The Volkswagen Beetle has been forgotten for the most part, but there’s one place where a car like this always gets attention, and that’s the European lowrider community. This German Bug is one of the first we’ve seen fitted with the Prior Design widebody kit and has been further customized using the usual air suspension and expensive-looking wheels.
The Beetle is one of the most famous Volkswagens of all time, but there aren’t that many body kits available for it. This is the coolest one we’ve ever seen, and it’s a widebody designed by Prior Design.
Prior is a German shop that’s famous for high-end Audi or Mercedes packages. However, last year they diversified with this VW Beetle package. The very first example was a show car built for a local car celebrity and customizer, Jean Pierre Kraemer. Unless I’m mistaken, he opted to do an extreme 2.5 TFSI swap (from the Audi RS3).
Speaking of which, did you know Volkswagen wanted to do a Beetle R? There was a concept in 2011 and I still remember sharing some spy photos back in 2013. Rumor has it that it was even going to have the 4Motion AWD from the Golf R, plus the 300 horsepower engine, which would have made it expensive.
Speaking of expensive, these mods aren’t cheap. The Prior Design Beetle package costs €5,990, not including shipping and installation. They only planned to make 53 examples of this limited-edition design, and each one is supposed to have an autograph from JP Kraemer and Andras Belzek from Prior Design.
I actually think the kit is worth that kind of money because it’s so bold and well-designed. At the front, you get a brand new bumper with multiple air intakes and a black splitter. The front fenders have been widened massively and sports vents at either end.
The Beetle also received integrated side skirts and a massive diffuser at the rear. The trunk gets its own spoiler, and the rear fenders have been widened as well.
No word on what’s under the hood, it’s probably some kind of 2.0-liter turbo, since that’s a high-end Bug engine. The Beetle we’re talking about was in production from 2011 until 2019 and is known as the “A5” generation.
Like all 21st century Beetles, this is based on a front-wheel-drive platform, the same one as the Mk6 Golf. So it’s quite different from the first “People’s Car” that was commissioned in the 1930s by Adolf Hitler and went on to sell 21 million units.
I’m actually a big fan of this Beetle. With the 2.0 TSI, it drives a lot like a GTI. And after you’ve done the right mods, it doesn’t look girly or like a hippy car. Mods-wise, this example, owned by @maar_low also comes with air suspension and a massive set of Rotiform Monoblock wheels which really sell the race car look.
