VW’s Eco-Friendly BlueSport Roadster Not Dead After All?

The Wolfsburg juggernaut Volkswagen has decided to produce of one of their most well-received concepts in many years, the BlueSport roadster, which our colleagues in the automotive press corps like to consider the spiritual successor to the VW-Porsche 914. They’ve given the little bugger an internal development code, which is big news because it was originally intended to be a one-off concept, not a pre-production concept. Plus, with its small turbo-diesel engine, it’s theoretically good for 42 MPG and complies with California’s strict emissions standards. Cool! Read on for more details …

Here’s the goods: the expected price on the BlueSport will be around $30,000, which isn’t too bad. For that you’ll get a 180 HP, 260 ft-lbs of torque, 2L inline diesel four. Plus around 2600 lbs of curb weight. Not bad - that’s a MX-5 beating specification for just a bit more than a normal MX-5. Plus it will blow it out of the water in fuel economy. Quite an interesting little car. We hope VW produces it, as just the idea of a mid-engined diesel sportscar makes our naughty bits tingle with excitement.

[Source: Autofiends]

Volkswagen BlueSport ready for production, estimated cost: $30k. Will it happen?

Volkswagen Bluesport Concept -

After getting an exclusive first drive of the Volkswagen BlueSport roadster, the lucky scribes from AutoWeek write of the machine as if it's headed for production. This is contrary to earlier reports coming from an unnamed VW insider which indicated that the program had been placed on hold due to the dire state of the global economy.
We hope AW's right about the BlueSport's production possibilities, especially after reading about how close to production-ready the roadster appears to be. If the German automaker does find a way to build the BlueSport, it will reportedly show up in in the States in 2013 starting for somewhere around $30,000, depending on the powerplant that VW decides to place behind the two occupants.
The turbocharged, direct-injected diesel mill currently in the concept, which VW says delivers nearly 42 miles per gallon in everyday driving, could very well be joined by at least one of VW's gasoline-burning units - possibly the 265-horsepower 2.0-liter installed in the Audi S3 and Volkswagen's own Scirocco R and Golf R. As always, we'll keep our eyes and ears open for more details as they become available.