Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah - This is officially the world's fastest Beetle ever, and the first to join the prestigious 200 Club at the annual World of Speed meeting hosted by the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association.
Yes that's right, this two-litre turbopetrol Beetle was clocked at 328.195km/h - that's 205.122 miles per hour in Americanese - over a distance of a measured mile (1.6 kilometres). That means you not only have to reach that speed, but you have to hold it there for at least 18 seconds. The best we've ever done at IOL Motoring was 307km/h for about four seconds - and that felt like forever!
The very special 2.0 TSI Volksiebug LSR you see in this picture was tuned to kick out 405kW and 571Nm, with a bigger blower, reworked cylinder head, long-duration camshafts, special pistons and con rods, and a limited-slip differential.
The suspension was radically lowered and the Beetle was fitted with special wheels and tyres for driving on salt, as well as the mandatory roll cage, on board fire-extinguisher system, racing seat with five-point harness, and not one but two brake parachutes to haul it down at the end of the run.