Friday 21st December 2012

Stripes for your Scirocco GTS

Want some cheese with your Christmas measure of port? Someone at VW is only too happy to oblige...

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A thankless task writing press releases, especially when, to all intents and purposes, you're trying to titillate hacks into writing about an existing car now available with ... stripes and coloured door mirrors.

Want a stripey Scirocco? No? Didn't think so

Yup, that's your Scirocco GTS. Sadly not an official take on the track-prepped Scirocco our man Dale was punting about the Nordschleife not so long ago the GTS's exciting branding reveals itself to be little more than that. You can have white with black stripes and red mirrors, red with black stripes and white mirrors, black with ... ach, you get the idea. The only surprise is that VW hasn't gone the whole hog and done a special Scirocco xMAS limited edition with tinsel on the front and baubles dangling from the mirrors. Based on the R Line edition Scirocco, the GTS is, as they say, fully loaded and starts at £27,945 for the 210hp petrol manual. You can get it as a diesel too but, hey, let's not go there.

That press release though. We're guessing it may have been written after - or perhaps during - the VW Christmas party and the tortuous punning within deserves a hat tip, the GTS announced alongside a Fender (as in Stratocaster) special edition Beetle because, brace yourself, music fans have always liked The Beatles.

Beetle Fender edition - no, nor us

Things improve with nice name check for Spinal Tap's Smell The Glove in the monotone colour choice, ditto the boast of a volume knob that goes up to 11. It doesn't of course but you sense the person writing it was losing the will to live by that point. That or the suit who was going to sign it off had already knocked off for Christmas.

Hurry, the press release warns somewhat optimistically, because production of the Beetle Fender edition is limited...

 

[legalknievel]

Aaaah. Did somebody get out of the wrong side of bed?

Humbug!

Oh well. I hope this 'Christmas spirit' doesn't spil over into shed....

[BMWill]

So for extra money, the dealerships can now fit go-faster vinyl stripes over your car and charge you an arm and a leg for it. That's original!

[StottyZr]

[drgoatboy]

That looks terrible. Just terrible.

[V8 FOU]

Oh dear, Oh dear.
Back when I were a lad, we did this sort of crap. 'cept then it was chrome or chequered tape

[W124]

I bet Fender have knocked up some ghastly relic custom shop thing to go with the car. Awful guitars they cobble together these days... The NOS non-relics are ok. But the PRICES - sweet Jesus.

[devnull]

Dare I say it, I really like those wheels on the fender beetle. They have that look of concept car / rolls about them, without being too crass or bling, just.

[Steve vRS]

Like most, when I saw GTS I thought track special.

[Mastodon2]

Wow, that looks st.

[vrsmxtb]

I really don't associate The Beatles with Fenders, I'm sure they probably used them but it's not exactly an iconic match to me, stinks of "clutching at straws marketing". Do you get a guitar with the car then?!

[ugg10]

What next -

A Polo Rickenbacker or a Gibson Golf or a Flying V Phaeton ???

[Scrof]

Volkswagen? Doing dodgy music-related special editions? I don't believe it.

[markCSC]

Be have been better if it was the Beatle (or Beetle) Höfner

[vrsmxtb]

markCSC said:

Be have been better if it was the Beatle (or Beetle) Höfner

Or Ludwig!

[lewisf182]

Theres a new beetle parked in the works car park with those alloys. it does look very good IMHO and the retroiness blends well with the modern lines.

[MrGeoff]

lewisf182 said:

Theres a new beetle parked in the works car park with those alloys. it does look very good IMHO and the retroiness blends well with the modern lines.

Have to agree, the new beetle with these retro alloys is a fine balance of retro cool and modern influence, a definite improvement on their last incarnation of the resurrected Beetle.

[greggy50]

Why bother with a 135i when this beautiful car is available for a whole £2,000 less...

[dxg]

Have you seen the dashboard of the Fender Beetle, though?

I think it's gorgeous:

[mat205125]

That looks horrid. The original base model Scirocco looked the best. Every tweek that VAG seem to perform on their models seems to deform them into some kind of automotive Joan Rivers.

[soad]

Because race car.