Life’s a beach for VW’s next electric crowd-pleaser
In many ways, it comes as no surprise that Volkswagen has chosen to showcase a concept paying homage to the iconic Meyers Manx beach buggy of the 1960s as part of the carmaker’s I.D. sub-brand.
Volkswagen hasn’t been too proud to mine its lengthy history for the I.D. electric range, with passenger and commercial concept versions of I.D. vehicles drawing heavy stylistic influence from the Kombi van.
If it didn’t have a (admittedly now-cancelled) Beetle already, a plug-in BEV concept version of one would have seemed just as tempting a road to travel down, we’re sure.
So, yes, even though the Meyers Manx beach buggy wasn’t a Volkswagen creation (the original mid-60s open-topped fibreglass unibody “dune buggy” was designed and built by Californian engineer and surfer dude Bruce Meyers), it seems a logical step to add it to the I.D. concept stable.
But, um. An electric car that is, by nature, destined to drive near to, if not occasionally in, saltwater? How well sealed are those lithium ion batteries going to be, Volkswagen?
The computerised images released thus far indicate the beach buggy concept will stick closely to the original design, with perhaps only a little modernisation evident in the way the bodyshell appears to offer much better rollover protection from its thick A and B pillars than the skinny hoops kit-car builders could add to the original.
No flat-four engine hanging out the back either, of course; the concept is built on the same scaleable MEB platform as Volkswagen’s other electric I.D. motor-show-baiting offerings, showcasing old-school cool with an all-new electric heart.
What’s next Volkswagen? An I.D. Schwimmwagen?