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The Week in Germany: Business and Technology August 25, 2006 Handcrafted in Saxony: German “Yes” Roadster Trades Luxury for Speed Based on the promotional materials, one might assume that “Yes” is a micro-brewed beer, a traditional Christmas ornament from the Erzgebirge, or perhaps a Stradivarius. But these “individual masterpieces,” which are “hand-crafted” by teams of six, are actually racecars, engineered to maximize raw power at the expense of comfort. The “Young Engineers Sportscar” was originally developed by two students, Herbert Funke and Philip Will, as a university project. With support from public financing, the partners began producing the roadsters commercially five years ago and have already sold 150 of them to racecar enthusiasts.
While the “young engineers” have grown up, their product still testifies to its makers’ youthful zeal. The Yes is a sort of platonic ideal of race cars. With an extremely low weight of 2,200 pounds thanks to an aluminum frame and a fiberglass body, the V6 Volkswagen engine situated behind the driver propels the Yes to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds and top speeds over 170 m/hour. In its first incarnation, the Yes delivered power at the expense of comfort. According to the manufacturers, the ascetic “club sport” model, which had no doors and no top, delivered “the most original feeling of driving you have ever had.” The next generation of roadsters does make some grudging concessions to comfort: a roof and doors come standard, and interior lights, ABS, airbags, and air conditioning can be added at an additional cost. Arnd Sünner, a marketing representative at Funke and Will AG told Der Spiegel that these extravagancies make the new roadster “a little watered down” compared to its predecessor. Nevertheless, the new turbo version delivers 355 horsepower The former East German State of Saxony has a century-long tradition of
automobile manufacturing. The Audi company has its roots near the turn
of the century in Zwickau, which later became the birthplace of the famous
East German “Trabant.” Shortly after reunification, Volkswagen
established a manufacturing facility in Zwickau. Some observers think
that the Yes manufacturers Funke & Will AG may have a bright future
in the same tradition; in 2004 the seventy person outfit won the German
Entrepreneurship prize in the emerging company category. Links:
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