2015 Volkswagen XL1

£79,950

  • No. 1 of 24 UK delivered examples

  • 1 owner from new

  • 3,300 miles from new

  • Fresh service and Mechatronic overhaul by Volkswagen Technical Centre in Milton Keynes

  • Just 200 XL1s were ever sold and VW spent £1 Billion developing them

Model History

The late Ferdinand Piëch is one of the legends of automotive history. The grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, he was behind the development of iconic cars like the Porsche 917, the Audi Quattro and the Bugatti Veyron.

A very hard and uncompromising boss, his expectations were often unrealistic and far-fetched, although in hindsight it did lead to some incredible creations. In 2000, at the Geneva Motor Show, he announced to the world that Bugatti would build a car with 1,001bhp, capable of 400km/h and do 0-100kmh in under 3 seconds. Not only were the world taken by surprise but most of his design and engineering team were too! They hadn’t even built a prototype at that point.

Around the same time work began on a project that would be equally as daunting but instead of ultimate performance being the aim, it was ultimate efficiency. A car that would be capable of 100km on 1 litre of fuel.

Initially dubbed the 1L Volkswagen, it was first seen in April 2002 when Piëch drove it to his last AGM as Chairman. This initial concept used a 299cc one cylinder engine and 6 speed manual transmission. Driver and passenger sat in tandem, like a fighter aircraft and the car weighed just 290kg. All focus was on lightweight materials and aerodynamic efficiency.

In 2009 a new version was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Called the L1 it kept the tandem seating but used effectively one half of the 1.6 TDI engine and an electric motor. The kerb weight grew to 381 kg.

Two years later, at the 2011 Qatar Motor Show, the third and final iteration was revealed. Now called the XL1 and now a plug-in hybrid, it was similar in length and width to a Polo and used staggered side by side seating in place of the tandem set up. Despite the kerb weight now being 795kg it was still capable of 0.9l per 100kms or the equivalent of 310 mpg with a fully charged battery.

Despite rumours at the beginning of the project that these concepts would lead to a new production model, the reality proved to be too complicated. It is believed that Volkswagen ploughed over a billion Euros into this idea and in 2013 announced it would produce a limited run of just 250 cars for Europe only. Of those 250, VW kept 50 so just 200 were earmarked to be sold to retail clients at a price of €111,000 EUR. Not bad when you consider they owed VW about €5m a car!

Unsurprisingly, the level of interest far exceeded the 200 cars that would be built. VW had to do a draw and if chosen, you were expected to sign a legally binding purchase agreement and put down a €20,000 deposit, immediately.

The Car for Sale

The owner of the Volkswagen XL1 for sale with Wrightson Automotive was one of those lucky 200. Of those 200, just 24 came to the UK and this example was the very first one delivered.

Specified new in Reflex Silver with the option Titanium Black Alcantara interior, this Volkswagen XL1, number 130 of the 200 made, was handed over to the owner by the then MD of Volkswagen UK.

In his ownership the VW has only covered 3,300 miles and has always been maintained by the Volkswagen Technical Centre in Milton Keynes, which is the only place you should ever take these fascinating machines to for servicing and maintenance. During the most recent service in May 2025 the mechatronic system in the DSG gearbox (a very common issue with these and any other DSG cars) was replaced and the airbag was replaced as part of a recall by Volkswagen.

Service History

 7th June 2016 @ 2,086 miles

25th August 2017 @ 2,484 miles

14th May 2018 @ 2,618 miles

23rd October 2019 @ 2,654 miles

7th September 2021 @ 2,786 miles

22nd August 2023 @ 3,269 miles

14th May 2025 @ 3,298 miles

 

Over the last 10 years the owner has enjoyed the car as part of his collection of eclectic machines. Now, having put his name down for the new Renault 5 Turbo 3E, which looks to be utterly bananas, the time has come for the XL1 to make the necessary space in the garage. This opens the door for a lucky someone (I wish me!) to become the 2nd owner and join a seriously select group of owners and be the custodian of a car/spaceship that creates the sort of stir, out in the wild, that couldn’t be replicated by machinery worth 10 or even 50 times more.

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