FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: Volkswagen Beetle R
Forget about Herbie, the VW Beetle R Concept is a bug with teethFor all of Volkswagen's efficiency and sensible product planning, the Bettle R Concept rolled out last night is proof positive there's still a core of mad men (and women) at Wolfsburg...
Beetle R takes the underpinnings of the Golf/Scirocco R and transplants them into the just released new Beetle. It is the work of Volkswagen subsidiary Volkswagen R GmbH and is officially "a design study".
Outputting around 190kW, the show car features "Serious Grey" paintwork and 20-inch Talladega aluminum-alloy wheels -- the same design used on the Golf and Scirocco R model. Other trademark R design cues blue-painted brake calipers and an R-style front clip with large and aggressively shaped side and centre intakes.
There's a diffuser-style rear bumper and quad pipes to show it means business. And of course a blinged up and blacked out interior replete with sports seats, alloy accents and a bespoke instrument cluster with large central tacho.
No word on whether it's front or all-wheel drive and equally no word on whether a production version will make it to market. Our guess is that it's a certainty – a least in limited volumes.
In the meantime we can't wait to see what VW's boffins do to amp up the Beetle further. A TT-RS-engined version for the GTI Meet in Worthesee in 2012 perhaps...
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