Volkswagen brought along a new toy to the Detroit Auto Show that might just be a beacon of light to sportscar lovers as the green future beckons.
The BlueSport is just a concept, but features some very real eco-friendly technologies that give it the sort of green credentials not normally associated with a low, sporty two-seat roadster. These include regenerative braking and an autmomatic start-stop system.
The car also uses an aluminium chassis and body to keep weight down. The roof is a folding hardtop jobbie, but it too is made of lightweight aluminium, and unusually it is manually operated - no heavy electric motors here.
Volkswagen claim that the resultant C02 emissions are no more than a Toyota Prius hybrid, without having to resort to lugging around an extra motor. The SportBlue is powered by a 2.0-litre common-rail turbodiesel, similar to the one found in the recent Jetta TDi. The clever lump is mated to a dual-clutch DSG 'box with flappy paddle.
Claimed performance times are thoroughly un-diesel-like, with 0-62mph coming up in 6.2 seconds, en-route to a top speed of 140 mph.
The car remains a concept, but we hope that VW do decide to bring something along these lines into production.
Watch the BlueSport doddering about in this video: