Volkswagen EA276

[henk4]

Volkswagen EA276

When it was clear that the Beetle was not going to live on forever the engineers at VW started to think of alternatives. Ultimately the Golf was the result of all the considerations, but in 1969 a very interesting prototype was presented, EA276. The boxy shape of the Golf is already somehow there, (although Giugiaro put his own mark on it four years later), and the car for the first time has front wheel drive.
The engine however is still a four cylinder air cooled boxer and with 44 BHP it could reach 130 kph. It remarkable to see this car as one of the real pioneers of Volkswagen’s success with the Golf.

The car is shown here at the Essen Technoclassica in 2004

[Delmaster]

good they didn't take this design for production.
looks a bit yugo-ish, doesn't it?

nonetheless a big step from beetle to golf.
and this thing is the missing link

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Delmaster

good they didn't take this design for production.
looks a bit yugo-ish, doesn't it?

nonetheless a big step from beetle to golf.
and this thing is the missing link

may be the yugo was inspired by this one, but it came more than 10 years later

[Delmaster]

Originally Posted by henk4

may be the yugo was inspired by this one, but it came more than 10 years later

I don't think you need a lot of inspiration for such a shape

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Delmaster

I don't think you need a lot of inspiration for such a shape

Well just look at the 1969 Fiat 128

[Delmaster]

the 128 has a much prettier front.
Though I only know it with round headlights, don't know if there are squre ones on other models.

This VW prototype looks very east-european