Volkswagen doesn’t build a supercar, and never has. The closest the German automaker came was the W12 prototypes more than twenty-five years ago, which never made it to production. But a design intern recently showed what a Volkswagen-branded supercar could look like with the Volkswagen ID.DIN T14 concept.
Fabian Reitz created the ID.DIN T14 for his Volkswagen Design internship project. Andreas Mindt, the head of Volkswagen Group and Brand Design, shared images of the design on his Instagram. The German carmaker went beyond sketches and built a scale model of the car.
In his Instagram post, Mindt called the concept’s design “bold” with “clear proportions, reduced surfaces, and a strong graphic character.” The vehicle has slab sides, a narrow greenhouse, and a wraparound windshield. The design looks more sinister than the Audi Concept C, which shares some elements. One online observer joked it looks like something the Penguin would drive in the next Batman movie.
What makes this design different
The vehicle’s design includes aerodynamic vents on top of the front fenders and a massive rear diffuser. There are no side mirrors. Instead, the design uses Leica cameras that pop out from the fenders.
The wheels are very large, with aero covers. Despite its aggressive shape, the car fits visually with the rest of the automaker’s product lineup.
Related: Hennessey unveils 2,000-horsepower manual hypercar
Intern design projects often give young designers room to explore ideas that would never survive a production review. This particular project caught the attention of the firm’s top designer, which helps explain why it moved from digital renderings to a physical model.
Few intern design concepts get that treatment.
It is not clear whether the vehicle is meant to be electric. The ‘ID.’ prefix usually signals an electric model in the carmaker’s model lineup, but the design concept doesn’t include any powertrain details. The physical scale model doesn’t show a charging port or exhaust outlets either.
Volkswagen currently has no plans for production
The answer is probably not. According to the official report, the concept remains a design exercise and nothing more. The German automaker has not announced any plans to turn the intern’s project into a production car. The company has deliberately left the supercar market to other brands in the Volkswagen Group, such as Lamborghini, Porsche, and Audi.
Still, the design concept shows what a supercar from the German automaker could look like if the company ever decides to change its mind. For now, it exists only as a physical scale model and a few Instagram photos.
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