, which still gives people a cute feeling.
While paying tribute to the classics, ID.BUZZ more is the shadow of the electrification era. For example, in the front and rear of the car, the most distinctive through-line LED strip design of the ID. family is adopted. The headlights no longer use the circular design of the T1, but instead have a more fashionable "corner of the eye".
More representative of the current era is a large number of intelligent auxiliary configurations, such as the exposed adaptive cruise radar sensor set up under the front of the car, with volkswagen's latest electrical and electronic architecture, ID.BUZZ can also support L2 level automatic driving assistance function.
For example, based on the Car2X Internet of Vehicles to achieve high-precision group data, ID.BUZZ can understand the road conditions and risks ahead in advance. In addition, the new parking assistance function, in addition to automatic parking, also added a low-speed route memory function, making it more convenient for vehicles to park on narrow roads.
As for the interior, it can be seen through the pictures exposed on the Internet that ID.BUZZ adopts the interior design concept of the ID. family, and the style is similar to the ID. models that have been listed so far, and the simple interior gives people a more refreshing feeling.
In addition, in the exposed interior drawing, ID.BUZZ did not adopt a three-row 7-seat layout, but adopted a typical 2+3 double-row seat design, which brought quite affluent space for the trunk. However, as an MPV model, ID.BUZZ most likely to provide a three-row 7-seat layout.
As a pure electric MPV, volkswagen ID.BUZZ adopts the same power specifications as ID.4, that is, a single motor is placed in the rear wheel, the maximum power is 204 horsepower, the maximum torque is 310N·m, and the battery pack capacity is 77kWh.
However, since the ID.BUZZ its own weight has reached 2.4 tons, this set of power may only be enough for it, after all, under full load, the weight of the ID.BUZZ can be close to 3 tons.
Fortunately, it is understood that ID.BUZZ will be the same as the T6 Matway in the future, and will provide a four-wheel drive version. This indicates that ID.BUZZ will offer a dual-motor option, so that the dual-motor version will not only bring better road stability, but also have more power.
In terms of endurance, although ID.BUZZ has the same power unit as ID.4, due to its heavier weight and largeR MPV wind resistance, its endurance performance may be much weaker than that of ID.4. However, supporting 170kW DC fast charging can make up for the weakness of weak battery life to a certain extent.
As one of Volkswagen's most classic models, the Volkswagen T1 has finally been "resurrected" after decades. Although it no longer has the roar of the engine and the legendary story of the past, this "electric Volkswagen T1" will usher in a new era of its own.
Time flies, when the wave of electrification swept in, Volkswagen, as a traditional car company with a long history, preemptively stepped into the electrification track, and continued to import a variety of ID. family models into the market with a thunderous momentum, presenting a new Volkswagen for people.
At this moment, the addition of ID.BUZZ is not only the vanguard of Volkswagen into the electric MPV market, paying tribute to the design of the classic model T1, but also making us realize once again that Volkswagen is still a good hand at resurrecting classic models.
Copyright Notice: Some of the pictures in this article originate from the Internet
If copyright issues are involved, please contact the author with proof of ownership and contact this official account
If you need to reprint, please apply to the background of this official account and obtain authorization
Legal Counsel: Mr. Jiang Lei of Shanghai Hansheng Law Firm
-END-