Volkswagen Debuts Dune Buggy Aimed at Modders

Greg Hyde

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31st January 2019

Volkswagen is to preview an EV concept car it hopes will usher in a new era of indie-garage dune buggy designs harking back to the Californian Beach Boys scene of the 1960s and 1970s.

At the Geneva Motor Show in March, the automaker will preview its electric concept with a view to reawaken the car modders’ desires to get their creative juices flowing for the sand racers of a bygone age. That said, while Volkswagen’s own iconic Beetle formed the basis of many of the genre it’s going to be a tough call to get grease-monkeys used to stripping down a simple ICE powered unit to feel safe enough handling the huge voltage likely to be employed in VW’s modular electric toolkit (MEB) platform.

Naturally, the concept buggy will have no doors or roof and wheels will be fitted with tires to cope with sand dunes. The automaker says it hopes it will show how the MEB can enable “the development of low-volume niche series” EVs. Volkswagen head designer Klaus Bischoff claims the buggy, with its wacky retro design, can offer modifiers “vibrancy and energy on four wheels” and “the emotional bond that electric mobility can create”.