Thanks To Dieselgate, Volkswagen’s 70 MPG Mid-Engined Sports Car Was Doomed

For whatever reason, I’m perpetually fascinated by Volkswagen’s long history of prototypes and concept cars that, while fascinating, never quite managed to make the leap into reality. And by “reality,” I suppose I mean “mass production.” I mean, sure, they exist in reality, as we all do, but they’re often just one-offs or built in very limited numbers. But then again, each of us is a sort of one-off, aren’t we? Even twins. So maybe that’s part of the fascination, though I don’t really think so. I think mostly I just like interesting and strangely wonderful cars, and the particular VW concept I want to talk about today is just that: the Volkswagen EcoRacer Concept.

The EcoRacer was very much a product of its particular time, which was 2005, a period when Volkswagen was heavily invested in diesel engines and eager to find ways to make diesels more exciting and appealing to mainstream car buyers, who often still felt diesels were slow, smoky things that were better suited to big rig trucks than passenger cars. Volkswagen was clearly willing to do a lot to make diesels drive better and be more fun and appealing, and as a result they took big swings like making fun diesel concept cars like the EcoRacer and, much more famously, designing elaborate software and hardware methods to cheat diesel emissions testing, which blew up spectacularly with the whole Dieselgate scandal that came to light around 2015.

The Dieselgate scandal cost Volkswagen plenty, both monetarily and reputation-wise, and also pretty effectively put an end to VW’s passenger car diesel plans, which meant that any fun diesel concept cars were dumped into that same coffin. But, before that happened, they did manage to do some fun diesel things, like this car, a mid-engined diesel sports car with modular, changeable bodywork. Watch:

The EcoRacer, despite its somewhat dumb, first-thing-that-came-to-mind name, was an extremely cool and appealing little car. First publicly shown at the 2005 Tokyo Auto Show, the EcoRacer featured a 1.5-liter inline-four TDI engine making 136 horsepower – which sounds low today, but remember, this is a diesel – and 184 pound-feet (250 Nm) of torque at a pretty low 1900 RPM. It could get to 60 in a respectable 6.3 seconds and managed to do all this while getting 70 mpg!

It used a seven-speed direct-shift (DSG) transmission and only weighed about 1875 pounds. It was a little mid-engined oil-burning rocket, and at the time it was suggested that Porsche was supporting the concept as a way to perhaps make a reborn VW-Porsche 914, though to be fair, I’ve only found one source that reported that, appealing an idea as it may be.

Design-wise, the EcoRacer always stood out to me as something that looked very, well, un-Volkswagen, especially the front end. Spanish designer Cesar Muntada designed the car, and it’s got that VW-Audi 1990s to early-2000s lithe, lean tautness about it, but there’s something about the front end that really feels like something other than a Volkswagen to me.

This isn’t a slight; I think it’s a great-looking car, and that wide, smiling grille and angled quad headlamps work really well in this context, and integrate well with the car as a whole. I think it’s strongest in profile, with that Kamm-like squared off tail, which sort of gives it a shooting brake even if it isn’t one:

There’s also what seems to be T-top panels that can be removed, or, as is shown here, at least hinged for easier ingress into the low car:

But this is sort of deceptive, because the EcoRacer was a modular design, and that entire rear – what is that, a fairing? – can be removed, leaving a roadster-type body with a roll bar, and the windshield itself can be swapped for a speedster-style cut-down windshield that’s perfect for keeping the wind out of your knuckles’ eyes:

For whatever reason, I have yet to find pictures of the EcoRacer with the roof and rear fairing off and the taller windshield installed, which strikes me as a bit odd, since you would think that would be one of the most popular ways to configure the car, as it’s the most conventional roadster-type setup.

Unlike the exterior, the interior does feel quite recognizably VW/Audi, reminding me of the first-gen Audi TT interior, but with a more pill-shaped design motif instead of pure circles, if that makes sense. VW interiors of this era tended to look and feel fantastic, and this seems no exception. I also appreciate the low, dash-mounted rear-view mirror, which is a bit of a retro touch.

Around the back, those C-shaped LED taillights do sort of predict future automotive design, and that bold, large rear wheel arch is pretty striking, too, making a nice, muscular-looking haunch.

I mean, I think it’s a wildly appealing package overall, and the idea that a little sports car like this could have potentially delivered 70 mpg as well is just an incredible thought, a thought that also inevitably reminds us that because of VW’s diesel-based crimes and missteps, anything like this will very likely never happen.

VW and Audi once did so much to promote diesels as an efficient, eco-friendly alternative to spark-ignition gasoline cars, and that included working very hard to earn a sporting, exciting reputation for diesels – remember Audi’s diesel Le Mans cars?

The EcoRacer was part of this overall plan, this glamming-up of diesels, and for a good long while, it was working. The complete destruction of not just concept cars like the EcoRacer, but the entire concept of making diesels more appealing to mainstream buyers, says more about the destructive aftermath of Dieselgate than anything else, really.

It’s a shame. A world with fun 70 mpg modular-bodied roadsters could have been a pretty fun place.

Top graphic image: Volkswagen