Following its debut as a concept car at the Frankfurt show last year, Volkswagen has launched a production version of its Beetle Fender Edition for overseas markets.
It pays tribute to the American musical icon in numerous ways, not least by being fitted with a Fender Premium high-performance audio system, which has front dual-voice coil speakers said to create a soundstage closely akin to a proper live performance. The system includes nine speakers as well as a 10-channel amplifier providing 400 Watts of system power.
The Fender tributes continue in the cabin design, where this modern day Volksie's dashboard is painted in the quintessential sunburst colour of Fender guitars, complemented by colour-contrasting seams throughout the interior and bespoke fabric seats.
On the outside, the Beetle Fender Edition can be told apart by VW's retro-looking 18-inch 'Disk' alloy wheels, Deep Black metallic paint, brush chrome exterior mirrors, Bi-Xenon headlights and, naturally, the Fender logo.
Volkswagen hasn't gone into detail on the engine range offered with this special edition, but does make mention of a flagship model powered by VW”s 147kW 2-litre TSI turbopetrol engine, as per the previous Golf GTI.
The special edition will be rolled out in Europe and the USA during the course of this year, but there's no indication whether it'll come to South Africa as part of the new Beetle range that's due here soon.