super beetle

[frank furter <wasserbox@yahoo.com>]

Thought this was interesting



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Convertible Beetle, turbo-charged Super Beetle in VW plans


 By Daniel Howes / The Detroit News


     DETROIT -- If Volkswagen AG has its way, Beetlemania is far from
dead.
     The German automaker that sparked a growing trend toward retro
design
last year with its quirky New Beetle is developing a convertible New
 Beetle that could hit showrooms as early as next year.
     "We know we need a Cabrio and we're working on a Cabrio," said Jens
Neumann, VW management board member and chairman of North
 American operations. "We are playing around with all kinds of ideas of
what you could do with the Beetle. It's one shape, but very versatile."
     A New Beetle Cabrio would be the latest in a lengthening line of
derivatives developed from the New Beetle, whose debut wowed last year's
 North American International Auto Show.
     The latest version, unveiled Monday: a 1.8-liter, 150-horsepower
turbocharged New Beetle, unofficially dubbed "Super Beetle." The turbo
New
 Beetle will sell for $19,000.
     VW also envisions a supercharged future for the New Beetle with its
concept Beetle RSI, also unveiled Monday, that would be powered by
 VW's 206-hp VR6 engine.
     Chairman Ferdinand Piech dubbed the latest New Beetle a "design
study." But Piech's evident passion for the car and his yen for
 high-performance engines, increasingly a VW trademark, suggests the RSI
soon could be built in VW's Puebla, Mexico, assembly complex. VW
 sold 64,000 New Beetles in the United States last year -14,000 more
than
originally projected.

 Copyright 1999, The Detroit News

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==
Mark

87 Westfalia Gl
84 Scirocco 8v

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