00:00We decided we liked the Volkswagen and we wanted it to be 50% bigger.
00:07The funnest thing for this is being on the freeway.
00:11People just chase you to try to get up next to it
00:15and then they almost run you off the road because they're not looking where they're going.
00:18Some vehicles dominate the street with sheer size alone.
00:30The Volkswagen Beetle isn't one of them.
00:33The Bug is the great car but it's very small.
00:36Being dwarfed by other vehicles on the California roads
00:40led two generations of this family to the only logical solution.
00:46They were going to need a bigger Bug.
00:49My dad and I just thought it would be nice if we had a Volkswagen that was comfortable
00:53and not feel like you're going to get run over in traffic.
01:02It's a big vehicle. It's bigger than a Hummer.
01:06We decided we liked the Volkswagen and we wanted it to be 50% bigger,
01:11which is a huge amount.
01:13But it was a little bit too big to actually drive on the street legally.
01:17So we scaled it back to 40%.
01:20And supersizing such a classic is no mean feat.
01:25We had a 59 Volkswagen convertible.
01:28We basically digitized it, we scanned it everywhere,
01:31got that computer file built,
01:33and then took it apart and made each part 40% bigger on the computer.
01:38Used that information to build templates and get all of our dimensions and things
01:44and then started fabricating from there.
01:47The platform that we started with for the huge Bug,
01:51so it could handle all the weight and the size and the scale that we needed to go.
01:55And then everything's built on top of that.
01:57And while it's based on a 60-year-old car,
02:00this big beast has a good few mod cons.
02:04It's got all the creature comforts that you'd want in a new car.
02:08Power steering and heated and air-conditioned seats
02:11and a voluminous interior.
02:13It's got all the features that you'd want in a new car.
02:17Power steering and heated and air-conditioned seats
02:20and a Volkswagen with air-conditioning is kind of nice.
02:23We did a lot of work in here to hide the power window controls
02:28and the power door locks and all of the modern stuff
02:31and still make it look like a Volkswagen.
02:33All of the controls from the Dodge truck and the gauges
02:37are on a gauge pod that comes down from under the dash
02:40so that while you're driving it,
02:42you get all the information that you were getting from the Dodge truck.
02:45But when you park it and get out,
02:47it goes back up inside and you can't see it,
02:49so it still looks like a Volkswagen.
02:54The Dodge is an automatic transmission
02:57and the Volkswagens are manual transmissions.
02:59It has a simulated brake pedal in there and a clutch pedal,
03:03but they're actually both brake pedals.
03:05It looks like you'd push the clutch in and do the manual shift,
03:08but it's an automatic, so it's a nice and comfortable drive.
03:12My favourite thing is that it's not a prop.
03:14You can get in it and jump in it, it runs, it drives,
03:17it does all the stuff it's supposed to do.
03:19It's not just something that's big and shiny
03:21and sitting in the background like it is right now.
03:27The funnest thing for this is being on the freeway.
03:30People just chase you to try to get up next to it
03:33and then they almost run you off the road
03:35cos they're not looking where they're going.
03:37And it will come as no surprise.
03:39This big bug attracts big bugs.
03:42There's quite a few offers on it that are standing
03:45that are humbling that people want to pay the kind of dollars
03:48they want to pay for something that we built and we love,
03:51but the Volkswagen's not going anywhere right now.
03:53Just when I see it, it just makes me smile.
04:09Volkswagen.
Comments