There’s a real *cough* buzz around VW’s EV comeback kid. We’re first to drive it, introduce it to the ancestors and ask the real camper fans what they think

WORDS OLLIE MARRIAGE

PHOTOGRAPHY MARK FAGELSON

“Coo, isn’t it lovely ?

It’s like... modern and old-fashioned at the same time. But why’s it got them black stripes on the side?” Sometimes an audience is engaged and wants the technical details and sometimes, well, sometimes their dog cocks its leg on a lamp post and an innocent trickle starts running under the tyre of the car you’re discussing.

A sharp tug on a lead. “Oi, you! I’m so sorry about that.” But the moment has passed, the terrier departs with a certain jaunt in its step, the intrigued onlooker tally falls by one and the opportunity to discuss the air-cooled rear-engined origins of VW vans and the symmetry in the new ID.Buzz vanishes. We’re outside DeskHop in Newquay. It’s one of those hot-desking pop-ups that chimes with the VW’s forward looking philosophy. Sounds like I planned it, but I actually pulled over for the slumped glitz of the amusement arcade next door. Nevertheless, maybe not where you’d expect to find the first ID.Buzz on the road anywhere in the world. Hello, Cornwall.

Now, you’ve probably already seen studio shots of the ID.Buzz, but nothing quite prepares you for the visual impact it has on the road. It’s only five days since the global unveil. People haven’t had a chance to get used to it yet and can’t believe this is it, ready for production. Come here in a supercar and they’d approach with trepidation, but this is friendlier so they flock to it like seagulls around an abandoned bag of chips. Hide, says the numberplate; not a chance, screams the Buzz, belting everyone between the eyes with its clean, confident lines, blacked out pillars and a windscreen like a set of wrap-around shades. Could have been even more wrap-aroundy, some reckon, more in keeping with the ‘Bay’ as the post-split screen T2 is affectionately known. Others idly wonder if some aftermarket firm will do a ‘Splittie’ sticker to divide the screen or ‘Samba’ it like the 23-window version. Tomorrow we’re showing it to VW van enthusiasts. Today’s knowledgeable comments come from people who wander over for a chat in a town that probably has a stronger connection to VW vans than any this side of Woodstock or San Francisco. Volkswagen rode the crest of the California surf scene and hippy counterculture wave back in the Sixties, and although the vans that filled the gap between the original T2 and today have had neither the iconic looks nor zeitgeist appeal, the scene never died.