PoloDriver

It might be winter, but here’s something to encourage the sun to shine. The Series 2F Polo built from 1990-1994 had arguably the most special editions than any other Polo generation, with over 17 at last count. But, ultimately the rarest and most bespoke of them all is the Treser ‘Open Air’, made by Treser in Ingolstadt, home of Audi. That’s not the only four-ringed connection; Walter Treser was an ex-Audi engineer, who after leaving the company, set up his own outfit making bespoke sports cars. So what was he doing turning Polos into two-seat cabriolets? Read on to find out at least some of the answers.

The Polo Treser ‘Open Air’ wasn’t cheap, with the conversion costing DM16,000 on top of the cost of the 55 and 75bhp basic Polo donor cars. All Polo Treser Cabrios were not only ordered from the Volkswagen dealer, but also received a full VAG-approved guarantee. The standard four-seat Polo coupé body was fitted with so many modified panels, it was almost as handbuilt as more luxurious prestige cars. Only the front wings, doors and bonnet remained as Volkswagen had intended, with the rear wings and tailgate modified to take the new rear deck. New colour-coded sportier bumpers were fitted front and rear, while a new ‘beak’-style front grille replaced the standard VW slatted item.

The new roof was similar to a targa in that the panel directly over the occupants’ heads could be removed completely, leaving a B-pillar type arrangement and glass rear window. This too could be taken off the car, leaving a smooth and sports car-like body. When the roof was in place, the Polo Treser ‘Open Air’ had something of a notchback appearance, an unfortunate by-product of leaving the body shell’s B-pillar support in situ. This could then be folded behind the seats, and whichever way you look at it, while not graceful, the Treser ‘Open Air’ did inject some style and glamour into the then-dated Polo range.

Most Tresers were based on Polo GTs, and while 10 of the 290 produced were produced at Treser itself, the remaining 280 were converted by a firm in Austria. All Treser Cabrios were built between 1991 and 1993. Nowadays you’ll be lucky to see one, but one other question remains. Were Volkswagen inspired by the Treser Polo ‘Open Air’ for their special-edition Series 3 Polo namesake from the mid-1990s which featured an electrically-operated rollback-style canvas roof? We suspect not, but as with other aspects of Volkswagen Polo history, the Treser ‘Open Air’ is just one small and interesting part.

[Source: Treser-Club.com. Special thanks to Carsten Nitzsche]

The fifth-generation Polo and its saloon counterpart the Vento, have proved popular in the emerging Indian car market, with both models currently experiencing 2-3 month waiting lists. Volkswagen plans to increase production to cope with the larger than expected demand for the cars, as Volkswagen Group Sales India (Passenger Cars) Director, Neeraj Garg explained: ‘Presently, we have at least two to three months of waiting period for the Polo and Vento. We are ramping-up capacity at our Chakan facility in Maharashtra to meet demand.

‘We have started a second shift to scale-up production to meet the high demand for the Polo and Vento. We are gradually ramping-up production, but not rapidly, as we do not want to compromise on quality,’ Garg continued. In November 2010 Volkswagen sold 4613 Polo and Vento vehicles and sales have already reached 26,000 total units for January to November 2010. The German company expects to achieve the full annual production capacity of 1.1 lakh units at the Chakan factory by the end of 2011, and currently has 61 retailers in India.

The current issue of What Car? magazine carries a mega 13-page group test of premium superminis to mark the UK launch of the Audi A1. Tested in 1.4 TFSI Sport trim, it’s pitted against in-house rival, the Polo (on which it’s based and represented here in top flight SEL trim), the Alfa Romeo Mito 1.4 Multiair TB 135 Lusso and the Mini Cooper 1.6. The magazine uses the same 1.2-litre 104bhp TSI-engined press car we drove back in June (pictured above) for the test, and although the Polo gives away 16bhp to the Audi, it beats its cousin on price, pegged at £14,710 for the three-door car, against the A1’s £15,670 with the same amount of openings. Both cars score the same for average miles per gallon, range and CO2, so it really is a case of which model you prefer. To find out which car wins, buy a copy of the January 2011 issue of What Car?, on sale until 16 December.

To read PoloDriver’s first drive of the Polo SEL 1.2 TSI, click here. The third of our special digital ‘mini-magazines’, check out the PoloDriver bookshelf for our previous two titles.

The Polo has added yet another prize to its Australian trophy cabinet, as Australia’s Best Car Awards 2010 named the Polo 66TDI the ‘Best Light Car Over $20,000’ at a ceremony in Sydney. Juries from both Carsguide and Drive have handed the Polo the Car of the Year 2010 award in their respective competitions last week. According to Australia’s Best Cars, the 89bhp Volkswagen Polo was a standout when it came to performance as well as smoothness and quietness, achieving 10 out of 10. ‘At our test facility the Polo proved to have the most responsive drivetrain of the trio,’ said Mark Borlace, Australia’s Best Cars Chief Judge.

Impressed, Borlace continued: ‘Volkswagen did well with the Polo winning the “Light Car Over $20,000” category and it was unlucky not to win both of the light car categories.’ Anke Koeckler, Volkswagen Group Australia’s Managing Director, expressed her delight at collecting these highly regarded awards: ‘After our very successful award season in 2009, we are particularly pleased to have repeated this success again in 2010,’ she said. ‘We obviously continue to hit the mark with our new models and in particular, the Polo has been embraced as another class leading product.’

‘Australia’s Best Car Awards’ are in their eleventh year as a co-operation between the seven State and Territory based car clubs of Australia. This is Australia’s most comprehensive and independent consumer focused vehicle testing and award programme. Alongside the Polo, the Volkswagen Tiguan 103TDI also took out a category win for ‘Best SUV Under $40,000’, while the Volkswagen Jetta 103TDI was awarded a trophy as ‘Best Medium Car Under $50,000’. The Jetta convinced Borlace with its features: ‘The judges were surprised that a model late in its life still had the right combination to win outright and we look forward to seeing the new model.’

[Image: Australia’s Best Cars]

After a two-month absence, the Polo is back in the UK’s top 10 best-selling cars list, appearing at number eight with 3421 units sold. The latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that UK registrations fell by 11.5% in November 2010 to 139,875 units, but the market is still performing ahead of motor industry forecasts and is up 14.0% compared with the same period last year. The unstoppable Ford Fiesta once again topped November’s list, although the SMMT reports that demand for superminis has weakened since the scrappage scheme.

‘New car registrations fell by less than expected in November with demand from the fleet sector helping to offset the market re-balancing following the end of the Scrappage Incentive Scheme. Registrations are expected to fall again next month, but demand may benefit from motorists looking to avoid the January VAT rise. This factor, coupled with the strength of the first half of 2010, means year-end volumes are expected to lift to over 2.03 million units, 2% up from 2009,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. The UK’s top 10 best-selling cars for November 2010 and the year-to-date (total sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 6488 units (98,453, 1st)
2 Ford Focus: 5537 units (73,973, 3rd)
3 Volkswagen Golf: 5220 units (54,849, 4th)
4 Vauxhall Astra: 4700 units (75,276, 2nd)
5 Vauxhall Insignia: 3915 units
6 BMW 3 Series: 3890 units (39,546, 8th)
7 Vauxhall Corsa: 3684 units (72,654, 4th)
8 Volkswagen Polo: 3421 units (41,793, 6th)
9 Peugeot 207: 3086 units (40,056, 7th)
10 Nissan Qashqai: 2555 units (36,207, 10th)

(The 2010 year-to-date best-seller absent from November’s sales figures was the Mini selling 37,647 units in 9th place.)