Volkswagen Beetle Dune 'could be built'

IF YOU like your Beetles with a little more ‘dune buggy’ about them, Volkswagen’s latest concept is right up your street.

And what’s more, it really could be right up your street if public reaction to the so-called Beetle Dune is strong enough.

With a body raised by 50mm, 19-inch wheels and a special rear-mounted luggage rack reminiscent of early Beetles, the Dune plays on its dual heritage strands of its earliest predecessor and the fully off-road biased dune buggies built on Beetle chassis.

Under the striking exterior the Beetle Dune is very much the same as the current production car, with a 207bhp turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine at the front and a six-speed DSG twin-clutch automatic gearbox driving the front wheels.

Slight modifications like a 29mm wider track and a passenger grab handle in place of the glove box mark it out from the norm, but Volkswagen is very much mooting the Beetle Dune as a special production model.

If customer and media reaction lives up to the company’s hopes, it could be gracing a driveway near you within the next 12 to 18 months.

By Press Association reporter