VW BlueSport?
A mini-boxter from VW? A sister to the MX-5?
Right now, there is only one Volkswagen BlueSport in existence, and apart from its unveiling at the Detroit auto show in January, this is the only time it has been allowed in public.Originally
conceived as a one-off concept car, the compact mid-engine roadster has
an internal development code name, raising hopes that it will go into
production as a spiritual successor to the 914, the mid-engine roadster
that VW developed and Porsche sold.
The BlueSport was developed
in a back-to-basics approach, with an emphasis on simplicity and low
weight. At its heart is a new mid-engine platform that VW says should
allow it to bring the BlueSport to showrooms at prices starting at
about $30,000, depending on what engine it decides to put in back.
At
the moment, the rear-wheel-drive concept rolls with VW's 168-hp,
2.0-liter, common-rail diesel four-cylinder and a six-speed dual-clutch
gearbox with shift paddles on the steering wheel.
Other engines
are under consideration for production, says Mario Fabiano, the car's
project leader. They include the 265-hp, 2.0-liter, turbocharged,
gasoline direct-injection four recently confirmed for the Scirocco R.
Can you say junior Boxster?
The BlueSport is a confident-looking
car, low and flat and hunkered down on the road. Although you can
expect the styling to be refined by the time it reaches production, the
one thing that won't change much are the car's basic dimensions. At
157.4 inches long, 68.9 inches wide and 49.6 inches tall, it is roughly
the same size as the Mazda Miata, a car that played a role in prompting
VW to push ahead with the BlueSport.
