"Before we become stupefied with excitement over the up!, Volkswagen’s new motoring minnow, we’ll drag in a few suspects to check VW’s claim that this is its first-ever A-segment car. The Up (sorry, we can’t sustain pointless lower-case letters and exclamation marks dressed up as marketing gimmicks any more), is just 11ft 7in long.
So what about the 1998 VW Lupo, an 11ft 6in, cut-down Polo? Or the original Polo of 1975, an 11ft 6in rebadged Audi 50? Or maybe the 2005 Fox, a rebodied Brazilian Gol, measuring 12ft 6in?
But if its dimensions are nothing new, then VW says the Up’s safety, accommodation and driving qualities make it so – as do its costings, with a new floor pan and driveline, which is built in Bratislava, Slovakia.
When we first saw the Up at the 2007 Frankfurt motor show, it was an innovative, rear-engined, rear-driven hatchback, a configuration that maximised cabin space and economy. It looked pretty good; too, inspired by industrial design classics such as the original VW Variant models." [Continue reading...]
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