Maggie Kirk's Hot Rod Beetle

• Tuesday, 9 October 2007
• Jon Gilbert
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Maggie Kirk's Hot Rod Beetle

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Taking a whole new look at the concept, Maggie Kirk's Volks Rod bucks established trends and looks to the future rather than the past

Not everyone 'gets' the Volks Rod phenomenon. Perhaps some see it as a waste of a Beetle, others maybe don't like to see non-VW parts on a VW, while others might simply not like the look of roof-chopped Beetles or Beetles without wings. Fine, each to their own, but one thing I have noticed over the last few years is how rigidly the vast majority of Volks Rods owners have stuck to the more traditional side of the Hot Rod movement from which they draw their inspiration, favouring wire wheels, matt paint and an anti-billet ethos.
"We were at The VolksWorld Show in 2005," explains Mark Dryden, the builder of this car, "and there was a part-built Hot Rod Beetle there with an unfinished chop. I said to Maggie [Kirk, the owner] 'That's a nice chop, shall we build one?'" So that's how this car started, but it was always to be Maggie's car, right from that point. "I really liked the shape of the cars," she added, "but I wanted to get away from all the matt black and red wheels thing…" Admittedly, these styling cues are very much in vogue (again) right now, but there are still plenty of people who are into Street Rods and the more high-tech side of the hobby too, and Maggie's car is the first Volks Rod to successfully blend the powerful visual elements of that style of car with a fenderless Beetle. Others in the States have fitted billet wheels, some have even used a similar treatment around the front and rear valances, but somehow they'd lost the raw aspect of a Volks Rod along the way.

For the full story on this feature car check out the November 07 issue of VolksWorld magazine, onsale from the 5th October till the 2nd November and then available through back issue.