Words & Photos: Tommy Parry
Weighing in at a scant 1,200 pounds, this chopped, slammed and ferocious Volkswagen Beetle doesn’t need much in the propulsion department to really get going. But for whatever reason, Steve felt a screaming, 185-horsepower engine from a Suzuki GSXR highway king would be the appropriate way to power this little monster. The combination of low weight and a rev-hungry powerplant adds up to a ride that can frighten even the steeliest of drivers.
The build began with Steve and Hudlow Axle stripping the shell to the bone and then chopping the top a good six inches. The haircut changes the rotund profile of the bug, making it look a lot more menacing as well as lowering the center of gravity.
To keep that 1000cc motor singing in the right rev range, a lightweight six-speed transmission was employed, mounted in the center of the car to keep the weight distribution near-perfect. Next, Steve built a spaceframe up front to mount the engine, plenty of which was swiss-cheesed to keep that weight as low as possible.
With some rivets and sheet metal thrown in to fill in the gaps, the motor was mounted in front, longitudinally. A massive cone intake dominates the sparse engine bay, and anyone with half a neuron firing in their brain can recognize the serious intent of the build with one glance.
The interior is predictably no-fuss. It’s a bare as can be, and the steering column is extended by quite a ways to meet the driver and the bomber seat in the middle of the car. Again, this car shows some real engineering brilliance; the majority of the weight lies in the center of the car for great handling. There’s a classic deep-dish rally wheel thrown in for a few style points, however – it’s not a clinical engineering exercise.
In fact the aesthetics hadn’t even been addressed by that point, and this car – though a rat rod – was meant to sit pretty. The headers were wrapped like a mummy to keep the cabin reasonably cool and not melt any of the ancillaries – though it’s fair to assume it doesn’t need a heater. The frame was given a nice coat of orange to contrast the satin black exterior.
The custom, 2WD Jeep Cherokee front axle got a good cleaning as well. The sidekick rear axle is suspended on custom airbags, and the massive tires do a decent job of putting the power down. Obviously, the car likes to drift a bit.
There’s no rear visibility – or hardly any – but that didn’t keep Steve from sticking a classy, oval porthole in back. With a final splash of black paint and some wild graphics straight out of the 1990s, the car was complete, and ready to terrorize the neighborhood.
