If I had to pick one major factor that separated the typical New Beetle feature car from almost any of our more usual air-cooled vehicles, it would almost certainly be the average timespan of each project.
When you consider that even the late, European-built, air-cooled Beetles will currently have had 30 years of abuse behind them, it’s easy to see how so many projects can (and do) take several years to complete.
However, not everyone is capable of (or even willing to undertake) major restoration work, just to bring a rusty hulk up to a point where the fun can begin. This is where the average New Beetle comes into its own. Without years of abuse and extensive rust to contend with, a NB project makes sense if you’re looking to dive straight into the modifications from day one!
While air-cooled vehicles gradually increase in value, early-model NBs have suddenly become quite affordable, with many bargains to be had on the secondhand market. In fact, here in the UK, we’ve recently spotted a few early LHD models changing hands for as little as £3000 – quite a bargain when you consider the air-cooled alternatives! Of course, we’re not suggesting the sale of a good, air-cooled VW in favour of a NB – far from it! The point of this feature is to illustrate how just £3000 could buy a relatively modern vehicle, capable of (reliably!) holding its own on the motorway, while returning a respectable mpg figure.
Pick an accident-free and well-maintained example and you’ll bypass the usual paint and body repairs commonly associated with the average 30-plus-year-old air-cooled Bug. More importantly, perhaps, that same project can easily be transformed into a cool, head-turning ride, thanks to little more than a set of lowered springs and dampers and some trick big-diameter wheels and tyres.
If spoilers, splitters, wings and bodykits are your thing, there are plenty of options available, should you choose to accessorise your car. Also of interest (to petrol-heads, at least!) are the more recent turbocharged 1.8T and even the 1.9 turbo-diesel models, which are easily tuned to provide far more torque and horsepower. The aftermarket also caters for the 1.6, 2.0-litre – and even the V5 variants, but the turbocharged motors certainly offer the biggest power gain per buck ratio.
Troy and Selena Banks had been NB fans ever since the first Concept-1 styling exercise was revealed at the Detroit motor show way back in 1994. A positive response from both the press and the public led to further development of the Concept-1 project until, in ’98 (actually on New Year’s Day!), the NB was finally put into mass production.
