Hot hatchbacks have provided burgeoning automotive enthusiasts with affordable, practical, fun-to-drive cars for more than four decades in the United States, but the modern market favors hatchbacks-on-stilts, also known as crossovers. The only remaining hot hatches that are truly affordable are the excellent and ubiquitous (if a bit subdued) Volkswagen GTI, and the less-driver-focused-than-before Mini Cooper S. Upping the budget brings more contenders into the ring, like the Toyota GR Corolla and Honda Civic Type R, but they lack a touch of eccentricity, a certain je ne sais quoi, if you'll pardon my French. You know what doesn't lack eccentricity? This 2001 Volkswagen Beetle RSi that's currently listed for auction on Bring A Trailer.
If you're ballin' on a budget, I'm terribly sorry to inform you that this bullish Beetle isn't going to fit your style. With just 250 ever made, the Volkswagen Beetle RSi is nowhere near cheap or even affordable for most of us, but boy, they're immeasurably cooler than any modern hot hatchback. Powered by a naturally aspirated 3.2-liter VR6 that sends 221 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque through a six-speed manual gearbox to all four wheels, the Beetle RSi is without a doubt the ultimate production Beetle.
How can you put a price on something this special?
The Beetle RSi was effectively a testbed for the Golf R32 that brought the same powertrain to the more conventional Golf, but unlike that R32, the limited-run Beetle RSi came with an array of truly special and racy touches. On the outside, that quite obviously involves a bodykit inspired by the New Beetle Cup race cars that stretches to cover the 1.8-inch-wider front track and 2.32-inch-wider rear track. Also part of the restyling are a square-jawed front bumper, a wicked twin-spoiler setup, and a rear diffuser with a Remus twin-pipe exhaust. Filling out the wider arches are a set of sweet 18-inch OZ Superturismo wheels shroud in 235/40ZR tires, and a track-tuned, four-wheel independent suspension.
Unlike many special editions of pedestrian cars, the RSi's upgrades don't stop after mechanical and exterior tweaks. Its interior is clad in what was at the time cutting-edge carbon fiber, billet aluminum trim pieces, and heated hard-back carbon-fiber Recaro racing buckets finished tastefully in contrasting Tropical Orange leather. Tragically, in the process of becoming a racing-focused, stripped-down performance car, the Beetle RSi lost the standard Beetle's charming dashboard-mounted "bud vase" flower pot.
This sterling example of the ultimate performance bug is chassis number 176 of 250, was first registered in Japan but now has a Florida title, and has just 18,000 kilometers on its odometer, which equates to about 11,000 miles. The Beetle RSi originally sold for around £50,000 in 2001, which is over a whopping $131,000 in today's dollars, so it has never been a value-focused car, and because they're so rare, we don't have many previous public sales to compare this one with. Considering that this exceedingly clean example is already at $86,000 with seven days left on the auction, it seems that people are still willing to pay top dollar for the privilege of owning the ultimate performance Beetle, and I don't blame them. If whoever ends up winning the auction is in the LA area and wants to let me drive their new toy, I'd be over the moon. Closed mouths don't get fed!