Chip Foose Redesigns the Volkswagen Beetle Into a Hot Rod, Engine Up Front

With the customization legend imagining the Beetle as the German equivalent of the '32 Ford, turning the iconic piece of German motoring into a hot rod comes naturally.

While the body transformation, which sees the machine being taken down the roadster route, is striking, this pencil adventure also shows the aficionado laying out the plan for a hypothetical build. The idea is obviously to come up with an original take on the Vee-Dub.

So, while power would still flow to the rear wheels, the engine would probably be relocated in front of the passenger cell. And, thanks to the 7-minute clip below, which comes from Hagerty, we also get a few hints on how to bring up that devil hiding in the details. For one, the hot rod-flavored headlights could use the original lens, thus helping the contraption maintain its visual connection to the original.

Such sketches always have multiple faces and, in the final part of the video, Foose delivers some thoughts aimed at helping purists avoid fretting over such work being done to a classic. Come to think of it, all those Beetles being given the Volksrod treatment should've prepared the world for such a proposal.

Regardless, if you head over to the comments section of the clip, you'll notice multiple people talk about the resemblance between this dream and the Plymouth/Chrysler Prowler.

That connection shouldn't surprise anybody, considering that the 1997 introduction of the model was linked to the Hemisfear. The custom design had served as Foose's graduation thesis seven years earlier, all via a Chrysler-sponsored project - the designer eventually built the Hemisfear for the 2006 SEMA show.