This Volkswagen Beetle With 911 Parts Costs $600,000

The Volkswagen Beetle is the perfect candidate for a little more power. Or a lot (looking at you, jet-powered Beetle). Discounting the now-dead VW-branded reincarnation of the iconic classic car, the OG Beetle could be described as "asthmatic" without too much thought. Most of them made under 100 hp when new. That was the point, as VW was building cars "fur die Leute" (for the people) on the cheap.

This Beetle restomod by Milivie will be anything but. It'll run $598,272 USD. It'll use a Porsche 911 gearbox too, and apparently feature the wheels from an Alfa Romeo Guilia. The 22-car limited run is the brainchild of German Jonathan Engler. The car will, appropriately, be called the Milivie 1, and it had better be worth all that money.

Down to brass tacks. Under the hood (or rather, trunk lid) will be a "precision-built" 2.28-liter flat-four with a magnesium/aluminum short-stroke block. It'll be carburated as well, with fully electronic ignition. Power outputs aren't mentioned, as Milivie says each engine "is tuned to deliver optimum performance due to the environmental characteristics of the owner's location." Let's just call it more than 100 hp to be safe.

The gearbox will be sourced from a Porsche 911 Carrera with a new final drive gear and will be shiftable using paddles mounted to a predictably retro steering wheel. Those, by the way, are also tailored to a customer's exact spec, as well as the shape of their hands.

The original Beetle chassis remains, now totally restored with new springs and dampers which sit right next to new, much larger brakes. Those are Milive's own monoblock calipers (6-pot front, 4-pot rear). Milivie says the wheels are its own 19" design, but those are definitely right out of the Guilia playbook.

The exterior design itself is very much that of a classic Volkswagen Beetle, with some modern touches. That includes the Milivie-branded front splitter and Porsche-like ducktail at the back, as well as new lights, door handles, and mirrors. Inside will be two 12.3-inch screens, as well as a totally redone interior. There will be four heated, carbon bucket seats upholstered in just about anything you want. Apparently, the door cards also take inspiration from the 911 as well, with "familiar" touchpoints and controls.

Should Porsche's lawyers not have anything to say about all this 911 stuff, Milivie says the Milivie 1 will begin deliveries in July 2023, with all 22 cars completed and delivered by May 2025.