A Premium Sedan for Less
I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day, especially considering the storms that have plagued the East Coast this year. The
setting, Boston, Massachusetts, one of the most storied cities in North America and a mecca for Volkswagen owners, or so I soon found out, was the ideal backdrop for the German automaker's latest and arguably most important new model introduction of the year, the 2006 Passat.
The Passat looked dignified in front Boston's World Trade Center, where a detailed analysis of the car's many features was about to take place, its wider stance exploiting Volkswagen's new Phaeton-inspired design language to much greater visual satisfaction than with the previously released Jetta. The Passat looks different than the Phaeton, of course, yet most of its uniqueness isn't up front where its subtly sculpted headlamps complement a bold chrome grille, but rather from the rear, where distinctive taillight clusters form into a molded rear decklid,
shaped to form an integrated spoiler and Kamm-like tail, resulting in a sportier package than the grand sedan.
From the profile it couldn't be anything but a Passat, its arcing roofline giving away its Volkswagen heritage from a mile away. In my opinion, Volkswagen owns this look, won from millions, and decades of Beetle sales. J Mays, VW's previous head of design who penned the original Passat, as well as the Concept One which became the New Beetle, was initially inspired, reaching into Volkswagen's past and pulling forward one of its iconic design themes - now that he's at Ford, mind you, he would have done better to have come up with an alternative design language (he designed the Five Hundred after all) more definitive to the blue oval group.
I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day, especially considering the storms that have plagued the East Coast this year. The
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| I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to test out the new 2006 Passat 3.6. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
The Passat looked dignified in front Boston's World Trade Center, where a detailed analysis of the car's many features was about to take place, its wider stance exploiting Volkswagen's new Phaeton-inspired design language to much greater visual satisfaction than with the previously released Jetta. The Passat looks different than the Phaeton, of course, yet most of its uniqueness isn't up front where its subtly sculpted headlamps complement a bold chrome grille, but rather from the rear, where distinctive taillight clusters form into a molded rear decklid,
| |
| From the profile it couldn't be anything but a Passat, its arcing roofline giving away its Volkswagen heritage from a mile away. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
From the profile it couldn't be anything but a Passat, its arcing roofline giving away its Volkswagen heritage from a mile away. In my opinion, Volkswagen owns this look, won from millions, and decades of Beetle sales. J Mays, VW's previous head of design who penned the original Passat, as well as the Concept One which became the New Beetle, was initially inspired, reaching into Volkswagen's past and pulling forward one of its iconic design themes - now that he's at Ford, mind you, he would have done better to have come up with an alternative design language (he designed the Five Hundred after all) more definitive to the blue oval group.