Man makes 1,450bhp Beetle

Jet engine adds overtaking opportunities

By PH Staff / Monday, 8 May 2006 / Loading comments

If ever you were tempted to install a jet engine in a VW Beetle, don't bother: it's been done.

Ron Patrick, a 48-year-old Stanford-trained engineer and owner of US engineering firm ECM which makes instruments used by car makers, has mounted a 26,000 rpm General Electric T58-8F jet engine in the back of the new Beetle. The computer-designed machine, on which Patrick has lavished $250,000 is street-legal too, as it still contains the standard petrol engine with its emissions controls intact. It's just the huge cigar shape poking out the rear that gives away its 1,450bhp.

The question of course is why. Patrick said: "The purpose of this car is to have fun and be stupid. It's a toy, a toy for silly boys."