Item No.: 20030719
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Beetle tuning… What
can one write about tuned Beetles that hasn’t already been written over the past 70 years? That’s a tough one… Let’s take a different approach.
Pretty much everyone in my age group (40+) has had something to do with the “Beetle” at some point, even if they didn’t own one themselves.
Richard, a classmate of mine, had an orange 1303 that we almost set on fire at a class party. We were all drunk; we put out the wiring fire with beer (which, by the way, didn’t make the car any better).
Twenty-five years ago, there was a guy at my regular bar back then who first drove a Beetle painted in COCA-COLA colors—he even had Coca-Cola pay for the paint job. He drove that car for about two years, and during that time he built his first “real” Beetle: a 2.4-liter engine, lowered, louder, Fuchs rims, Porsche parts, etc., etc., etc. That car was the absolute talk of the town back then. By the way, the guy was an electrical engineer—not a mechanic or anything like that. ;-) And that wasn’t his last Beetle; as far as I know, he’s had several of those cars, and for quite some time now, he’s been working on another one. Somehow, once you get into it, you just can’t let it go.
Today I know that back then he built and tuned a Type 4 engine. When it comes to the Beetle, there’s nothing you can’t do. And that hasn’t changed to this day: there are still Beetle tuners around, and there’s still plenty of demand for the air-cooled engine crowd.
Now, most modified Beetles look relatively tame on the road. At best, they have widened fenders, are lowered, and are quite loud. That’s about all you can get away with on public roads without becoming a regular customer of the guys with the green-and-silver cars (outside Bavaria: blue-and-silver cars). Visually, though, there’s definitely no comparison to the latest model from CARRERA: The RACE 4!!!
I’m sure the TÜV inspector would have some trouble approving the Porsche 935-style fender flares (now that they’ve brought it back…). But the car isn’t all that unrealistic—in the ’70s, there were some pretty wild machines on the racetracks.
The RACE 4’s paint job is definitely period-accurate; Chevy red was quite popular back then, and the VW lettering fits right in, too. The color reminds me of the Matchbox FLYING BUG—it looked similar. The Beetle's handling is legendary—this red speedster may have a very short wheelbase, but its width makes it virtually impossible to throw off course.
This car is a blast. A real blast!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have
fun! Your Lotus
