Instantly Become That Weirdo in Your Neighborhood: Buy This 2004 VW Beetle Pickup Conversion
All that utility is just $19,500 away.
We do love a good pickup conversion here at The Drive, especially ones that are attractive and well-executed. I mean sure, they're weird, but look at all of that newfound utility! As far as we're concerned, every vehicle should have a pickup option. Oh, what's that? Did somebody make a pickup from a 2004 Volkswagen New Beetle?
Hmm. Forget what I said.
Of all of the vehicles to receive the wise conversion into a pickup truck or 'ute,' the first generation of the modern Golf-based Beetle was the last car I would think of. This thing is actually really well done, though. Its creator—who will have to pass the title of "That Weirdo with Beetle Pickup" to you when you buy it—didn't just cut off the rear end and patch it with a bathtub full of Bondo. Oh no, this is a professional job.
First of all, this is a sports truck. Even though the seller says it can haul 900 pounds (which nearly makes it a half-ton truck) it isn't some purely utilitarian machine. It's sort of like a Chevy SSR, without the strange Baby Boomer tax that somehow makes clean examples of those cars worth $30,000 or more. And the reason why it looks so professionally done is, well, because it is. This isn't some back-alley fiberglass hackery, it's actually a conversion kit sold by Smyth Kit Cars. They sell a wide variety of different pickup conversions, and we've actually covered them before.
We have never seen this Beetle kit, however. And this car also has some mods beyond just a new bed. In fact, It would be a very long list to say absolutely everything the seller did to the car. In a nutshell, the thing has pretty much been completely rebuilt. It has new wheels and tires, suspension, brakes, hoses, belts, ignition—I would just read the listing. It's a lot.
It also has a brand new custom paint job over a bunch of other new parts added in addition to the pickup conversion. These include a custom-made rigid cargo cover that is not included with the conversion kit, a nice big spoiler, some aftermarket side skirts, and a new front bumper. The front bumper is complete with some new foglights, as well. Top off all of those mods with some black plastic fender arches, and this is a mean-looking New Beetle. Well, as mean as a New Beetle can look.
As far as the performance goes, the car has an upgraded turbocharger in addition to a cat-back exhaust. Those parts should help boost the grunt of this thing's 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine above the stock 178 horsepower it left the factory with. You're gonna need that extra power when all of your friends hear you have a pickup and ask you to help them move.
At 102,000 miles, this thing probably has more life ahead of it than behind it. 102,000 Isn't a particularly low amount, but it's acceptable. What's a little high is the $19,500 price tag. You would really have to find the right buyer to pay nearly twenty grand for this thing. That's not to say the quality of work is not worth the price. I'm saying that $20,000 is a lot of money for any used Volkswagen (especially a New Beetle) that's been converted into a pickup.
All that being said, I do think this entire project is very well done. Should you buy this thing? Eh. If you have $20,000 dollars in your pocket to just throw away (as we all do, right?) then yeah, get this thing and become that weird person on your block. If not? Well, the kit's actually on sale right now.
You really have no excuse not to become that person. I would just embrace it.
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