Overpaid designers and architects with thick-rimmed glasses and pointed shoes and jeans that are too tight have been crowing for years now that 'retro is in'. It's led to a renaissance in all sorts of weird stuff from the '60s, '70s, and '80s that's now in fashion again, and if you ask me the whole thing is just a scheme to make money out of re-selling all the stuff that time long ago dictated was junk to the hapless and the gullible.
I'm a bit angry. It's a Monday.
So, where did the retro craze originate? I think, perhaps, it might've come from the 'new' Volkswagen Beetle.
Though the German marque have now killed off the adorkable little hatchback, it's hard to deny that it was a successful throwback. Based on Golf underpinnings, the Beetle injected Volkswagen with a much needed shot of fun, which did wonders for their reception in America.
And, perhaps most notably of all, it added to the Beetle's iconic story without taking away from it.
So it's without surprise that in this post-Beetle world, the nameplate still has its ardent fans. And they include a guy called Georg Memminger. He and his company, Memminger Feine-Cabrios, have been restoring Beetles to their former glory since 1992. And now they've decided to make one of their own — a tasty gunmetal morsel called the Roadster 2.7.
From the outset you can tell that this isn't just any Beetle, with running boards and a wider track complimented by lightweight five-spoke wheels and targa pods behind the two seats. Racy vibes continue inside with black and red bucket seats completed with retro (ugh) tartan inserts and red belts.
The most interesting thing though is what powers it. That 2.7 in the car's name, as you might've guessed, is a reference to the engine's capacity. It's an air-cooled 2.7-litre four-banger boxer engine; inspired by VW power-plants of old, and packing 156kW, 247Nm, and a top speed of 200km/h.
That's a fascinating recipe in a vehicle that only weighs 800kg, and is further enhanced with brakes from a Porsche 911 and revised suspension.
Want to sign on the dotted line? Hold your horses ... Memminger are using this as merely a concept. It will enter production (with a thoroughly limited production number of 20 cars) if there's enough interest from the market.
And ... come on. Surely there will be.
