Let the record show that if the GX3 ever comes out, I would find a way to buy one, then use it as a daily driver for 365 days in a row.

Add some side mirrors and ditch the rear jump-seat and I'm in. Perfect for my 4-mile, round-trip commute to work each day through the FL weather (hot, humid, and raining 6 months of the year). Heck, I'd even take it in an electric if available.

work on that front end design and convince me I am going to be moderately safe I would be all over that

In the war against environmental damage, the VW 1-litre is the strike fighter. One please. But monoposto. Warbird aces don't fly the two-seat trainer.

"The rumors follow an interview with VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech in German magazine Stern in which he expressed regret for failing to buy Ducati during the '80s when it was troubled financially."

I wonder if ol' Fred would have done as good a job as Sam Zell did.

@Tanshanomi: I need a seat for my dog.

@TBlueMax: Then you'd have to buy fuel, what, once every other year? Epic.

I just want to second what everyone else in this thread is saying so far. Except that I'd chuck the rear seat and use the space for cargo.
When you think about it, it's not really that radical an idea anymore; it's a bit like a smart fourtwo only arranged longitudinally. Same size engine, similar weight target, similar consumer profile.

This will sell, definately. All of my friends are buying small bikes to save gas right now, however, they all work non-office jobs. I can imagine there are many commuters working in business/office environments who would LOVE to have that kind gas mileage but can't do so because of the sacrifices in attire, storage and non-sweaty-ness.

@Tanshanomi: If only you could brand it as a Supermarine, that would really be something. "Messerschmidt" conjures up too many bad thoughts...

Apparently these guys watched a bunch of Logans Run before they designed it..

This thing is a joke, not a "car". This what they probably claim will be their 200 mpg car by 2010?
VW gets stupider by the day.

@Bauhaus: I was thinking "Focke-Wulf" myself, but that wouldn't work either. "It's a... a... F... --oh, that's disgusting! What kind of perverts work at VW?"

Cars, or concepts, or speculative concepts, such as this are great ideas. A family could have one as a second or third car but what Americans really need is something to replace the SUV. Get us out of those with something that has a compelling design, can haul five people, get to 60 MPH in less than 8 seconds, and gets better than 50 MPG. Ferdinand can build all the Polos, Lupos, and even a 1-liter two-seater with a bubble but the 35-year-old soccer mom needs to haul car seats and they don't fit in any of those.

@avanti5010:
This car goes 100KM on a single liter of gasoline.
235.2145833 miles/gallon(US)
Two years ago, not in 2020.

I'd rock that, but I'm a VW fanboi.

Want, badly, RIGHT NOW! I died a little bit inside when VW announced they were not doing the GX3 but this, this takes me back to the first Messerchmit (sp?) sitting in a pasture that caused my onset of a 3-wheeler lust.

This is what I have spent long months of my life envisioning, powered by A GoldWing drivetrain.

Bring it dammit!

KTM is one of the most proficient modern engine builders I've dealt with. Rock solid and with a little tweaking are able to produce well over 100hp/litre with forced induction. Yes, I'm talking about four-strokes too. A little pricier than the Japanese Big4, but well worth it in every aspect.

@BN.: That should read, "without forced induction".

@joshman: I think that's what VW was going for with the Touran. I'm not sure how quick it is and "compelling design" is subjective but it will get 50+ mpg with a diesel motor. Wikipedia

I hope the finished product doesn't look like it was designed in 1995.

It needs wings... and a large rocket strapped to the back.

With the average commute and the cost of gasoline both increasing every year, small displacement, lightweight vehicles, such as this, are the future.

The problem is these are closer to a motorcycle than they are a car. I don't own a motorcycle because of the risk involved in driving one; I don't like competing with larger vehicles for the same roads. While I look forward to small, fun to drive motor-car-cycle-things like this, the primary reason I will not buy one is because of the risk inherent in driving what is essentially a three-wheeled motorcycle with a fairing around the driver on freeways shared with semis, trucks and SUVs.

All I really need to get to work on a daily basis is a 2 seat commuter vehicle like this, However, even when I owned a Miata, a substantially larger vehicle than the one pictured, I felt at risk of being squished by all of the soccer moms in their SUVs and the NASCAR dads in their pick-em-ups doing 85 on the freeway.

The only realistic solution I can envision that would somewhat solve my fear of becoming a proverbial fly on the windscreen of a much large vehicle would be to allow vehicles such as this to drive in the carpool lane on the freeway, limiting those lanes to only "light cars" and motorcycles, then eventually phasing out the regular lanes and adding more of the "light car" lanes as the number of these vehicles increase.

Or we could just all drive Smart cars. Apparently they crash test pretty well.

@BN.: KTM's engines make way over 100bhp-per-liter as standard, as do most bike engines.

@Solo_Racer: Then I guess you're not really "Solo_Racer," are you, Mr. Whoeveryourealy are.

This vehicle totally owns the Smart4Two or SmartFor2 or whatever the hell the bubble egg was.

It's the Smart for One! You have to leave the spouse at home. "Honey, there's only room for one."

@Wes Siler: The amazing thing was that until fairly recently KTM was exclusively dirt machines. An enduro bike with 160+ hp/litre is damn impressive. Hell, their 2-strokes have made over 250hp/litre.

Why 1L? 1 liter propels the Metros with 5 passenger capability just fine. 1 L is overkill. That thing would work with far less.

The biggest problem in the USA will be the disparity of vehicle sizes. Now, if they closed urban areas to large cars/trucks and only allowed these, bikes, mopeds, segways and such, that'd be nice

@FThorn: It is the KTM 999cc engine

correct me if im wrong

I WANT A GX3.

Have you ever heard an American or Asian executive say, "I myself drive a Ducati. 180 horses and more power per kilogram weight than a 1,001hp Bugatti." ???

Well, that seals the deal. Ferdinand Peich now gets my seal of approval. His personal vehicle selection is pure and unadulterated.

VW, don't just dabble with KTM. Get into the motorcycle market all the way! If you can't buy Ducati, then snatch up Bimota or Agusta AND Kawasaki or Suzuki. Instantly you'll have worldwide distributorship, a full range of bikes/small vehicles that are respected on all continents, top class engineering/manufacturing/racing, and Italian designers who know how to make drop-dead gorgeous bodywork.

This is what the world needs!

@FThorn, @Dr.Danger's got it all: It doesn't have a 1 liter engine. It's called the "One Litre" because the goal was to go 100 KM on 1 liter of fuel.

It actually has a 300cc, 8 1/2 HP single-cylinder diesel motor.

@ EMPM. I totally agree, Id love a small lightweight and environmentally friendly vehicle just for daily commuting, but it's pretty scary to be surrounded by oblivious drivers in huge SUVs. While they won't be outlawed in this country, Im actually hoping rising gas prices will eventually make them extinct...

BTW - I designed my version of a "green" commuter / racer
[phrancis.com]

@Tanshanomi: Eight and a half horses never looked so good!

@phrancis: Catablade -- I like it! Looks like it would be a highly entertaining ride, but I'm a huge Carver One fan.

The more I think about this - the VW single or duo-seater long car - the more I think that a design informed by the lines of the classic Bugatti single-seat racers - say the type 51 - would be awesome. The chassis already has the long, narrow dimension perfect to carry the classic lithe, sinewy fenders and cockpit. They could even market an up-market, brandgeneered, leather-wrapped version under the Bugatti marque!

@ Tanshanomi - Thanks! I put a lot of work into that design and animation. I really wanted to use a series hybrid and incorporate leaning into corners like the carver - and this in 2002 way before the volt and the whole green car trend...

I predict VW is going to bring back the motorcycle marque they already own: NSU.

hell, shouldn't these talks have happened a long time ago? i mean, out of that whole Moonraker study, VW came up with the GX3. around the same time, Audi was in talks with KTM for the X-Bow. like, why wasn't VW trying to hook up with KTM then?

sure the Moonraker study seems like it was a loss, with no production GX3. but it doesn't have to be that way. use what you got, partner with someone you've already worked with. come up with something good.

Im curious to see what might come of this... Of course I am a VW fanatic but I would love to see some crazy one litre production car.

I wish KTM and VW do produce something cool. My daily driver is a matte black KTM Duke II.

I really like the looks of this thing. I would love to have one to show up those hybrid wussies.
8.5hp?! that is pathetic. I got a minibike with a 2.5hp motor from 97cc! The thing is a carb'd flathead for craps sake.
I say put in a hayabusa motor in it. Or a harley motor would be cool.

this looks like more fun.

BRING ON THE GX-3! Nothing, I say NOTHING would be better in todays gas priced, over crowded over sized climate, and not just in the States either! I'll take mine in White, with black frame. NOW.

@morrisseyscoot: Good call. It'd make sense to brand the GX3 as an NSU too, if it ever comes into being, which I really hope it does.

Anyway, this should be taken seriously; remember what happened the last time Austria and Germany hooked up to work on a project...

They won't do motorcycles. As Wes said at the site I now read more, the market VW would try to capture is already owned by BMW and then KTM. And KTM will probably surpass the beemers in the near future.

If they do anything but lightweight cars I think this will be a mistake. I don't think the world needs another (don't forget the can-am spyder) high performance trike.

Looks like an R.Q. Riley product. [www.rqriley.com] Perhaps you've seen the the Tri-Mag, Trimuter, Centurion, and MANY more. He's been drawing up these plans since the 80s!