In the early 1930s, the concept of the Volkswagen Beetle was born. German engineer Ferdinand Porsche was asked by the dictator of the time to design and mass produce an affordable vehicle for the citizens of Germany and by the mid-'40s, the VW Beetle was in full production. Today, the Volkswagen Beetle continues to be an icon of German engineering. While it still inherits that familiar rounded-bubble look, the car doesn't share much else with the car from more than 60 years ago. Throughout its years, it's been incessantly refined; today, it's roomier, sleeker, faster, and definitely more powerful.
These features are perhaps what led 25-year-old Phillip Carey to purchase his '00 V-Dub Beetle. "All I ever owned were Volkswagens," Carey exclaimed. Only several weeks after the purchase of the brand-new vehicle, Carey was bit by his "bug." He felt the infamous "itch that needed to be scratched," which all tuners seem to go through, taking a perfectly good car and turning it into something more unique. "I had primer on the doors and a flip-down monitor while still riding on its 30-day tag," he added. The metamorphosis started with slight body modifications that quickly led to the complete removal of the interior.
Dash Head Unit
The audio transformation of this Beetle started within its dash area. Carey wanted a source unit that would entertain as well as help him find the hottest spots in his town of Dallas, N.C., so he chose Pioneer's AVIC-N2 to get the job done. The stock head unit was quickly pulled out of the cavity, and the slick all-in-one N2 slipped right in its place. With a push of a button on the Pioneer head unit, Carey gets access to all his sources and the database that contains millions of points of interest through the built-in motorized 7-inch touchscreen display.
Dash Speakers
For speakers, the Beetle's unique ultra-deep dash provided more placement flexibility than the average car. Since Carey's goals for the system were to look good and be loud, the V-Dub's dash was a welcome site for larger speakers. It had ample room to accommodate speakers up to 8 inches in size without obstructing the driver's view. Soon enough a total of four speakers, two Kicker SSMB8 8-inch midbass drivers and two Kicker SS65.2 6.5-inch component speakers occupied the vast dash area. In the installation process, Carey was able to integrate the speakers into the contours of the dash. After angling the speakers for optimal staging and imaging, the magic of fiberglass and body filler and the use of black suede went into effect.