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Posts Tagged “

Volkswagen

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industry news

VW, KTM Motorcycle Partnership Rumors Swirling, Could Result In 1-Liter Car

Rumor has it that Volkswagen is in talks with KTM about partnering up to produce VW brand motorcycles. For you car folks, KTM is an Austrian firm known for its race-ready dirt and street bikes - think Ducati but with less of the pretense and more of the color orange. As the rumor has it, this could even result in production of the crazy GX3 trike.

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4:00 PM on Wed May 14 2008
By Wes Siler
1,407 views, 46 comments

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VW Jumps On Dirt Car Art Bandwagon With Touareg Ad

Volkswagen, always being one with the hip kids across the Internet, has jumped on one of the popular Internet trends from a couple years back: dirt car art. When "wash me" was too dull, artists like Scott Wade began taking the dirt-coated windows and creating some pretty spectacular designs and now Volkswagen has done the same (or at least simulated it with Photoshop wizardry) with the latest ad for the Touareg. More »

3:00 PM on Tue May 13 2008
By Travis Hudson
1,640 views, 11 comments

down on the street

You Think That Low VW Thing Can't Drive?

Some of you, upon seeing yesterday's Down On The Street car, seemed to think that a car so insanely low can't possibly get much real-world street time. Wrong! I was out on Alameda's main drag last night and heard the distinctive sound of a straight-pipe-equipped air-cooled VW engine approaching. Sure enough, it was the Low RHD Thing!

10:40 AM on Thu May 8 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,179 views, 34 comments

down on the street

Very, Very Low Volkswagen Thing

Remember the really, really low Volkswagen Transporter? When you get used to driving a bus that low, it just makes sense to add a Thing to your collection and make it even lower... and when you've dropped it down onto the pavement, then you convert it to right-hand drive. That's what this air-cooled Alameda madman has done here, and the result makes quite an impression.
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9:00 AM on Wed May 7 2008
By Murilee Martin
3,768 views, 47 comments

Latest by slag: Fear & LowThing in Alameda? more »

found on craigslist

1980 VW Rabbit Limo For Sale, No, We Aren't Kidding

If ever there was a project hellish enough to merit actual purchase consideration based solely on the novelty of the car in question, this Volkswagen Rabbit Limo is right up there. Just reading the description you can almost feel the flames of hell licking at this guy as he tries to convince someone to purchase a stretched Rabbit with rusty floors and a rotten interior that hasn't run since 2002. This one is definitely for the pure of heart, but hey, only $750! Description and more pics below. More »

11:20 AM on Tue May 6 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
2,350 views, 18 comments

Latest by GTBruiser: @v8corvairpickup: that was such a funny commercial. more »

novelties

VW Busbretta Isn't Quite Humiliating Enough

Pardon us for still trying to wrap our brains around this whole Vespa modding trend, but here is another Vespa-style (it's actually a Lambretta, but details, details) scooter mutilation worthy of noting. Not only is this person driving scooter, but it's a scooter with a sidecar, a sidecar that is modified to look like a Volkswagen Bus. So, Jalopnik faithful, which would you least want to be caught in: the scooter or the sidecar? At least in the sidecar you could possibly duck down low enough to not be seen. [Presurfer]

4:20 PM on Mon Apr 28 2008
By Travis Hudson
2,262 views, 45 comments

Latest by RaptorCK: @WesleyJ: If you're riding bitch on some chick's scooter, I'd keep in mind that you're pretty damned unlikely to feel like a wimp at the end of the night. (Additionally, the ladies are far less afraid of getting on the back more »

industry news

Volkswagen Plans To Sell Majority Of CC's In US, Would Sell Better As Cu. In.

The attractive Volkswagen Passat CC, which VW plans to sell as merely the Volkswagen CC despite America's resistance to the metric system, will be going on sale in the US this September and the company apparently has big plans for the "four-door coupe." In a conversation with Automotive News Europe, a VW exec was quoted as saying that the US is expected to make up 60% of the CC's sales. Though we like the look of the new CC in person, that's a pretty steep number for a more-expensive Passat.

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3:40 PM on Mon Apr 28 2008
By Matt Hardigree
1,155 views, 21 comments

Latest by SigmundTheSeaMonster: Any word on a diesel Golf '09 ? more »

volkswagen

VW Adding Free Maintenance in 2009

Volkswagen is really going all-out to buoy its flagging U.S. sales. Starting with its entire 2009 lineup, the company will add a Carefree Maintenance Program at no charge that will pay for all scheduled maintenance for the life of the new-car warranty: three years or 36,000 miles. More »

8:20 AM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By Ray Wert
378 views

choose your eternity

PCH, No Escape From Engine-Swapped Porsches Edition: VR6 914 or Corvair 912?

Perhaps you breathed a sigh of relief after Chevy-Powered Porsche Hell was over with, figuring that (with the small-block-motivated 911 winning so decisively) you would be spared the temptation of a hacked-up Porsche sporting a non-Stuttgart engine for quite a while. However Project Car Hell doesn't work that way; just because you were able to walk past the fiery gates once doesn't mean you won't be lured right back in by the same kind of bait! That's why we're returning to Porsche Engine Swap Hell today, this time going for six cylinders instead of eight.
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5:20 PM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,110 views, 41 comments

Latest by busbodger: I'll take the 912. (I've got to go finish my Corvair implanted VW Westfalia...) more »

news

Volkwagen Demonstrates Parking Assist, Lexus Giggles

Lexus has been letting drivers prove they cannot handle basic driving functions for a while now, but Volkswagen is getting into the act and recently demonstrated a similar type of parking assist service at the Hanover Fair. The system uses the usual array of cameras and ultrasound sensors to perfectly park the car in a narrow space. Similar to Lexus though it may be, VW's Park Assist Vision does have one particularly nice function that would even make the DARPA folks envious. More »

2:20 PM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By Travis Hudson
3,370 views, 29 comments

Latest by conspiracy-theory: There's an ass for every seat. [www.break.com] more »

2010 vw robust

2010 Volkswagen Robust Pickup

Brenda Priddy, the femme fatale of car spy photography, got us one heck of a scoop today — real, live and non-blurry photos of the new Volkswagen pickup truck tester. We've been told this mid-size hauler will be called the 2010 VW Robust in certain markets, but that's speculation as of now. What's also speculation is whether we'll end up seeing it here in the United States and of course whether the new four-door pickup from the brand all about "Fahrvergnügen" will end up hitting showrooms as a 2010 model year product. What we do know is current plans are for it to be built in Hanover, Germany as well as Argentina. Full spy report from Brenda Priddy below the jump.

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Spy Photos

12:35 PM on Tue Apr 22 2008
By Matt Hardigree
5,763 views, 54 comments

Latest by bria: love love love your comments in the abortion man thread, especially for getting my joke about the used condoms, because i'm narcissistic and i was proud of that comment. haha : ) more »

beijing motor show

Volkswagen Bora Debuts At Beijing Motor Show

After the difficult to pronounce in the local market Volkswagen Lavida premiered at the 2008 Beijing Motor Show, we thought that was going to be it for China market Vee-Dubs. This is where we would be wrong, apparently those tricky Germans have debuted the Volkswagen Bora as well. The Bora rides on the same platform as the Lavida, but has a shorter nose-to-tail measurement and styling which touts the VW design language a bit better. In other news, VW China has creepy models.

[via Carscoop]

10:20 AM on Mon Apr 21 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
847 views, 30 comments

Latest by charles_barrett: As for the models, I think one should be dressed in a Chairman Mao suit (like "Honey" in Doonesbury), and the other in a saffron Buddhist robe, Tibetan-inspired... more »

beijing motor show

Volkswagen Lavida Unofficially Revealed For Chinese Market

The moment all of China's VW fanboys have been waiting for has arrived, these are the first clear shots of the Volkswagen Lavida. This is the first car specifically for the Chinese market, the Lavida is based on on VAG's existing PQ34 platform and is about 4-inches longer than a Jetta. Nicknamed by some as the "Mini Phaeton", the Lavida is said to have quite the luxurious interior as it is being positioned against the likes of the Buick Excelle. No word yet on technical specifications, but if they offer one with 4motion and a TDI engine, we'd be glad to have them stateside — though that definitely won't be happening any time soon.

[China Car Times] More »

3:30 PM on Fri Apr 18 2008
By marnold
1,383 views, 27 comments

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Volkwagen Scirocco Chase Video Awful, Confusing

We refuse to believe someone was paid to produce this Volkswagen Scirocco video that's so bad it makes us feel itchy. Why is this man driving a Scirocco through a barren desert landscape? Well, he's being chased by the worlds laziest police force — apparently there for comedic effect, rather than an actual car chase. Is the Scirocco so titillating — so mind-bendingly amazing — that when they finally catch up to him in an airport hanger, they forget the driver is still in the car? Bad car ad, bad. No, no, no — rub your nose in it! [Youtube via Carscoop]

9:30 AM on Fri Apr 18 2008
By Ben Wojdyla
3,662 views, 61 comments

Latest by frink84: @SundaySundayFnC: exactly what i thought until the hangar scene. zee germans have been watching 70's chase movies again more »

found on craigslist

Found On Craigslist: Do Not Rip This Person Off

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down on the street

1969 Volkswagen Beetle, Before And After Mishap

Sometimes months can go by between my photographing of a DOTS car and posting those photographs. Today's car is a good example; I shot the original photos last August, but the island is overflowing with air-cooled Beetles and I have a glut of photos of such cars (yes, Beetle fans, I know I should be posting more of them... and I will, promise). But this particular exposed-engine Beetle, which I'm arbitrarily calling a '69 (though it could be from any year during the 68-72 span), got in some sort of messy collision in the meantime and then moved across town. At first, I thought I was looking at a different car, but checking plate numbers told the whole story.
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9:00 AM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Murilee Martin
2,118 views, 45 comments

Latest by GreenVanMan: @CafeRacer1200: nice more »

industry news

Volkswagen's Command Center Is Like Minority Report, Minus The Cool

Recently installed at VW's Wolfsburg, Germany headquarters is this massive video wall that will help the IT control center manage all of VW's world-wide network. Remember in Minority Report when Tom Cruise is rocking that video wall with the awesome glove? Well, this system is kind of like that, but less technological and less cool. It does get the job done, apparently. The wall consists of tons of LCD displays and will ensures that stability of VW's worldwide networks across suppliers, importers, dealers, service partners, customers, manufacturers and more. What happened to being environmentally friendly, VW? We're sure this command center doesn't skimp on the power usage. [Carscoop]

3:45 PM on Tue Apr 8 2008
By Travis Hudson
964 views, 21 comments

Latest by mjgolli: I wish my datacenter was like that...but I do all my admin stuff through VNC and SSH sessions. If it was like this, though, I would totally use those monitors to watch films! Add a set of Bose Acoustimass 16's, more »

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Angry Bob Knight Yells At Volkswagen

Last night a Big XII team won the NCAA National Championship, but it wasn't Bobby Knight's former Texas Tech Red Raiders, who failed to get an invite to either the NCAA Tourney or the NIT. But Bobby Knight did get an invite to reprise his role as an angry, sad man in this VW commercial, which is part of the Das Auto series wherein famous people are interviewed by Max, a 1964 black Beetle that sounds suspiciously like our favorite doctor. Enjoy. [YouTube]

3:15 PM on Tue Apr 8 2008
By Matt Hardigree
2,942 views, 34 comments

Latest by Linki: The voice of MAX is none other than Bronson Pinchot.... who played Balki on the sitcim Perfect Strangers and Serge on the Beverly Hills Cop movies/ more »