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The recent ‘Polo Confidence’ advertising campaign for the Volkswagen Polo – also known as ‘Singing Dog’ – has been honoured at this year’s Autocar Awards, being named Car Ad of the Year 2008.

Voted for by the readers of Autocar online, the ‘Polo Confidence’ TV commercial features a Jack Russell dog which is shown to be nervous and timid in everyday situations, yet, while in the Polo, ‘sings’ happily and confidently along to the soundtrack of I’m A Man by the Spencer Davis Group.

On accepting the prestigious award, Chris Craft, Director of Volkswagen UK commented: ‘We’re delighted to receive this award from Autocar – and it’s really special because it’s voted for by the public.

‘We wanted to develop the advert to reinforce the key messages of the Polo – safety, security and therefore confidence. We are really proud to have produced such a memorable advertisement and one which has clearly captured the public’s imagination.’

The Polo ad had some formidable rivals for the award. ‘This is the new Jaguar’ spot for the XF; Honda’s live skydive advert for the Accord and Renault’s ‘4×4 spirit’ advert for the Koleos were all up for the gong, but the clear winner was the Polo campaign. Charles Hallett, Editor of Autocar agreed with the readers’ choice: ‘It’s funny, memorable and in keeping with some excellent Volkswagen adverts over the years.’

Conceived and produced by Volkswagen’s advertising agency, DDB London, the advert was filmed over three days in Los Angeles, USA. Two Jack Russells, Bear and Cody, were used during the filming. Though almost identical, the two male dogs are not siblings.

One of the trainers from the dogs’ agency, Worldwide Movie Animals, said: ‘On screen, Bear did all the happy, singing in the car stuff and Cody did all the scaredy cat, shaking stuff. Cody has a command called “head down” where he lowers his head as you see in the commercial and it makes him look very timid. As soon as you release the behaviour, he pops his head back up and looks super happy again. They love chicken, playing ball, frisbee and tug of war. Both are really good tempered, well trained dogs that are fun to be around.’

The advert has so far registered over one million hits on the internet video site, YouTube, while 36 fan groups were set up on social networking site FaceBook. The soundtrack, which was not re-released, also peaked at number six on the UK Rock Top 100 on iTunes.

Source: Volkswagen UK Press Office

Ford has recently launched the new daringly-styled Fiesta, and still nothing. Usually, when a big European manufacturer unveils a new model, there’s a frenzy of activity in that car’s segment in the marketplace. Rival models can be like buses; up to three or four competing models can all come at once, usually after a long drought of new metal. It happened in 2002. VW pulled the covers off the Series 3 Polo at the Frankfurt Motor Show, just as Ford did the same with its then-new Fiesta. Across the hall, Citroën unwrapped its challenger, too, the 2CV-inspired C3.

So, with a new Fiesta, Škoda Fabia, and SEAT Ibiza only months old, why haven’t we seen a newly-minted Polo? That could be an easy one to answer. Volkswagen has been very busy of late, pushing the new Scirocco into the world, and rushing through the sixth generation Golf, ready for an early 2009 launch. The Polo simply hasn’t been top of its agenda recently.

But, don’t let that fool you into thinking that it’s all quiet on the new Polo front. Barely a month goes by without some artist’s impression of a new version of VW’s small car in the motoring weeklies. And, if all the hype is to be believed, there’s much to look forward to.

Building on the thirty-four year success of its predecessors, the 2009 model will still be one of the most refined and well made cars in its class. All the sensible stuff hasn’t been engineered out either, with fuel economy and comfort still watch words for the fifth generation Polo. But, in addition to the bread and butter three and five-door hatchbacks, it has been reported that Volkswagen may bolster the Polo family by adding MPV and proper SUV variants.

Not only that, but a two-seater roadster is said to be under development, too, adding some pizazz to the flagship TSI 1.4-litre, 185bhp GTI. But, in the current economic climate, it will be interesting to see how many of these halo models have seen their development wings clipped. I’m hoping it’s not many.

Supposedly Golf 6-like in looks, the new car will take on VW’s new family face, distancing it yet further from its Czech and Spanish cousins, with which it shares its platform. Given the shared DNA, it’s surprising that some details haven’t leaked. I expect the car to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March. 2009 is certainly shaping up to be a classic Polo year.

Dan helped me fulfill a somewhat forgotten lifelong ambition yesterday evening. I was obsessed with Volkswagen’s original Beetle when I was a little boy, and looked forward to owning one when I turned 17 and passed my driving test. That dream was never realised, partly because I didn’t pass my (second) test until I was 18, and partly because when I did, my grandparents handed me their then 14 year-old Polo. Which, as those who know me would testify, got me becoming obsessed with Volkswagens of another kind.

But, with over 21 million examples having found homes across the world, I can see why the little car endeared itself to each and every one of them. Dan’s 1972 example was towards the end of the model’s production run in Europe, and although production ceased totally in 2003, the car was fundamentally the same as when it was introduced some 65 years earlier. Some even doubted if production would ever end, but Volkswagen called time on it’s air-cooled legend, after a prolonged stay of execution, with the car living out its retirement in South America.

There are too many Beetle facts, figures, and stories to go into here, but my own on Saturday night was memorable. I’d been a passenger in one of the bubble-shaped cars a few years back, and even then it lived up to its legacy. It’s actually a very small car, even though I had previously thought that the bolted-on and protruding wings made it rather large; you can see why Americans noted its smallness when they took it to their hearts in the 1960s.

Inside it’s very cosy, and with no room for luggage, quite impractical. The windscreen is close to your face, and there’s absolutely no crash protection. The steering is best described as vague, and the brakes are near non-existent. But, with the noisy flat-four engine chugging away behind you, all seems to be forgiven.

All of a sudden all of those idiosyncrasies seem to not matter. You are immediately transported back at least 30 years, and all the memories of loving the car in my childhood came flooding back. The first Volkswagen shows I ever attended were because of the Beetle, and Herbie was my favourite movie star when I was a young and impressionable lad (my mum took me to see the series of 1970s Disney films starring the ‘Love Bug’ in the cinema at the time of their release). Even my love of Polos and other modern-day water-cooled Volkswagens stem from the fact that the Beetle introduced me to that iconic interlocked VW badge.

So, I have a lot to thank this little car for. And, although it would be nice to have a restored late Sixties example, or a late Seventies GT Beetle under a dust sheet which could be flung back for those few and far between sunny Sunday afternoon drives (from a wooden double-door garage of course), I have to be realistic. For now, I’ll continue to admire the little cars from afar, and remember that, for once, something legendary is actually deserving of its status.

It was here, and now it’s gone. Only a couple of hours ago, in the space above, was our friend with four wheels, who ferried us around the Dales for a week. Volkswagen has taken the BlueMotion back, and I’m missing it already.

Getting us from stone wall-edged village to stone wall-edged village with style, little effort and much comfort, the nice man from Volkswagen has collected the keys, and returned OY08 ZYF (or ‘Bluey’ as it was often called) to the VW press garage. We had an enjoyable ten days, though, with over 1,000 miles driven, and many great locations seen.

And, as the BlueMotion is the Polo with a conscience, we went up hills and down dales without pumping too many emissions into the lush and green, stream-filled landscape. Rather obviously, being an eco-model, we also had an eye on economy, too, averaging upwards of 50 miles per gallon.

Full report coming soon.

Say fuel-saving economy car to people a few years ago, and basic no-frills models would have been the order of the day. No more. In 2008, miserly options from manufacturers are no longer scratchy hairshirt basic and cheap. Take this VW Polo BlueMotion 2 for example.

Arriving this morning for the week, we’re going to test it to see if its 70.4mpg is achievable in real-world conditions. We’ve heard a lot about it, and in more spartan BlueMotion 1 guise, it’s the lowest emission car in the UK. This plusher BlueMotion 2 variant puts out 5g/km more (104), but it does give us extra toys such as rain-sensing wipers, auto-dipping mirror, and air-conditioning.

And, despite theories that it won’t do wonders for our fuel consumption, if the weather is going to be anything like it has been this week, then we’re going to need that last one.