Underestimate This 2003 VW Beetle RSi At Your Own Peril

Every now and then, Volkswagen escapes from “Boringland” and drops a car that’s so ridiculous it takes everyone by surprise.

Models such as the VW Thing, Phaeton, XL-1, and others are a testimony that the German automaker can think outside the box when it wants to. There’s no shortage of bonkers variants of existing models either in VW’s history; remember the Golf Country, VW Passat W8, and Touareg V10 TDI?

Also read: This Old Black VW Beetle Is Actually A Porsche

The VW Beetle RSi definitely belongs to the latter category — how else could we describe a Beetle powered by a 224 PS (221 hp) 3.2-liter VR6 engine? Built in a limited run of 250 units between 2001 and 2003, the RSi was a New Beetle on steroids. The six-cylinder engine was linked to a six-speed manual transmission and standard four-wheel drive, with the Beetle RSi also featuring a Remus Duplex Exhaust System straight from the factory.

The list of standard features also included a sports suspension, beefy aero kit, and full leather Recaro bucket seats in orange. Oh, and all 250 of them were painted metallic silver. The Beetle RSi was certainly a wolf in sheep’s clothing and it was easy to dismiss it as a boy racer’s car. It wasn’t.

The VR6 engine produced 224 PS (221 hp) at 6,200 rpm and 317 Nm (234 lb-ft) of torque at 3,200 rpm, allowing it to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.4 seconds and reach a top speed of 225 km/h (140 mph).

Naturally, finding a Beetle RSi is not easy, especially one that hasn’t been modified and hasn’t covered too many miles. The car you see in the photos, however, is entirely original and, more importantly, was regularly maintained by Volkswagen. It only covered 39,056 kilometers (24,268 miles) from the day it left the factory so it’s basically as good as new.

Is it a collectible, though? Well, since it’s offered at a price of €52,500 (about $58,800), it’s hard to estimate if there’s room for further appreciation as time goes by.