One of Volkswagen’s most extraordinary engineering experiments is back on the market. A virtually unused Volkswagen XL1, the futuristic diesel plug-in hybrid designed to consume just 0.9 liters per 100 kilometers, is up for auction in the Netherlands.
But behind its €110,000–€125,000 estimate lies an intriguing question: was this very car sold for less than €30,000 just seven months ago?
The white XL1, built in 2015 and first registered in Luxembourg in March 2016, has covered just 1,672 kilometers. Catawiki, the Dutch online auction platform specializing in collectibles and classic cars, is offering it, with bidding closing on 12 November.
By Tuesday morning, bidding had reached €70,000 after 51 bids, although the seller’s reserve price had not been met. Interestingly, the auction also offered a Buy Now option at €107,251, below Catawiki’s own estimated value of €110,000–€125,000.
However, an apparently identical XL1 appeared at Bonhams’ Monaco auction on 24 April 2026. Also white and first registered in Luxembourg in March 2016, it had covered 1,426 kilometers and sold for just €29,900, including the buyer’s premium.
If the chassis numbers match, the car has traveled only 246 kilometers between auctions, while its estimated value has almost quadrupled. Newmobility.news has asked Catawiki to confirm the VIN and clarify its recent ownership history.
From Luxembourg to the Netherlands
Bonhams identified its car as chassis WVWZZZ11ZFK000074, manufactured in Dresden in 2015 and delivered through Luxembourg importer Losch. The energy technology company INGEM used it for promotional activities before it changed hands in 2019.
The Catawiki example was recently imported into the Netherlands, registered, and serviced. Whether its current owner bought it in Monaco remains unclear. Catawiki identifies the vendor as a Netherlands-based private seller but does not disclose the reason for selling.
The valuation gap is striking, although an estimate is not a realized price. Another XL1 fetched €97,750 at Bonhams Paris in 2022, illustrating the volatility of this tiny collector market.
Ferdinand Piëch’s one-liter obsession
The XL1 culminated Ferdinand Piëch’s ambition to build a car capable of traveling 100 kilometers on a single liter of fuel. But Volkswagen’s pursuit of extreme efficiency had begun decades earlier.
In 1986, it unveiled the three-wheeled, Polo-based Scooter concept at Geneva, a lightweight two-seater with gullwing doors that never entered production. In 1999, the Lupo 3L TDI became the world’s first production car to officially consume less than 3 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers.
The XL1 took that philosophy to its ultimate extreme. When the production-ready version debuted at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show,
Volkswagen invited selected journalists to drive it from Lucerne to Geneva. Among the guests was Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner, famous for his record-breaking jump from the stratosphere.
At the time, NMN editor Tony Verhelle was invited to drive the car when it arrived in Geneva. He remembers a very drivable car for a concept (at that time) that fitted smoothly into the Geneva traffic. His consumption was measured after the trip, and he was told it had consumed 1.08 l/100 km, thanks to the aid of the electric engine and the small battery. Of course, the challenge was to consume as little as possible, not performance. But the car was certainly no sluggard and easy to drive properly.
Volkswagen ultimately built just 250 XL1s, including 200 intended for customers. Its engineers pursued efficiency with few compromises: a carbon-fiber body, enclosed rear wheels, butterfly doors, and camera-based mirrors achieved an exceptionally low drag coefficient of 0.19.
Weighing just 795 kilograms, the two-seater combined a 0.8-liter, 48 hp, two-cylinder diesel engine with a 27 hp electric motor and a seven-speed DSG gearbox. Combined output was 68 hp, with a top speed limited to 160 km/h.
A 5.5 kWh battery enabled up to 50 kilometers of electric driving. The official NEDC figure of 0.9 liters per 100 kilometers, equivalent to 21 g/km of CO₂, relied on a charged battery and external electricity. It did not mean the XL1 could cover 100 kilometers on one liter of diesel indefinitely.
An exceptionally rare sight in Belgium
Six XL1s reportedly reached the Netherlands, while Belgium has at least two documented examples in collections. One belongs to the D’Ieteren Gallery, the Belgian Volkswagen importer’s historical collection, and automotive journalists have driven it on public roads.
Original buyers were carefully selected. Among them was German entrepreneur Wolfgang Grupp, who reportedly ordered two XL1s for his children.
Despite its engineering brilliance, the XL1 ultimately became a technological dead end. Its carbon-fiber construction and specialized diesel-electric drivetrain were too expensive and complex to mass-produce. Volkswagen instead moved towards conventional plug-in hybrids and, eventually, its fully electric ID. family.
Yet the XL1 remains a fascinating reminder of an era when carmakers competed to make vehicles consume less rather than accelerate faster.
Whether collectors now consider that ambition worth €125,000 is another question. The Catawiki auction closes on Thursday, 12 November. Its final price — and confirmation of the car’s identity — may prove almost as interesting as the vehicle itself.
The Scooter story
The three-wheeled Scooter concept, mentioned earlier and launched in 1986, was one of VW’s first attempts to create an economical car. It emerged as a radical take on the economical car, minus a rear wheel. While VW had a reputation for conservative styling, this concept broke the mold with something far more outlandish.
The diminutive concept stuffed the Polo’s running gear into a three-wheeler measuring just 3,175 millimeters long. Weighing as little as 550 kilograms, split 69:31 between the two axles, the dinky car didn’t need a large engine. VW installed its naturally aspirated 1.1-liter base four-cylinder, producing just 40 hp, sent to the front wheels via a four-speed manual gearbox.
Thanks to its exceptionally low curb weight and a drag coefficient of only 0.25, the Scooter sipped fuel. VW claimed the slippery concept could return 3.9 l/100 km at a steady 90 kph. Achieving such efficiency in the 1980s was no small feat, made possible by a teardrop-shaped body honed in the wind tunnel.
Although strictly a concept, it was designed to meet regulatory requirements in Europe and the United States. Brochures of the day emphasized that the one-off was as safe as a car yet as fun as a motorcycle. Beyond its gullwing doors and single rear wheel, the Scooter featured plenty of other quirks.
The rear window could be removed to recreate the open-air feel of a convertible, while the doors themselves could be detached by unhooking the gas struts. Of course, you had to leave them at home and hope for good weather conditions. Dual mufflers flanked the lone rear wheel, which was mounted to a newly developed swinging-arm rear axle. Flush-mounted headlights contributed to the sleek nose, while a single windshield wiper underscored the narrow body.
Up front, the dual wheels measured 13 inches and wore 175/60 tires, while the solitary 15-inch rear wheel used wider 235/55 rubber. Inside, there was room for two occupants and little else. VW quoted a payload capacity of 210 kilograms, so two adults would have needed to pack light.
In its early days as a journalist, NMN editor Tony Verhelle was able to drive the prototype and remembers it as a real fun vehicle, despite its lack of power, and managed to record an average of 4.5 l/100 km while driving it swiftly on German country roads and even the Autobahn. A real feat those days.
Unfortunately, the car died a silent death. Project lead engineer Ulrich Seiffert convened with the marketing people at the time to see where the car could be produced. In Wolfsburg, they laughed at him and said, arrogantly: “OK, we will build it for one week for the whole projected yearly production, but what will we build the other weeks of the year?”
Seiffert then hoped to secure a partnership with a low-volume manufacturer like Karmann, well-known to Volkswagen, but they also refused. So, the Scooter never really materialized.
