Following the Volkswagen Group’s acquisition of Audi in 1964, Volkswagen used new engineering expertise to develop a modern front-wheel drive car with a water-cooled engine, and thus the Passat and Golf (the latter being introduced in 1974) were the first of a new generation of Volkswagens. The first Passat was developed partly from the Audi 80/Fox and until 2005 the two shared a history.

During its development phase, the Passat was designated internally as Entwicklungs-Auftrag 400 (EA400 / Project 400), and well before its launch, production of the Volkswagen Type 3 at the Wolfsburg plant had been stopped in order to free up capacity for the new car.

Design generations since 1973. Falling between the Golf/Jetta and Phaeton in the current Volkswagen line-up, the Passat has been badged variously as Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Magotan, Corsar and Carat. More recently, Volkswagen has extended its range with the launch of the Passat CC, a 4-door “coupé” version of the Passat.

The nameplate Passat derives from the German word for tradewind — and the period in its history when VW named vehicles after prominent winds.

The same problem plagued the SP2. In fact, a malicious joke at that time was to relate the “SP2″ name with “Sem Potência” (”Without Power”, in Portuguese).

Despite its revolutionary look, the car failed to beat the Puma in performance. Although they used similar engines, the fiberglass Puma was much lighter. This resulted in low sales, and the SP was discontinued in February 1976.

With a total of 10,205 units made (670 of them exported to Europe), the car is now sought-after as a valuable collector’s item. One of them, in white, is in the VW museum on public display. While prices during the production time frame were roughly the same as the Beetle, the price of a well-preserved example today is considerably higher than contemporary VW models.

The Volkswagen subsidiary in Brazil always had some degree of independence from Wolfsburg, so in 1969 they decided to start a new project of their own. A team led by Senor Schiemann and supported by Rudolf Leiding (the CEO of the subsidiary and later of the entire company) started work on a so called “Project X”, and presented a prototype in a 1971 fair. But it would take another year before the car reached the streets.

Volkswagen air cooled engine, but upgraded to 1700 cc, it developed 75 hp (56 kW), 160 km/h (100 mph) and made 10 km with a litre (24 mpg).

When the car was presented, it quickly drew media attention, with its many improvements over the local “air cooled” VW line, an impressive interior, its many extra features and its superb finishing.

There are no rear view mirrors and it instead uses cameras and electronic displays. The rear wheels are close together to allow a streamlined body. The total aerodynamic drag is very small because both the drag coefficient and the frontal area are small (see drag equation). The drag coefficient (Cd) is 0.159,compared to 0.30 for typical cars.

The 1-litre car was designed to be both roadworthy and practical, while being able to travel 100 km on 1 litre of gasoline (equivalent to 235 miles per U.S. gallon or 282 mpg Imperial). This stems from the International System of Units unit of fuel efficiency, which is the number of litres of fuel required to travel 100 kilometers. To achieve such economy, it is produced with lightweight materials, a streamlined body and an engine and transmission designed and tuned for economy. A prototype was displayed in 2002 and limited production of the VW 1L is expected to start in 2010.

The Lupo 3L was a special-edition made with the intent of being the world’s first car in series production consuming as little as 3 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (78 miles per US gallon or 94 miles per Imperial gallon). To achieve this the 3L was significantly changed from the standard Lupo to include:
Lupo 3L

* 1.2 litre 3-cylinder diesel engine with turbocharger and direct injection (61 hp, 140 Nm)
* Use of light-weight aluminum and magnesium alloys for doors, bonnet, rear-hatch, seat frames, engine block, wheels, suspension system etc. to achieve a weight of only 830 kg (1830 lb)
* Tiptronic gearbox
* Engine start/stop automatic to avoid long idling periods
* Low rolling resistance tires
* battery location moved to boot for better weight distribution

During the period of series production of the Lupo 3L, Volkswagen also presented the 1L Concept, a prototype made with the objective of proving the capability of producing a roadworthy vehicle consuming only 1 litre of fuel per 100 kilometres (235 miles per US gallon).

The Volkswagen Lupo is a city car manufactured by German automaker Volkswagen from 1998 to 2005.

It was introduced in 1998 to fill a gap at the bottom of the VW model range caused by the increasing size and weight of the VW Polo. Rivals included the Ford Ka, the Opel Agila and the Fiat Seicento. The SEAT Arosa was a badge-engineered version of the Lupo.

The car was available with a variety of engine sizes and trim levels, from budget models through to the GTI variant. The 6-speed Lupo GTI has been labelled a true successor to the VW Golf Mk1, the first true hot hatch.

The engine is a one-cylinder 299 cc (18 cu in) diesel producing just 6.3 kW (8.4 hp), but the production version will use a 2-cylinder version with somewhat higher power and a mild hybrid design. It drives through a six-speed transmission that combines stick-shift mechanics, weight, and drive efficiency with automatic convenience and efficiency controls. There is no clutch pedal. The gear selection (forwards, reverse or neutral) is made using a switch on the right-hand side of the cockpit. The engine is switched off automatically during deceleration and stops, and auto-restarted when the acceleration pedal is pressed.
According to Volkswagen, fuel economy is 0.99 L/100 km (238 mpg-US). A 6.5 L (1.7 US gal) fuel tank gives a driving range of 650 km (404 mi). If diesel were $3 a gallon, it would cost a little over $5 to travel 400 miles.

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