We're not too sure about everything that goes around the engine and drive train, but nobody is going to argue with the guns this car is packing. A stroked SVO 351W V8 good for 392 cubic inches, two, count 'em, two Rotrex superchargers feeding two air-to-air intercoolers and firing up for over 830 HP and 770 lb.ft. of torque. That monster drives a Tremec 5-speed with a set of steering wheel mounted paddle shifters which cranks a Mittler Brothers 9" rear end. Really damned impressive.

It's all the other stuff that has us down. While it does sport a tube frame and a hidden roll cage, they managed to duct and reshape a little too much of the car. And while we know the mesh is high quality, it just has a certain Pep boys feel to it. The current Mustang headlights are worked into the nose, and we really can't complain too much about them, but that seems like a weird choice. And don't get us started on all the gee gaws and gadgets in the interior. A cabin should be an office and the business should be driving, not fiddling with a 3000W kicker sounds system and a 10.5" LCD screen. Nonetheless, this is a damn impressive piece of machinery, even if it needs to have a couple hundred pounds of electronics garbage tossed to the curb. Obsidian SG-1

You have to admire VW's brass for using the diminutive Dustin Hoffman (supposedly 5'5" standing on his wallet) to show off how big their new car is. That guy made the Duetto look roomy. Still, we dig his semi-Beat parlance and rapid fire delivery. The car, as it happens, is pretty jazzy, too. The fedora gets tipped in the direction of Mike Sliczniak for the video. – Jonny Lieberman

Related:
It Lives! Preliminary Road Test Of The Rebuilt Karmann Ghia Type III; Moves You From There To Here Like That: 1969 Chevelle SS 396 [Internal]