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Volkswagen has launched a £48,360 limited edition of the ID 3 GTX that reimagines the classic Golf Fire+Ice special from the 1990s.

Taking the same name as its forebear, the ID 3 GTX Fire+Ice was previewed last year by an eponymous concept and will be limited to just 1990 examples worldwide.

Its arrival marks the start of an effort by Volkswagen to release low-volume specials across its ID range in a bid to increase the appeal of its EVs, as it did with earlier ICE models.

The German brand says it wants to show how specials, like 1995’s Golf Rolling Stones and 1994’s Golf Pink Floyd, could work with today’s electric range of cars.

The ID 3 GTX Fire+Ice reinterprets many of the original design cues from the limited-edition Golf (pictured below).

It has been designed in collaboration with Bögner, the German sportswear company that helped design the original car.

Highlights include a unique ultra-violet metallic paint, 20in Locarno alloy wheels, red roof trim and a special embossed F+I pattern on the C-pillar. The original Fire+Ice logo can also be found on the roof. 

The interior also receives unique touches, most notable Flaming Red (for Fire) and Ice Blue (for Ice) elements within the special seats, which have been quilted in a design similar to Bögner’s Fire+Ice down jackets.

This new special uses the same powertrain as the ID 3 GTX Performance and so offers 322bhp and 402lb ft from a single, front-mounted electric motor. This gives the car the same 0-62mph time of 5.7sec and top speed of 124mph.

It also gets uprated stabilisers and adaptive dampers. Electricity is supplied by a 79 kWh lithium ion battery with a claimed range of 367 miles.

The ID3 GTX Fire+Ice will be on sale from 7 August.

Mercedes-Benz will introduce a bold new chrome grille design that will feature on its next-generation of electric vehicles, starting with the new electric GLC SUV that will be revealed at next month’s Munich motor show.

The new front-end design, which has been previewed with a teaser image, reinvents the classic radiator grille design that has featured on nearly every combustion-engined Mercedes model.

The new electric GLC, which is in effect a successor to the EQC, will sit alongside the existing combustion-engined version and is the first in a major product offensive by Mercedes-Benz as it abandons dedicated model names for its EVs.

The current design lineage dates to the 1900 Mercedes 35 PS, which featured an upright honeycomb grille to maximise cooling. Elements from that design, such as the distinct central kink on the angled grille, can be seen in current models, although aerodynamics has led the grilles to become far lower and wider.

Because the grille was developed purely for cooling that an EV doesn’t need, the first generation of electric Mercedes featured a different front-end design. But the next-generation electric models will introduce a more traditional grille that returns to a taller and more upright format. 

Mercedes-Benz boss Ola Källenius said the grille was originally “not a design choice, but form follows function”. He said the new design would ensure Mercedes could maintain its identity “in current times, with 100-plus Chinese firms” and others entering the market, and ensure it could carry “the calling card of Mercedes, the unmistakeable Mercedesness” into the future.

Without the need for a cooling function, the grille has been reinvented by Mercedes as an illuminated panel. The version that will appear on the new GLC EV will feature a chrome front – notably going against a wider industry trend to reduce the use of chrome styling elements – that is perforated with 942 small holes. Behind the panel are more than 100 LEDs, which enable the grille to light up in a variety of customisable ways. The central star logo is also illuminated, although the extent to which it is will be dependent on local regulations.

The illuminated grille will feature on all next-gen Mercedes models, although the design will vary slightly between them. The firm is also set to update its combustion models in the coming years, and given it has previously said their design language will 'merge', it is likely their radiator grille designs will change to match the new shape.