Volkswagen chose the wintery wastes of Detroit to unveil its most current concept, the Beetle Dune.
This crossover-style makeover of the current VW Beetle is a case of style over substance – it’s based on the regular Beetle Sport. That indicates it has a 207bhp 2.0-litre TSI petrol engine under its bonnet, driving the front wheels by means of a six-speed DSG gearbox.
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Despite the summer time overtones of the Dune, Volkswagen chose the hard-top Beetle as the base automobile not the 2012 cabriolet.
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However, the design tweaks are fairly detailed. Up front, the bonnet has been reshaped and now has a pair of vents cut into it. The bumper now features a large black honeycombed section flanked by semi-circular LED foglights, and an aluminium bash plate that runs under the engine.
At the side, there are 19-inch alloys and the suspension has been raised by 50mm. The plastic cladding that runs around the wheelarches is quite neat with the outer edge of the wheelarch made from matt black plastic and the material closest to the body getting a gloss black finish. It makes the automobile look a lot more jacked-up than it really is.
Editor in chief Steve Fowler takes a look around the VW Beetle Dune
The cladding indicates the Dune is 48mm broader than a conventional Beetle, at 1,856mm. The tracks are 29mm broader too, helping the wheels better fill the arches.