#design study

You give me butterflies, you know 내 맘은 온통 paradise 꿈에서 깨워주지 마

Zagato used Honda’s highly successful kei-car, the N360, as a basis for the Hondina Youngstar concept of 1970. Presented at the Turin Motor Show, it was designed by Giuseppe Mittino as a roofless "beach car" with no doors and bug-eye headlights. Honda had no interest in pursuing Zagato’s proposal, so it remained a one-off.

Honda presented its Spocket concept at the 33rd Tokyo Motor Show in 1999. A versatile pickup design study, it featured butterfly doors, a sliding roof, and a retractable rear seat. There was a hybrid drivetrain with twin electric motors in the rear wheels to provide all-wheel drive. Steering was via a U-shaped yoke. Though the concept remained a one-off, it found wider fame as a Hot Wheels die-cast model.

By the mid-1960s, Volkswagen was getting desperate to replace the Beetle. In 1966, Porsche was awarded the contract to come up with the new volume seller, and the EA266 was their proposal. It would have a range (1.0-1.6 litre) of in-line engines mounted longitudinally ahead of the rear axle, below the rear passenger’s seat. The project progressed to the point where 50 prototypes were built; in 1969, it was signed off for production, and the mid-engined configuration was to be the basis for a whole new range of VWs. There were many issues, however: the cars overheated, wet road handling was tricky, and access for maintenance was difficult. When Rudolf Leiding took over as CEO of Volkswagen in 1971, he moved quickly to cancel the project despite over €300 being spent and destroy all bar a few of the prototypes. 

The second Vario concept was presented at the 1991 Frankfurt Motor Show and was also based on the four-wheel-drive platform on the Mk 2 Gold Syncro. The Vario II was a two-plus-two concept pickup with a modular roofing system proposed by the Swiss student Alexander Guye of the Art Centre College. 

Presented at the 61st Geneva Motor Show in 1991, the Volkswagen Vario 1 concept was a beach-buggy-type design study based on the platform of the 4 wheel drive Mk 2 Golf Syncro. It was inspired by the classic 1960s VW Safari and traditional dune buggies. It remained a one-off and now resides in the Volkswagen Museum in Wolfsburg.