00:00 We decided we liked the Volkswagen and we wanted it to be 50% bigger.
00:07 The funnest thing for this is being on the freeway.
00:11 People just chase you to try to get up next to it
00:15 and then they almost run you off the 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.
00:36 Being dwarfed by other vehicles on the California roads
00:40 led two generations of this family to the only logical solution.
00:45 They were gonna need a bigger bug.
00:48 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 gonna get run over in traffic.
00:56 It's a big vehicle. It's bigger than a Hummer.
01:05 We decided we liked the Volkswagen and we wanted it to be 50% bigger,
01:18 which is a huge amount, but it was a little bit too big to actually drive on the street legally.
01:24 So we scaled it back to 40%.
01:27 And supersizing such a classic is no mean feat.
01:31 We had a '59 Volkswagen convertible.
01:35 We basically digitized it, we scanned it everywhere,
01:38 got that computer file built and then took it apart
01:42 and made each part 40% bigger on the computer,
01:46 used that information to build templates and get all of our dimensions and things
01:52 and then started fabricating from there.
01:55 The platform that we started with for the huge bug's a Dodge truck,
02:00 so it could handle 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.
02:07 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,
02:20 and a Volkswagen with air conditioning is kind of nice.
02:23 We did a lot of work in here to hide the power window controls
02:28 and the power door locks and all of the modern stuff
02:31 and still make it look like a Volkswagen.
02:33 All of the controls from the Dodge truck and the gauges
02:37 are on a gauge pod that comes down from under the dash,
02:40 so that while you're driving it, you get all the information
02:43 that you were getting from the Dodge truck.
02:45 But when you park it and get out, it goes back up inside and you can't see it,
02:49 so it still looks like a Volkswagen.
02:51 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,
03:03 but they're actually both brake pedals.
03:05 It looks like you'd push the clutch in and do the manual shift,
03:08 but it's an automatic, so it's nice and comfortable to drive.
03:11 My favorite thing is that it's not a prop.
03:15 You can get in it and jump in it. It runs, it drives,
03:17 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
03:22 like it is right now.
03:24 The funnest thing for this is being on the freeway.
03:30 People just chase you to try to get up next to it,
03:34 and then they almost run you off the 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
03:46 humbling that people want to pay the kind of dollars they want to pay
03:50 for something that we built and we love,
03:52 but the Volkswagen's not going anywhere right now.
03:54 Just when I see it, it just makes me smile.
03:57 [Volkswagen]
04:00 [Volkswagen]
04:02 [Volkswagen]
04:07 [Volkswagen]
04:10 [Volkswagen]
04:12 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments