Meet the BimmBug Pickup: The Badass Offspring of a New Beetle and a 3 Series Wagon

Some enthusiasts - including myself - have a soft spot for sporty, production car-based pickups. One of my favorite all-time vehicles is the 1970 El Camino SS 454, but I also appreciate several performance-oriented utes from Down Under, like the VF Commodore SS V Redline.

But, to be completely honest, I never, ever thought I'd fall in love with a Volkswagen New Beetle pickup.

That's now just because a New Beetle pickup was never officially built (though conversion kits exist), but because the model was - with the exception of the 4WD RSi - always a plebian FWD retro-inspired failure.

A project that started with two wrecked cars

Introduced in 1997, the New Beetle never enjoyed its predecessor's epic level of popularity. That being said, it sold decently, mainly because it appealed to women from all corners of the globe.

Jo's wife was one of the ladies who liked the modern Bug. She got a red one and used it as a daily driver for years.

Meanwhile, the master fabricator who owns Jo's Fab Lab in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England, used a BMW E46 3 Series Touring (wagon) as a daily and shop workhorse.

However, one day, Jo hit a curb hard while playing around in the rain, shattering the wagon's wheel and front suspension.

With the BMW off the road, he borrowed his wife's Bug and, "thanks" to a faulty thermostat, ended up blowing the engine.

So what do you do with two old wrecked cars? You fix or get rid of them, right? Well, not if you're Jo.

All hand-shaped metal, no fiberglass

Being a skilled metalworker and a creative guy, Jo had the brilliant idea of combining the two German cars into one of the most insane custom pickups to ever roam on British roads.

Once he convinced the missus that her Bug had to marry his Bimmer to have a wild offspring, Jo proceeded to cut up both cars.

From the New Beetle, he only kept the front section of the bodywork, whereas, from the E46, Jo removed all the body panels, fixed the front suspension, and ended up with a naked chassis.

Just combining the two was by no means an easy task, but the talented Britton wanted a pickup, so, in addition to fitting the chopped Bug section to the Bimmer chassis, he had to build the entire rear section and bed from scratch.

Though the finished product might look like it contains a lot of fiberglass panels, Jo and his team handcrafted nearly every single component out of steel, with the only exceptions being the bumpers, taillights, and sunroof.

Sprinkling a small dose of Porsche, Ford, and Peugeot on the build

Apart from the flawless panels that Jo and his crew put together, the BimmBug (not its "official" nickname) received several components to enhance its looks - all with surprising origins.

The gorgeous front bumper was not an aftermarket enhancement but a genuine Porsche Cayman S-sourced item, while the taillights, which blend in brilliantly, came from a tenth-gen Ford F-150.

But those are not the only OEM exterior components that didn't come from VW or BMW.

Although it rains a lot in his part of the world, Jo was stubborn about having a sunroof. Neither donor car had one from the factory, so Jo got a panoramic roof from a Peugeot 206, which ended up fitting the Bug like a glove.

Inside, the crazy pickup got a couple of Recaro buckets and a Golf R steering wheel, but the dash and center console from the E46 were retained.

More popular than a Lamborghini

Initially, the custom Bug was painted red, rode on a set of fake BBS rims, and featured air suspension on both axles.

But, as time passed, its owner fitted it with nicer 19-inch aftermarket wheels and chose to get rid of the front airbags in favor of a conventional (yet aftermarket) coilover setup.

He also chose to repaint it, ending up choosing white and letting fans scribble messages all over it.

As you can imagine, the unique VolksBimmer turned heads everywhere, including car meets.

In the video below by Hand Built Cars, which helped make this article possible, Jo mentioned that, at one car meet, he parked the Bug next to a brand-new Lambo, and the pickup managed to draw a huge crowd that completely ignored the hypercar, much to its owner's disbelief.

Failing to break the curse

The product of two wrecked cars, the BimmBug was cursed to meet a similar faith as its "patents."

A friend of Jo's asked if he could borrow it for three days, offering to lend his Ford Mondeo in return.

Since Jo was always a good guy, he accepted, but little did he know what would happen next. After a week went by, the fabricator called his friend to ask for his car back.

With a trembling voice, the friend confessed that he crashed the car just minutes after borrowing it and couldn't have the heart to tell Jo what happened.

The Porsche bumper was severely damaged, but Jo managed to fix it, and now, the wild Bug is alive and well, serving as a dependable daily and shop workhorse.

Though it isn't a glamorous custom that toured the world's most famous auto shows, Jo Riley's BimmBug is unquestionably a stunning example of creativity, dedication, and sublime fabrication skills.