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A CALIFORNIAN father and son have teamed up to supersize the classic Volkswagen Beetle. The VW enthusiasts upscaled the car by 40%, making it bigger than a Hummer. Scott Tupper, the younger generation of the duo, told us how the idea developed. “My dad and I thought it would be nice if we had a Volkswagen that was comfortable and not feel like you're going to get run over in traffic.” Once the idea was hatched, they went about making the dream into a reality. “We had a 59 Volkswagen convertible, we digitized it, scanned it everywhere, took it apart, and made each part 40% bigger on the computer.” Unsurprisingly, the vehicle has caused a lot of buzz on the roads. “People chase you to try to get up next to it, they almost run you off the road because they're not looking where they're going."

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Motor
Transcript
00:00We decided to be like the Volkswagen and we
00:05wanted it to be 50% bigger.
00:08The funnest thing for this is
00:10being on the freeway.
00:12People just chase you to try to get up next to it.
00:15And then they almost run you off the road
00:16because they're not looking where they're going.
00:20And they're not looking where they're going.
00:25Some vehicles dominate the street with sheer size.
00:30The Volkswagen Beetle isn't one of them.
00:33The bug is the great.
00:35The car, but it's very small.
00:37Being dwarfed by other vehicles on the California
00:40roads led two generations of this family
00:43to the only logical solution.
00:45Though we're going to need a bigger bug.
00:50Dad and I just thought it would be nice if we had a Volkswagen
00:52that was comfortable and not feel like you're going to get
00:55run over in traffic.
01:00It's a big vehicle.
01:04It's bigger than a hundred.
01:05It's bigger than a hundred.
01:06It's a big vehicle.
01:07It's bigger than a car.
01:08It's bigger than a car.
01:09It's bigger than a car.
01:10We decided we liked the
01:15Volkswagen and we wanted it to be 50% bigger, which is a huge amount.
01:20But it was a little bit too big to actually drive on the street legally.
01:23So, we-
01:25We scaled it back to 40%.
01:27And super-sizing is such a classic.
01:30It is no mean feat.
01:31We had a 59 Volkswagen convertible.
01:35We basically digitized it.
01:37We scanned it everywhere.
01:38Got that computer file built.
01:40And then took it apart and made each part 40% bigger.
01:45On the computer.
01:46Use that information to build templates and get all-
01:50of our dimensions and things.
01:52And then started fabricating from there.
01:55The platform that we started with for the huge bugs is a Dodge truck-
02:00so it could handle all the weight and the size and the scale that we needed to go.
02:05And everything's built on top of that.
02:07And while it's based on a 60-year-old car-
02:10This big beast has a good few mod cons.
02:13It's got all the creature comfort.
02:15It's got all the parts that you'd want in a new car.
02:17Power steering and heated and air-conditioned.
02:20It's got all the seats.
02:21And a Volkswagen with air-conditioning is kind of nice.
02:23We did-
02:25We did a lot of work in here to hide the power window controls and the power door locks and
02:30all of that.
02:30the modern stuff and still make it look like a Volkswagen.
02:33All of the controls from the-
02:35The Dodge truck and the gauges are on a gauge pod that comes down from under-
02:40the dash so that while you're driving it you get all the information that you were getting
02:44from the Dodge truck.
02:45But when you park it and get out and it goes back up inside and you can't see it so it's-
02:50It still looks like a Volkswagen.
02:51It still looks like a Volkswagen.
02:55The Dodge is an automatic transmission and the Volkswagens are manual transmissions.
03:00It has a simulated brake pedal in there and a clutch pedal but they're actually both brake
03:05pedals.
03:05It just-
03:06It looks like you'd push the clutch in and do the manual shift but it's an automatic so
03:10it's-
03:10nice and comfortable drive.
03:11My favorite thing is that it's not a prop.
03:15You can get in it and jump in it, it runs, it drives, it does all the stuff it's supposed
03:19to do.
03:20It's not-
03:20It's not just something that's big and shiny and sitting in the background like it is right
03:23now.
03:25The funnest thing for this is being on the-
03:30The funnest thing for this is being on the-
03:30the freeway.
03:31People just chase you to try to get up next to it and then they-
03:35almost run you off the road because they're not looking where they're going.
03:38And it will come as no surprise.
03:40This big bug attracts big bugs.
03:43There's quite a few offers on it that-
03:45understanding that are-
03:47humbling that people want to pay the kind of dollars they want to pay for.
03:50for something that we built and we love.
03:52But the Volkswagen's not going anywhere right now.
03:54Just when I see it-
03:55it just makes me smile.
03:56Do victory sometimes.
04:00No big details.
04:01You hang around.
04:02I need to 운동 Africa.
04:03Take care.
04:05I can only play half―
04:06You're going to take days where you take care like this.
04:11Wait for me.
04:12Take care.
04:13Take care!
04:14Take care.
04:15Take care!
04:16That's enough.
04:17Take care.
04:19Take care.
04:20Take care.
04:21Take care.
04:23Take care.
04:25Take care.
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