Fridae

During the Great Depression of 1929, the cinemas were packed to the brim despite the obvious hardship everyone is going through. Pictures gave everyone hope. It was probably the only thing that kept people going: Dreams sell during difficult times. Likewise, people head to Motor shows to experience the awe of flashy concept cars, perhaps catching a glimpse of their next ride, or seeking an inspiration for wet car dreams.

The concept cars on display can be a good indication of up coming products from the manufacturer. A tease or perhaps more importantly, a litmus test of the showroom potential.

Back in 1994, the then-struggling Volkswagen took the world by storm at the Detroit Motor with the Concept One. It looked shamelessly like a modern iteration of the "hard to kill" Beetle. But upon closer inspection, it brought us a lot of cues to the Volkswagen cars in out showroom today. Obvious, the New Beetle, but perhaps less known, would be the Volkswagen Passat B5's beautifully uninterrupted arched roof.

Following years of "obvious" cocepts cars like the Concept D (Phaeton) and the AAC (Touareg), Volkswagen got pumped back into action with exciting concept cars like the Concept R (2003), Concept T (2004), Concept A (2006), Iroc (2006), up! (2007) and the recent Concept Bluesport (2009).

The 2003 Concept R led by Murat Gunak (Volkswagen Brand Group) and Peter Schreyer (Volkswagen Brand), shows with the roadster concept R how a sports car packed with aesthetics and emotion could look in the foreseeable future with the internationally successful "VW" label. A particularly avante garde element of the concept R is seen in the front end with its then-newly designed Volkswagen radiator grille and large V-shaped air cooling inlet below. The new look of the eye-like headlights creates a face that can immediately be associated with the Volkswagen brand tradition, which today, the Eos coupe convertible carries that face set by the Concept R.

Personal favourite among past Volkswagen concept cars would be the 2004 Concept T. A sensational mash of SUV and coupe lines with a pair swinging doors, something straight out of Luc Besson's The Fifth Element. And it's actually in our showrooms already. Well, partially. Take a closer look at the recently launched Passat CC. Notice the similarities? Strong waved shoulders across the body and the wild looking rear lights. With the ambitions of selling 300,000 units over a course of seven production years, the handsome Passat CC looks to achieve that with ease. Hopefully this would inspire the manufacturer for future ventures with its other existing models.

2006's Concept A has brought us the hot selling small-SUV, Tiguan. Admittedly only the front end and smart body proportions could be seen as carried over to the production model, one could sense that should Volkswagen take a brave pill and churn out the "Tiguan CC", throwing in the suicide doors and low aggressive roofline, as suggested by the Concept A.

Motor show goer's response to concept cars is somewhat critical. The forecoming Volkswagen Scirocco has been followed through faithfully from concept to reality. The overwhelming response from the show goers on the stunning viper green Iroc concept pressured Volkswagen into commitment.

Which was something lacking with regards to the UP! concept. When news of the rear-engined UP! broke out, there were many Beetle lovers hoping that Volkswagen will engineer such a platform, which the replacement for the New Beetle can be based on. However, with the pressure of thin profit margins and engineering complexity came into play, Volkswagen abandoned the idea. An extremely likeable idea from the UP! would be the inflatable folding seating system, capable of fitting every body shape.

While the UP!'s expensive platform has been abandoned, or at least for the time being, the smart proportions and clean lines have just been brought on to life in the form of the soon to be released Volkswagen Polo. The new small hatchback was unveiled at the 2009 Geneva Motor show with great fanfare.

What could be the next big move for Volkswagen could be the Concept Bluesport roadster, the sparkling star of the Detroit Auto Show this January. A possible return to subtle and chrome-free designs in the future? Uncertain, but for sure, the Concept Bluesports suggests a modern day Porsche 914. Volkswagen will do very well indeed to have this in it's showrooms asap.