00:00 We decided we liked the Volkswagen and we wanted it to be 50% bigger.
00:08 The funnest thing for this is being on the freeway.
00:12 People just chase you to try to get up next to it and then they almost run you off the
00:16 road because they're not looking where they're going.
00:26 Some vehicles dominate the street with sheer size alone.
00:30 The Volkswagen Beetle isn't one of them.
00:33 The bug is the great car but it's very small.
00:37 Being dwarfed by other vehicles on the California roads led two generations of this family to
00:43 the only logical solution.
00:46 They were going to need a bigger bug.
00:49 My dad and I just thought it would be nice if we had a Volkswagen that was comfortable
00:53 and not feel like you're going to get run over in traffic.
01:02 It's a big vehicle.
01:04 It's bigger than a Hummer.
01:13 We decided we liked the Volkswagen and we wanted it to be 50% bigger, which is a huge
01:19 amount, but it was a little bit too big to actually drive on the street legally.
01:23 So we scaled it back to 40%.
01:27 And supersizing such a classic is no mean feat.
01:32 We had a '59 Volkswagen convertible.
01:35 We basically digitized it.
01:36 We scanned it everywhere, got that computer file built and then took it apart and made
01:42 each part 40% bigger on the computer.
01:46 Use that information to build templates and get all of our dimensions and things and then
01:52 started fabricating from there.
01:54 The platform that we started with for the huge bug is a Dodge truck, so it could handle
02:01 all the weight and the size and the scale that we needed to go.
02:04 And then everything's built on top of that.
02:06 And while it's based on a 60-year-old car, this big beast has a good few mod cons.
02:13 It's got all the creature comforts that you'd want in a new car.
02:17 Power steering and heated and air-conditioned seats and a Volkswagen with air conditioning
02:21 is kind of nice.
02:23 We did a lot of work in here to hide the power window controls and the power door locks and
02:29 all of the modern stuff and still make it look like a Volkswagen.
02:32 All of the controls from the Dodge truck and the gauges are on a gauge pod that comes down
02:39 from under the dash so that while you're driving it, you get all of the information that you
02:43 were getting from the Dodge truck.
02:45 But when you park it and get out and it goes back up inside and you can't see it, so it
02:49 still looks like a Volkswagen.
02:54 The Dodge is an automatic transmission and the Volkswagens are manual transmissions.
02:59 It has a simulated brake pedal in there and a clutch pedal, but they're actually both
03:04 brake pedals.
03:05 It looks like you'd push the clutch in and do the manual shift, but it's an automatic,
03:09 so it's nice and comfortable to drive.
03:12 My favorite thing is that it's not a prop.
03:15 You can get in it and jump in it.
03:16 It runs, it drives, it does all the stuff it's supposed to do.
03:19 It's not just something that's big and shiny and sitting in the background like it is right
03:25 now.
03:27 The funnest thing for this is being on the freeway.
03:31 People just chase you to try to get up next to it and then they almost run you off the
03:35 road because they're not looking where they're going.
03:37 And it will come as no surprise.
03:39 This big bug attracts big bugs.
03:43 There's quite a few offers on it that are standing that are humbling that people want
03:48 to pay the kind of dollars they want to pay for something that we built and we love.
03:51 But the Volkswagen's not going anywhere right now.
03:54 Just when I see it, it just makes me smile.
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