Life still a beach the second time around
Relive the spirit of the Sixties, man!
ROUND, round, get around, I get around… and so can you!
The days of the Beach Boys and long, hot days on the sand were brought back when VW unveiled its buggy up! concept.
The inspiration for the VW design was the 1960s beach buggies which rode the sands in California. They were pioneered by the likes of American Bruce Meyers. They took the simple, reliable chassis and engine from the Beetle and fixed smaller, lighter glassfibre bodies to create fun cars which reflected the lifestyles of the day.
That carefree, live for the moment feeling of the hippy movement and free spirits is recreated in the two-seater buggy up! With its lightweight steel construction, the beach buggy is brought up to date. Built on the new up!, the buggy keeps the same reinforced underbody of its city sibling and shares the same running gear and drive technology. The body, of course, is totally different and the ride height has been lowered, too. The bonnet is flatter, the bumpers reshaped and the rear totally redesigned.
It doesn’t have a boot, like the city up! and the bootlid is made of two pieces — the top part lifts up like a normal bootlid, but the part above the bumper folds down like a pickup tailgate, so it’s easy to stow bulky items.
Jump into the buggy up! and you’ll settle into neoprene-covered seating, which is lower. To complement this, the designers reduced the steering wheel angle to give the feeling of sitting in a go-kart. And, to give the passenger a sense of security while bouncing over the dunes, a handle is fitted on to the dash panel to give them something to hang on to!
If you live in somewhere that has plenty of rainfall that’s not a problem. It has a simple fabric roof but as the interior is waterproof it doesn’t matter if any water gets in. The seats, sills and floor have drains so you don’t end up having a bath. Even the controls for the iPod-compatible infotainment system are waterproof and the whole module, complete with speakers, detaches so you can have music at your beach party!