Donor Acquisition

Background Used Beetles are relatively low end daily drivers with typically very high total mileage, often in excess of 100,000. At the same time, most 10-plus year old vehicles have had multiple owners and correspondingly vague service records, if any. The graph above reflects Turbo S models for sale in early...

If well maintained, the basic mechanical systems of a New Beetle should perform well for over 200,000 miles. The required intensity of maintenance and/or repair will depend on the condition of the acquired vehicle (in our case a 2004 Turbo S model with 51,500 miles). Level 1 routine service regardless of...

Comparative specifications Of all the 1998-2010 New Beetles, the two that are most appropriate for a Ute transformation are either the Turbo S with the 1.8 turbocharged I4 engine, or any 2006-10 model since they all share the 2.5 I5 engine. Refer also to this candidate review. The table below compares...

Background Transformation of a passenger car into a Ute requires — obviously — cutting the entire body of the car somewhere behind the front door. For a short bed ute (less than 5.5 feet) a two-door configuration, other factors aside, provides more practical chassis cut points because the rear door and...