It likely would've been more of a fool's errand to build the Volkswagen W12 Coupé (aka the Nardo) than it was to greenlight the Phaeton. Still, we always thought the 521-horse people's exotic was a pretty nifty example of what happens when Volkswagen puts its wurst in Giugiaro's prosciutto. – Davey G. Johnson

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GX3: Flies and Death and Stuff [Internal]

From up close, the turbocharged W12 engine Volkswagen shoehorned into its GTI W12 concept car is probably a visceral experience, not unlike that millisecond before a jungle cat grinds you into meat by-product. In this video, you won't see the steroidal hare perform any feats of strength, like jumping over buses or dodging 75mm antitank rounds. It's all about the motor in all its whooping, coughing glory. Good morning. – Mike Spinelli

[via Carscoop]

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Madness in the Middle: VW GTI W12 650 Reveal [internal]

The phone rang. "Dude!" my buddy yelled. "What is that thing?" He was talking about this video of the new 650 horsepower W12 GTI concept car which Davey's been all over for the last few days. Yeah, the one with the jacked-up dual-turbo Bentley mill in the middle. And we've been asking ourselves why on earth would Volkswagen create an AWD, mid-engined Golf with that much horsepower? Specifically, that much horsepower? The all too obvious answer comes after you jump. (Thanks to Zero Customs for the video) – Jonny Lieberman

Related:
Fore! 650hp VW Golf | More On the Stonking W12 Turbo Golf From Hell [Internal]

When we ran across the W12 GTI this morning all we had to go on were our rusty German skills. Now we've got, at the very least, a translated press release in hand, as well as more photos of the Rabbit with the heart of a Continent(al). The mid-mounted engine is longitudinal, for added Countach-type radness, and it scoots to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds. And who doesn't want a Golf that'll top 200? We want one. We want one very, very much. More, in fact, than we want a golden bust of Peter DeLuise from his 21 Jump Street days. Press release after the jump. – Davey G. Johnson

Leave conventions behind and let ypur passion awake - since the beginning these were the roots of the GTI idea. Until today they got more than 1.67 million drivers into their spell. Long has the Golf GTI been an icon. A mark for itself.

Since 1982 Golf GTI celebrate it annually in the Austrian Land at the Wörthersee. Thousands come.Volkswagen placed a Golf before them: the Golf GTI W12-650 showcar. This sports car is a inclination before the GTI friends at the Wörthersee, people for whom the GTI is a myth.
Stronger, broader, faster
A Golf was never stronger, broader or faster. It seems that the Golf GTI W12-650 comes directly from the racing course. A Golf that runs like the Pace Car of the 24 hours of Le Mans. Its name means: W12-Cylinder, 650 HP (477 KW with 6.000 rpm). A Showcar, not more, not less. Nevertheless it shows what enormous potential the Golf has to offer.

3.7 seconds, 325 km/h, 750 Newtonmeters
Its 6,0 Liter Biturbo engine is longitudinal and placed directly behind the driver and the front seat passenger. The Golf GTI W12-650 differentiate itself in this way from the classical central engine car. A 6-speed automatic transmission transfers 750 Newtonmeters (at 4.500 rpm) to the rear axle. It catapults the Golf GTI W12-650 to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds. With a maximum speed of 325 km/h the Golf GTI W12-650 leaves behind nearly all of the world's supercars.

Width 1.88 m, 235er tire in front, 295er tire in the back
Automotive engineers and designers united under Volkswagen Golf GTI W12 650
its 1.88 meters (series: 1.76 meters) spread and 1.42 meters (series: 1.50 meters) flatten body. The chassis components of the Golf GTI W12-650 were adapted directly from supersports cars. The wheels are of course made from a light alloy and because of the gigantic wheel dimensions a specialy engineered tire had to be made.

70 millimeters lower, 160 millimeters broader
The goal was clearly defined - despite the partially dramatic technical changes the study should
remain completely clear that this is a Golf GTI. Therefore as much parts as possible were taken from tha classical GTI like: the headlights, the doors, the front hood and the tail lamps. The axles were pushed 70 millimeters into the body.

The largest problem was to supply the 6-litre central engine with sufficient air and to produce sufficient drift at the rear axle without watering the silhouette of the Golf GTI W12-650. Therefore the C-columns were re-designed in such a way that they lead air to the engine. The rear side windows run inward, so that two channels develop between the disks and the C-columns on the left and on the right to drive air to the engine.
The Carbon fiber roof is a diffuser
Innovative building of the body also prevented that the lines of the Golf GTI W12-650 to get ruined by a putting on a roof wing. The study carries the wing inward. The roof is part of an enormous diffuser, which provides sufficient drift to the rear axle. It's made from carbon fiber and leads air under the normal tail spoiler.

Interior with racing ambitions
The leather is Alcantara. On the middle range of the armatures are Three rows of auxiliary instruments. Transparent "Flip UP" switch guards for central functions like the disconnectible ESP look like taken derectly from the race track.

Fire extinguishers are integrated in the place of the glove compartment to also remind us of the race. Because of weight reasons "stripped" the door linings are complete; only lattices are used, which grant a complete view of the interior mechanics of the door.

Related:
Fore! 650hp VW Golf [Internal]

"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." – John Adams

Related:
And Then There Were Nine: Vote a Car Out of the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage | Jalopnik Fantasy Garage: Volkswagen Phaeton W12 [Internal]

Yes, the Phaeton. Like everyone else, when I first heard Volkswagen would be producing a $100,000 car, I was aghast. Was this the same Volkswagen that built my friend Tristy's Scirocco? Aside from constantly belching black smoke, that car's passenger seat would snap off its runners on every left turn. Six figures for a fat Passat? I'll pass, thanks. But then, details started trickling in. The Phaeton would share an all-wheel-drive, air-suspended platform with both the Bentley Continental GT and the Audi A8L, including the mega-compact 6.0-liter W12. That's some Brucetastic DNA. Snob-wise, the Phaeton would be at the correct end of a one-way street. While some jokers might climb into a Bentley and cringe at the Volkswagen-sourced gear selector, ain't nobody's getting into a Phaeton and bemoaning, "Hey, that's the knob-a-roo from the Continental GT – gross!" Sure, the biggest-ever VW would come from a fine family. But then again, so do the Hilton sisters.

Think of these three VeeDubs as the Brothers Karamazov. The Bentley is Dimitri, physically mighty, a bit debased but most of all a sensualist. Champagne? Women? Bring it on. The A8L is Ivan, a strict rationalist and logical to a fault. The Phaeton is Alexei, Dostoevsky's hero and spiritual center. Like in the novel, the Bentley and the Audi are both trying to kill their father. They both love his (R&D) money but find the old man a bit of an embarrassment. But the Phaeton, like Alexei, is out to redeem the patriarch. And if you recall Volkswagen's father (let's say the Bug, not Hitler), this is quite a tall order. Like the murder trial that unfolds, it's not the result in question, but the intent. Five years ago, VW's archduke Ferdinand Pi ch was in sole possession of the cash, boffins and cojones to attempt not only yanking Volkswagen up by its own lederhosen, but building the very best car in the world. He succeeded by half.

There are those who call the Phaeton a mistake. Some refer to it as "Pi ch's Folly." Worse, there are those who say Volkswagen had no business building a car that competes with the likes of BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. This type of "know your place" thinking is reactionary, wrongheaded conservatism at its worst. What if Chevrolet had never bothered with the Corvette? What if Ford never greenlit the Mustang? What if Carroll Shelby had kept on farming chickens and not taken on Enzo Ferrari? Naysayers are always quick to chastise a carmaker for overstepping their brand, to which I answer, "Buick GNX." Even Farago, who's issued such pronouncements as, "Volvo should only make safe cars," was so impressed by the Phaeton that he defied his own mantra and declared it a hit. To reiterate, that type of can't-do thinking would have BMW still popping out inexpensive bubble cars while poor Volkswagen lumbered along with nothing but the Beetle.

The Phaeton W12's stats are humbling: 444 horsepower squeezed from one of the world's oddest and most complex engines. (All pistonheads would be well served by reading the technical mumbo jumbo behind the VR6 and W engines.) For comparison's sake, the Rolls Royce Phantom produces just nine more horsepower from a larger 12-cylinder. Inverse to last week's Corvette ZR-1, the Phaeton's engine is the least interesting thing about the car. According to a tall, blustery Brit named Jeremy, if one were to remove the Germanic 155 mph limiter, the Phaeton will top out at 201 mph, which would be faster than a contemporary Z06. Is this totally true, or more fibbing from Clarkson? Who knows. Still, have a look at these German hoons doing 174 mph without a speck of trouble. That's remarkable for any 5,100-pound car, let alone a VW. But an engine is just an engine.

What makes the Phaeton so well suited to the JFG is everything else. As Jezzo said, "the attention to detail is staggering." Name something the Phaeton does better than your car. You have comfy seats? No, really, according to the Phaeton you don't. Its chairs are covered in Italian cows, adjust in 18 ways, heat and cool your bum, massage your lower back and support your lumbar. The front seats in the Phaeton are nearly as plush as the rear seats in the Rolls-Royce Phantom. And the back isn't too shabby either, what with an acre of knee room. However, the killer app is the world's first four-zone climate control system.

You know how, when it's hot out and the AC is blasting cold air cold air across your frozen knuckles even thought the rest of the car is still in the triple digits? Well, the Phaeton has regular vents to quickly heat or cool the cabin. But once the desired temperature is achieved, covers deploy over those vents and act as radiators, sparing your poor, icy hands. This feature, which came standard on the Phaeton in 2004, should be showing up on the big German and Japanese saloons, oh around 2010.

Then there's the exterior. True, I'm not the world's biggest fan of the face, which shares too many lines with its contemporary Jettas and Passats. But once you get past the A-pillars, the Phaeton is sensational. The stance, the proportions, the hulking C-pillars, the rear end; it's all perfect (especially in black). Best of all, the leviathan is stealth personified. To the layman, you're driving nothing more than a rather large Volkswagen. But to the car freak in the know, you're into something special. But special enough to park in one of the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage's 50 berths?

I enlisted some expert advice in the form of the LA Times's Dan Neil, who graciously shared his thoughts with me for the low, low price of one beer and two cigarettes.

"The Phaeton represented somebody's idea of the perfect car, and how many cars can you say that about? So it was unusually free of compromise. It was also a monument to Pi ch's willfulness, which you could say also about the Veyron — so it has a kind of kinship with that monster. The Phaeton was subversive, too. It demanded you respect it in spite of its badge."

"It's also kind of a time-and-place car. Like the old Mercedes 500E, the Datsun 240Z, the Viper, cars that say something about the state of the industry."

Sadly for us, Phaetons don't exist anymore.

Before voting, read and view the following:
Dan Neil's Requiem for a Heavyweight | Robert Farago's Phaeton review | Watch the video below for Jeremy Clarkson's take

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[The Jalopnik Fantasy Garage appears every Tuesday. Readers vote the cars in or out. The idea is that we'll have 50 cars in our fantasy garage, the world's greatest mechanic and endless wads of cash. If you would like to nominate a car for our Fantasy Garage, email tips@jalopnik.com with the subject line "fantasy garage."]

Related:
The Jalopnik Fantasy Garage; More: Volkswagen AG: No Scirocco for US! [Internal]

We wannabe upper crusty anglophile types are already busy drooling over the allure from the double-decadent Havana coupe. Now Bentley springs this on us? As the revitalized German British marquee nears the brand-imploding 9,000 cars a year threshold, they are going to need new steel to maintain their momentum. Wait, not steel — as was dictated by sharing a chassis with brother Phaeton — Al-you-min-e-um. The new Continentals will use Audi's lightweight MLB platform, probably shedding half a ton in the process. Much more interesting (says me), is the likelihood of low volume offshoots, including a four-door drop-top, a sedanca and most wonderful of all, a shooting brake! And if Davey G. calls the latter a "hatch back," I'm sicking Daniel Craig on his ass. – Jonny Lieberman

Bentley plots new models [CAR]

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Spurs Fly in Chicago: Fairmont Adds Bentley to Fleet [Internal]