We've looked at way too many widebody kits lately, so something different is in order. An Osaka auto shop called Halt suggests the VW Beetle had wide enough fenders already and looked towards the trailer industry for more creative ideas.
Their convertible Bug has been matched up with an immaculate-looking trailer that comes complete with matching blue wheels and fender flares. At fist glance, it looks like a bathtub on wheels with a bolt-on wing. But it's just used for storage, as you can see in one of the videos we found. In any case, there's already a Beetle with a tub in it, made for April Fools a few years ago.
As far as we can remember, the Beetle dropped in Japan back in 2013, offering either the 1.2-liter TSI engine or the 2.0-liter TSI with 211 PS, similar to the Mk3 GTI. From the sound of the quad exhaust system, we think it's safe to say that we're dealing with the latter.
The interior has been customized using Blue Suede featuring an intricate stitching pattern on the seats. Neon blue was also used to accentuate the dash, where Halt also installed a little table.
As the Japanese company's young designer explains, the Halt Ver1 exterior kit consists of front, side and rear parts that are surprisingly clean. However, we also noticed a new piece with air vents had replaced the panel below the A-pillar.
AirRunner supplies the custom suspension for this project, which allows the new WORK MEISTER M1 9j-18 wheels to sit flush with the bodywork. Even the custom DMMC cargo trailer has those wheels, and when its air shocks are lowered, a strong negative camber is evident.
The Golf-based Beetle has been with us for about 20 years. It's fun to see Japanse tuners extract more character from the iconic shape. But with the continued rise of crossovers, production is probably going to stop for good in 2018.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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