Past Meets Future in Volkswagen’s Tristar Concept

HANNOVER, Germany – Volkswagen unveils the Tristar concept vehicle, a hybrid not in the sense of its powertrain but in its body style that incorporates both van and pickup, at the recent commercial-vehicles show here.

The Tristar is dedicated to the 30^th anniversary of VW’s Syncro all-wheel-drive van that debuted in 1985. It also hints at the T6 next-generation model of the automaker’s Transporter range due on the market in 2015 and considered a key product by Eckhard Scholz, president of the VW Commercial Vehicles management board.

“The current T5-Series is our leader in sales and its demand is still very high, so we have to work with extra shifts to assemble it, but that also increases the pressure on us to make the T6 an even better vehicle than the T5,” he says.

Tristar originally was the name of a special-edition double-cab pickup version of the Syncro. But the current concept does not employ the primitive system Austrian manufacturer Steyr-Daimler-Puch used in the Transporter AWD, which used a wet clutch to engage the front wheels when a significant differential between the rotational speeds of the front and rear wheels was detected.

The new concept uses the modern 4Motion permanent AWD system with mechanical lock for the rear-axle differential.

The new Tristar is powered by a 2.0L Volkswagen TDI engine developing 201 hp and 349 lb.-ft. (450 Nm) of torque. It has a short wheelbase and ground clearance is increased 1.2 ins. (30 mm).

Several interesting aspects of the Tristar can be found inside the concept vehicle. Its double cab has been conceived as a videoconferencing room equipped with a 20-in. (51-cm) tablet table, an audio system located next to the driver, swiveling passenger seats and even a built-in espresso machine.

Under the bed’s surface a box guards the replacement tire and offers cargo space.