The MA List: 6 Concept Cars That Cried Wolf!

The Car Connection

Source: MotorAuthority.com

2001 Volkswagen Microbus concept
Enlarge Photo
Concept cars are a mixed breed. Sometimes, they're the real thing slightly disguised, and sometimes they're way-off abstractions in the Tomorrowland vein.
In a handful of cases, concept cars are annoying knock-offs of the boy who cried wolf, without the bit that makes the fairy tale appealing. You know, the part where the boy gets eaten.

Image via WikipediaNow, to be fair, there's more reality in most any concept car than in an episode of Operation Repo. We can't remember how many times Honda or Lexus has placed a production-ready car on an auto-show stand and called it a "concept"--think Model X, LF-A. And even among the purest flights of fancy, there are some ideas that spring to life from them.

With auto show season in full swing, we're already hearing new talk about old trial balloons that have floated overhead, sometimes for most of the past decade, promising to take up real production-line space but never following up on those empty threats. These are the ones we'll have a hard time believing are real until someone can actually document a registration down at the local DMV.
The list of repeat offenders isn't too long, and some of them truly are lovely to contemplate. Still, we don't want to hear any more from these six concepts until they're ready to do something, or get off the pot. Or until they're eaten.
2001 Volkswagen Microbus

Image via WikipediaThis week's prattling on about a new Microbus has only reminded us of the long, sad history of VW concept vans. Yes, we were there when the 2001 concept captivated Detroit (!). And then it went dormant. A decade's worth of teasing didn't help--and neither did the 2009 Routan, an anti-Bus if there ever were one. Back in 2008, we gave you plenty of reasons to doubt the return of Microbus, but now it's VW teasing once more. With a new mid-size sedan coming, it's not out of the question that a big crossover with a Microbus badge might emerge from Chattanooga--but that flat-faced front end is a killer to recreate. And if it can't be done, is the result really a Microbus?

Related articles

• "Volkswagen Microbus concept under development: report" and related posts (caradvice.com.au)
• Report: VW design chief says new Microbus is in the cards (autoblog.com)