Earlier this month, I was at the global reveal of the new US-spec version of the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, the reincarnated Type 2 VW Microbus. Generally, I like it, but I realize that the main reason I like it is irrational: it evokes the old air-cooled, rear-engined original bus. This vehicle works because of design. Underneath, it’s not much different than an ID.4 or any other VW MEB-platform EV. This is one of those vehicles where the styling is by far the most important aspect of it. I mean, practicality is too, but you get a lot of that for free when your design is essentially a big-ass box on wheels. I bring all of this up because I happened to see a picture of VW’s original VW Bus revival concept car from 2001 and was struck by how, well, little the design has changed over two decades to how it now appears as the ID.Buzz.
I mean, historically, there’s nobody betterat not changing a design than Volkswagen. In fact, they pretty much hold the world record for doing as little as possible to an automotive design, as seen in the Beetle, which stayed remarkably similar from when the original War of the Worlds radio hoax was first broadcast to when the War of the Worlds movie with Tom Cruise was made.
Okay, the Tom Cruise movie was 2005, but close enough.
But, we’re talking about the ID.Buzz and the 2001 Bus concept now, not Beetles. For whatever reason, VW really dragged their feet on making a new version of the Microbus, and since 2001 they’d actually had five concepts before finally landing on what would become the ID.Buzz.
After the 2001 concept, the other ones in the middle strayed in look and size and feel a great bit, mostly clinging closer to the current VW design trends of the time. But if we look at that 2001 version, especially next to the production ID.Buzz, I think it’s remarkable just how close the design came to the finished product.
I mean, it’s not exact, of course, but there are a hell of a lot of similarities there. The greenhouse, for example, with its blacked-out pillars and double A-pillar setup is essentially unchanged. The level of detail chosen, the amount of trim, a certain clean-lined design vocabulary, all these things were established in that 2001 concept and are retained in the ID.Buzz now.
The horizontal lighting signatures front and rear, too. The re-working of that frontal V-shape on the earlier bus that delineated the upper color area from the lower was flattened out at the bottom and made into a sort of hood on the 2001 concept, and that approach is retained on the ID.Buzz.
There is also the retention of a stylized version of the old engine air intakes on the D/E pillar as a stylistic quote from the original; the alignment of the wraparound taillamps and the sliding door groove. The wheelbase and overhangs are remarkably similar. It’s kind of remarkable that the hood of the 2001 concept is as minimal as the ID.Buzz, especially because unlike the electric ID.Buzz with its floor-mounted battery pack and rear motor, the 2001 concept had a 3.2-liter V6 crammed into that minimal front end, the only evidence of which was the lower grille area and three small horizontal intakes that look kind of like the modern icon for a pull-down menu.
In some ways, I kind of wish an ICE or, better, a hybrid version of the ID.Buzz was going to be available; those huge batteries are a big driver in the (estimated) high cost of the ID.Buzz – likely starting at around $60- $65,000 – so I can’t help wondering if something in the $30- $40,000 range may have been possible with a combustion version.
I suspect I keep thinking about this 2001 concept, designed by Volkswagen’s Simi Valley, California design studio, because I think it may actually be just a bit better than the ID.Buzz that reality actually provided to us. I think I actually prefer the slightly more rounded look of the sides, which expand out, a bit inflated, and I like the more prominent wheelarches and slightly more athletic stance.
Somehow, I think with a few minor alterations to some lighting and other details, this could pass as a new Bus even today, in the year of our lard 2023. Even the interior still feels remarkably up-to-date:
There’s even the start of the proliferation of LCD screens. Sure, this one is a bit thicker than modern ones, but it did fold into a table, I think, and it looks like there’s an integrated Playstation, according to that splash screen. This really doesn’t feel 20something years old, at all. How did VW nail nail this so well back in 2001, and then took so long to gestate it into what we’ll be seeing on the roads soon?
Look, they even toyed with a pop-up camper version! That looks great, though I’m a bit confused why that camper has so many rows of seats.
How many other 20 year old concept car designs have held up so well? Granted, this is a retro-inspired design, so that’s a factor, but I’m still struck by it. And, maybe a bit baffled still by why it took so long. I suppose they needed a pretty big ass-kick to get moving on something like this.
I suppose the ID.Buzz is better late than never, but I also think they didn’t need to be late, since they already had the better.
It took so long that the older concepts would likely have been hugely references and influential
Every time one of the prototypes is discussed it’s a reminder of how boring and ugly the final product is. If the ID Buzz didn’t have a two-tone paint job, it would look closer to a Chevy Express than a Microbus.
VW has fallen victim to the Pontiac Aztek curse, where the concept car was so good that the production vehicle suffers in comparison, even if it would have been a decent machine on its own.
How Volkswagen made something so disappointing is beyond me. They had decades to figure this out, and in the end they just made a very slight evolution of the latest Transporter and called it a day.
The 2001 exterior is 1000% better looking than the gaudy ID.Buzz. It looked very clean and European. Aside from the interior, which is pretty good looking aside from the huge tablet nailed to the dash, ID.Buzz is perfectly revolting.
I think VW missed the boat by not putting any of the earlier concepts into production. I recognize the challenges of adapting an ICE powertrain to the short overhang of the original, but man these concepts were always so great looking. I’m glad we finally got (or are getting) one produced, but the ID.Buzz is probably the worst looking of the bunch.
The entire front end of concept number 3 can be seen on the facelifted VW Up!
No, I’m not shouting. It has an exclamation mark in its name.
I like the 2001 more, I would have to paint or wrap some things on the buzz.
I always wondered why the Buzz was considered retro. It doesn’t look anything like a VW Bus or any car from the 50s or 60s. Now I understand that “retro” refers to it looking like the 2001 prototype.
I still can’t believe that they didn’t give it retro headlights
This. With round headlights it would have looked so much friendlier and prettier. Now it seems like it’s pissed, which I don’t really care for.
On separate note, these seem to be rather popular as service vehicles on my side of the pond. They are about 10k€ more expensive than comparable diesel vehicle and that price delta is cut just in fuel in about 50tkm. Before any incentives, so it’s clear why they are attractive for plumbers, etc.
Only gripe seems to be, that according to finnish car magazine winter testing, these are coldest cars they’ve tested in long time. Which is interesting as ID3/4 did well.
None of the concepts had retro headlights, which is just perplexing.
I thought they were going to have this product in gestation for as long as the Beetle was in production. LOL
Does the expanded metal bench on the front fold up for outdoor seating?
I agree the design didnt change much but ranking them the original 21 window is still the best looking.
Concepts 1 and 2 looked good, 3 and 4 looked like generic 2010 angry catfish designs. Concept 5 got some nice happy round lights fighting the catfish lights, but unfortunately the sour catfish look won on the production model. I still can’t accept that they took 20 years to bring THAT face to the market.
Well, at least it isn’t yet another SUV.
IMHO, it just took them this long to make it crash worthy. It’s the only argument against the Microbus concept.
All the concepts (and the production version) have some amount of hood in front of the driver, unlike the original. There are plenty of vans and economy cars rolling around with similarly stubby noses. I don’t see why it should have been unusually challenging.
I bought my July 2001 build T4 Transporter back in January 2002. I still have it. Some things don’t change. They just get older…
Man, the original concept reminds me of my days reading Boy’s Life magazine, which, in my unreliable memory, seemed to be run by folks really carrying the retro auto styling torch. Z8, New beetle, Thunderbird: the boys at Boy’s’ were on it.
Specifically, I remember the sex talk in 2000, where my move to return to reality and cloak my intentions to immediately JO to the illustrations that I had heretofore overlooked in my human body book was to flip to the back cover of some magazine and point out the 2000 Detroit Auto Show Chevy SSR pickup concept in some ad and say something like “I’m really excited about these old school cars that look new too”.
We have a deposit on and ID.Buzz now. I think there might be some disappointment in the form of a launch edition or just highly optioned $80k cars getting shipped first. $5k ADM. Also, plug-in hybrid would be so much more convenient and environmentally friendly. We’re buying this thing over a Sienna because spending $40k on a lowish trim Sienna (great minivan, but not desirable) hurts my soul more than spending $60-80k on something so deliberately styled and inspired by an icon.
I’d have trouble taking myself seriously showing up places in a Rivian or Tesla or any luxury brand product, so I’m hoping most people make the same assumptions they do of us as they do when they see us in our other VWs: “oh yes, they must have those little dots above the vowels in their screen names. Tedious lot – avoid!”
The 2001 is much nicer, it’s actually got a bit of character…
I like the actual bumpers on the 2001 concept, rather than the perforated cardboard looking thingy we are getting for the production model. People do have minor bumps in traffic all the time, and a nice little bumper would save a big repair bill.
If you live in the US we ain’t got A SINGLE ID.BUZZ
VW Hasn’t even announced the price or the range yet, which doesn’t bode well.
The general consensus is that US spec ID.Buzz will have a starting price of $60K+ and a range of less than 300 miles. Also since it won’t be made in the US we won’t get a cargo van version. Considering they make the ID.4 in the US which shares basically the same drivetrain and platform as the ID.Buzz but there is hardly any demand for the ID.4 it seems like the average 4 year old has greater intelligence than the executives at VW USA.
Once the mindless rich hippie subset of the 1% buy their ID.Buzzes demand will disappear unless they sell them for cheaper and also offer other variants (like a cargo van variant) which if they’re making them in small numbers overseas for US import makes it near impossible as the cost of importation, the low production numbers, the chicken tax (relevant to the cargo variant), etc. make it very very very hard to sell the vans for any cheaper.
The ID.Buzz is the Anti Type 2. Heavy, overpriced, oversized, overly complex (for a BEV), overly tech reliant, almost no off road capability, horrible driver visibility (for a VW van), and it’s made from materials derived from slave labor.
Peace, love, running over pedestrians who we’re stupid enough to be in the massive blind spot created by my massive A pillars, and power provided by batteries made with materials provided by hardworking slaves in Africa, many of whom are children…
What is so great about a cargo van over passenger van that ordering without seats and adding window blinds doesnt cure?
Well the second row isn’t easily removable and windows can easily be broken.
Cars get broken into all the time, in some places people are leaving their cars unlocked because of the cost of replacing windows all the time is too much and it’s leading to auto glass shortages in those areas, but luckily car break-ins are not that common in my area.
Considering the only ventilation the rear windows on the ID.Buzz provide is from a tiny sliding porthole window I’d rather have steel sides.
For the styling, I think I prefer the 2001 to the 2023.
Except for the exaggerated wheel arches, I agree. For one thing, the more domed roof just works better.
I don’t quite agree the interior doesn’t look like it’s 20ish years old. The big thicc round front seats remind me a lot of what Renault was doing then and hasn’t since.
It took twenty plus years to come to fruition and still the headlights aren’t round and happy looking. Is that not the biggest oversight in the solar system?
I know, that Marvel villain face just doesn’t work for me.
https://www.sideshow.com/storage/product-images/910825/iron-man-mark-3_marvel_square.jpg
https://images-stag.jazelc.com/uploads/theautopian-m2en/2001_bus_1-768×432.jpg
That’s perfect. I think the iD Buzz looks like MODOK.
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fKjJnWV7GDvnAAWGFKmZhobfo5U=/1400×1050/filters:format(jpeg)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24348812/modok.jpeg
https://mysterio.yahoo.com/mysterio/api/32051461021DD3BDAF952ABF46C6D479896D0AC6692279678CB0E4CE09F1F9D1/autoblog/resizefill_w660_h372;quality_80;format_webp;cc_31536000;/https://s.aolcdn.com/os/ab/_cms/2022/08/29111526/rg-volkswagen-id-buzz-4.jpg
That’s just good product placement.
Yeah, I kinda agree.