Spotted: Rolls-Royce in the front, Beetle in the back

The VW Beetle was conceived as a low cost vehicle for the masses. That didn’t stop this owner from bolting on a Rolls-Royce body kit. Steve Van Esch spotted it near Georgina, Ontario.

The VW Beetle and the Rolls-Royce are both iconic designs. Merging them into one car is a lose-lose proposition.

After reading my recent column on taking big trips in little cars, reader John Courtney and his wife Helen sent me this great picture from their 1959 honeymoon. Their carriage was a 1957 VW Beetle they bought new for $1,750. John recalls the trip: “Our honeymoon consisted of a trip from Winnipeg to London, ON, through the northern U.S., with stops in Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit to shop. On arrival at our little house in London (a converted stable on a nine-acre estate) we unpacked the car and before moving in we could not resist taking a photo showing everything we packed into our little car! And the roof rack had yet to be unloaded…”

I’ve been writing about kit cars lately. Reader Ross Mason sent me several photos after spotting what looks like a Porsche 550 Spyder in Paso Robles, California. So is this one real, or not? Few owners would risk driving a genuine 550 Spyder on the street, because they are now worth a small fortune (see the next photo for some insight into the car’s current value.) Although it’s always been coveted by sports car buffs, the 550 is best known as the car that Hollywood icon James Dean died while driving in 1955.

It’s hard to tell if this one is a real Spyder or not, but if I had to put money on it, I’d bet it’s a replica made by Chuck Beck, a long-time car builder who’s known for high-quality Porsche Spyder and Speedster reproductions.

By way of comparison, this is a genuine Porsche 550 Spyder. I took this picture in Porsche’s restoration shop in Stuttgart. The factory bought this car from a private owner for $4.6 million. It was worth even more after being freshened up by an elite team of Porsche factory mechanics.

Porsche only made the 550 Spyder for three years (1953-1956.) The design still appeals.

This week, I wrote a column about philosophy and kit cars (“Plato and the Fake Ferrari.”) Real or not, this 550 captures the spirit of the time.

You can spend a fortune on an attention-getting car. Or you could snap up an old Saturn and buy a few spray cans of purple paint. And who needs a high-buck Thule roof rack when you can get some lengths of iron pipe and threaded plumbing elbows for next to nothing?

Now defunct, Saturn was never a coveted brand. But switch a few letters around, Scrabble-board-style, and you’ve got yourself a Sunrat. This owner gets an A-Plus for originality.

Rolls Royce is famous for its “Spirit of Ecstasy” hood ornament, which depicts a winged woman leaning into the wind. The Sunrat’s designer went in a different direction.