Autoblog

On our drive back home yesterday, we saw one of those apocalypse-ready Ford Econoline vans tooling along on the freeway and thought to ourselves, "Autoblog needs a mobile command unit." After running it by our budget office and being swiftly laughed out of the building we were forced to come back out of the clouds. Then this shows up and we start salivating again.

The translation from Caradisiac is about as undecipherable as poorly-lighted Aramaic, but from what we gather, Volkswagen plans on showing off a new work truck at some point in the near future to go up against the Ford Transit, Mercedes/Dodge Sprinter and Fiat Truckster. From the Google-translated text, all we can gather is that the Crafta Atacama will be powered by five-cylinder TDI, producing approximately 260 ft./lbs. of torque and offer optional four-wheel-drive.

As anyone who has ever examined some of the offerings from the producers of European work-vans, features are what make the market. How many door combinations do you want? What interior accoutrements are on your short list? You name it, they'll normally shove it in somewhere. The Crafta Atacama probably won't be any different, offering a panoramic/sliding glass roof, customizable colors, shields, bumpers, sidesteps, suspension and wheel upgrades.

When, where and how much is all up in the air, but maybe if it floats on over to this continent we can make another appeal to our bean counters.

Click on through for a few more shots.

Well, we can't say it looks a whole lot better in person than it did in the design sketches we posted earlier. Our man in Madrid, Alberto has graced us with a smattering of photos from his trip to the Madrid Auto Show for  Autoblog Spanish.  We'd recommend clicking out the site, where you can find more photos, including hi-res shots for your viewing pleasure.

The interior of the Truckster continues the tuner-esque theme of the sport truck, outfitted by Sabelt with competition-style seats with five-point harnesses and a sport steering wheel (no word on the function of the steering wheel buttons). The truck is also fitted with a rollcage and a final performance feature - drilled aluminum pedals.

The exterior views highlight what may be the world's largest underbody diffuser, and the 28-inch "turbine"-style wheels.

More insanity after the jump...