Volkswagen means in German
language People’s Car. Adolf
Hitler had a keen interest in
cars even though he did not
like to drive. In 1933, shortly
after taking over as leader of Germany,
he teamed up with Ferdinand Porsche to
make changes to his original 1931
design to make it more suited for the
working man, thus founding Volkswagen.
Hans Ledwinka discussed his ideas with
Ferdinand Porsche, who used many Tatra
design features in the 1938 "KdFWagen",
later known as the VW Käfer—
or Volkswagen Beetle. On 22 June 1934,
Dr. Ferdinand Porsche agreed to create
the "People's Car" for Hitler.
Changes included better fuel efficiency,
reliability, ease-of-use, and economically
efficient repairs and parts. The
intention was that ordinary Germans
would buy the car by means of a savings
scheme ("Fünf Mark die Woche musst Du
sparen, willst Du im eigenen Wagen
fahren" — "Save five Marks a week, if you
want to drive your own car"), which
around 336,000 people eventually paid
into.
It was the beginning of a history
the lead VW to be the single biggest car
manufacturer in Europe. It’s the brand of
the legendary Beetle and the Golf (see
issue 297 for the test drive). The Beetle
was produced in 22 Million (!) units
between 1938 and 2003 and the Golf
passed the 25 Million units in 2007.
The Passat model appeared in
1973. The body types offered originally
were 2- and 4-door sedans and similar
looking three- and five-door versions.
Externally all four shared a modern fastback
style design, styled by the Italian
designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. In essence,
the first Passat was a fastback version
of the mechanically identical Audi 80
sedan, introduced a year earlier. It was
such a good car model that it became
the flag for VW for the saloon automotive
sector..
Today, Volkswagen has introduced
a new generation of this successful
car, the Passat CC. The suffix CC
stands for Comfort Coupé. It falls
between the Passat and the Phaeton in
VW's range — while based on the Passat
and sharing its wheelbase, the CC is
longer , lower and wider than the smaller
sister. It sits in a niche segment in which
I cannot see any serious competitors.
It looks really good especially
from the side and the front. I like the 18
inches wheels which give the body an
athletic character and elegant at the
same time. It has a proper coupe’ shape
with the presence of four doors and the
comfort of a top class sedan. I am
expecting a VW standard interior but I
realize I am wrong. In fact you can find
some fresh, detailed quality which brings
this car to a level of at least the best
Audi, as far as atmosphere while driving
and the cure for details. All the modern
features are offered and the commands
are very rationally allocated in the cockpit.
The seats are very good too with all
the required adjustment you would
expect from a higher class saloon. You
feel like someone has thought about you
and the time you will spend in this commuter.
We test the 2.0 Ltr turbo
engine, capable of 197 bhp at 6,000
rpm. Again I am wrong since I expect
poor performance from a relative
small engine on such a fully loaded
saloon. In fact the car is immediately
expressing some young yet mature
dynamics. It accelerates as if it was a
Golf and it’s agile like a much smaller
car. Power is available immediately
when requested and the DSG gearbox
is the usual perfect tool to manage
torque and gear selection. The flawless
gear shifting is so quick that I
would never ask for a manual box on
such a machine. Everything works as
per the well known German standard.
You cannot really find anything bad on
this special saloon.
It also handles remarkably
well. Yes, it is a long wheel base car
which in theory means poor agility
and great stability but again the engineers
have found the right balance.
The CC turns in reasonably quick in
the bends even at a serious pace and
then it keeps the trajectory helped by
the generous size of the 18 inches
tires. At the limit it becomes slightly
under steering, which is completely
normal and easy to adjust just by
coming off the throttle for a second
or two. I just would like a more sensitive
steering but I am asking too
much, I know.
This Passat CC has passed
our examination without a doubt; it
actually has surprised us for its maturity
and its dynamics. It’s available
now and it is a very interesting alternative
to the usual Mercedes, BMW
and Audis. Think about it.
