It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for re-imaginings of what a modern VW Beetle could be. While my own takes tend towards the broke-ass end of the market, there are people out there thinking similar thoughts, but with opposite results. Like A.Deniz Özbarli, the designer of the Alpera Tulpar, a Beetle reborn as a Ferrari-fighter.
So far, I don’t know much about Özbarli, or why he picked the name Alpera Tulpar for this — as best as I can tell, Alpera is a Spanish municipality and a Tulpar is a sort of Turkish Pegasus. How those relate to the traditional Beetle, I have no idea, but one look at the Tulpar itself gives no question as to its inspiration.
Here’s what this design site says about the Tulpar, which may be from press materials from the designer — I’m not sure just yet:
Alpera TULPAR will change the way you start daydreaming. Because it’s beyond the past & the future, it creates a connection in between as well. Modern design reflects the retro look with legendary curves of the past. Reliable twin boxer turbo engine with more than 500 bhp adds more & more power to make it fast. Extra comfort features offer extreme driving pleasure and safety issues increased with unified carbon fiber monocoque frame and advanced composites to the latest standard as rivals. It’s riding on the speed of light with latest technological integrations.
I’m guessing “twin boxer turbo engine” means a twin-turbo boxer, not a flat-twin with a turbo — not that I’d mind that, though. Based on the design, this HyperBeetle appears to be mid-engined (which makes it close to my re-imagined Beetle — we even have similar C-pillars!) and at a hypothetical 500 HP, this thing would be a fantastic and ironic 911-fighter.
Still, it’s just renderings and a fun idea now, and I have no idea how the designer would want to pursue this — it seems like VW would do a lot to stop this from actually ever getting made, even as a kit — but maybe I’ll discover the legendary Hobo Gold in my septic tank and commission a one off, in yellow, for myself.
Until then, I guess we can just look at these pictures and smile.
UPDATE: I’m already seeing the Porsche 911 comments, and you’re all absolutely right — the Beetle has become a sportscar since very early on, starting with the Porsche 64 Berlin-Rome racer, to the 356, to the 911 and on and on. That’s true. This is a Beetle reborn as a racecar while maintaining the Beetle identity more, so it’s different that way. But, yes, I should have mentioned this initially. Sorry!