One of the most economical production cars in the world - the ultra-light hybrid Volkswagen XL1 - is up for auction for 60 thousand pounds, Motor reported.

At the heart of the Volkswagen XL1 is a carbon fiber monocoque; Suspension and power unit are attached to the aluminum-magnesium sections in front and behind. Designers saved weight on everything: for example, the dashboard was made of papier-mâché.

It was possible to keep the curb weight of the car at around 695 kilograms, which, coupled with a record low drag coefficient of 0.186 and an electrified 47-horsepower diesel engine, made it possible to achieve unprecedented low fuel consumption.

Volkswagen XL1 - the brainchild of Ferdinand Piech. The ingenious manager set the task to produce a car with a fuel consumption of no more than one liter per 100 kilometers and did not take into account the costs. In the early 2010s, the world saw a prototype close to serial, which showed certification results of 0.9 liters per 100 kilometers according to the NEDC standard.

Unprecedented cost-effectiveness was expensive: the price of the XL1 was EUR 111 thousand, while for Volkswagen the small car project was deeply unprofitable. From 2013 to 2015, the concern produced a total of 250 XL1 hybrids. Two hundred copies fell into free sale, another 50 pieces were kept by the manufacturer for its own needs.