Beetle Styling by Volkswagen

JE DESIGN  and the VW Beetle - Shameless Plug

When the "New Beetle" made its comeback in 1998, it was at the top of a nostalgia chain and an absolute hit for the generation that had driven air-cooled "bugs" across all geographies and through all seasons. It was easy on gas, super-reliable and could be painted with flowers to look really cool. What?


The "New Beetle" found a willing consumer heavily skewed towards women - intentional or not. Can't say it was meant to be cute because the very first iteration (circa 1949 - 2 were sold that year) in North America was considered downright ugly and sounded like a large lawnmower.  Besides, American cars were big and powerful and the VW bug was small and had as much horsepower as a giant lawnmower.   However it went from scorn to cultural icon in the 1970s, and it does retain special status as the best-selling car of all time. The 2011 "Beetle" was totally made over inside and out. See an interview with VW designers Marco Pavone & Jan Haacke here.



This version of the Beetle has a 2 litre turbo under the hood (oh yeah - the engine used to be in the rear.)  Find a do-it-yourself plug and play chip tuning upgrade that will pump the horsepower up from 200 to 250 on the same page as what LLTeK offers from the mind of designer Jochen Eckelt -  see pictures and pricing of simple body kit styling for the 2012 Beetle here.

Rieger RS Modification for the Audi A4 B8

2013 Audi A4 B8 Images in from Trinidad today.

It's a right hand drive! Our thanks to Brad for sending these project pix along.

From Trinidad & Tobago: This must be the best-looking Audi A4 B8 on the island. Without stretching, it may very well  be the best in the Caribbean (all the dutch boys in Aruba are going to be jealous.) The body kit conversion is out of Germany, manufactured by Rieger; and Brad opted for the wise choice of German parts for his German car. Bumper, grille, corner intake grilles, skirts, and Rieger's exclusive carbon look rear insert with custom stainless tips put the car in hyper-drive.

The wheels are brand spanking new also. The white-on-white with stainless steel accents come via eta beta. The wheels are Italian - designed in Italy - manufactured in Italy. No substitutes - no reasonable facsimiles - all top drawer modifications. You can bet on a good sound system and what would life be like in hot climes without air?  Well done?  Yes, but more likely and to the point - just like the car - hot hot hot! Impeccable.

Audi A5 DTM Special Edition

Audi A5 - Rott "Rocky" Rocket

Special DTM Edition of the Audi A5 in Misano red - Get the V6T.

Audi will start taking orders next week for a limited series A5 in recognition of eight wins in the DTM race series - Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (or in English "German Touring Car Masters".) Bearing the moniker Rocky, it is the nickname for Mike Rockenfeller, who as Audi's DTM racer, just took home his first DTM champion's title.

The car will sell at a premium with 20" alu wheels, badging everywhere and a fixed wing trunk spoiler. There is no guarantee the machine will be available in North America; however, in related DTM news, there is a rumour that The United Sports Car Racing group could host a DTM event in the US. Keep your fingers crossed because if that happens - you'd get to see the car directly below. Eat your heart out Tony Stark.

To see LLTEK body kit offerings for the Audi A5 - click here

Audi A4 B7 badgeless grille

No Rings, No Badge, No Problem

quantum B7 ninja grille

Brian sent these images of his Audi A4 with a spanking new Quantum B7 grille installed and we want to say thanks because it's one thing to see an image of a grille on a website and something completely different to see the same thing (in context) on a car.

He tells us the stealthy look was a bit of a glitch and not completely by choice. Apparently,  the whereabouts of the ring mount went AWOL at the installers; but  "aesthetics" are subjective unless one posseses master of the universe wisdom and powers. Adding insult to injury, after Brian posted the install pix at an Audi forum (which shall remain anonymous) a forum commentator suggested that a grille without the rings is a faux pas of galactic dimensions. I don't think the presence or absence of rings is anything anyone should get their shorts in a knot about - but I do know another ring mount is on its way; and if Brian puts the rings on we'd be happy to get a photo of that too.

We've never hung out at the forums, not because it's annoying to have someone frequently jump out of the closet at you, but because as Karl Popper once said, "No rational argument will have a rational effect on a man who does not want to adopt a rational attitude."

Audi A8 D3 "saloon" Project Completed in NY

Cruising Time in Upper State NY

The project (and the man behind it) that started more that a year ago - in top shape.

Stanley sent a ton of pictures taken recently of his long wheelbase A8 D3 (it's a pre-facelift) in Albany. We have posted them in an album at the LLTeK facebook page. If you have an FB account, click the link and leave a thumbs-up or encouraging comment.

The change from OEM to big-time street styling took long-term dedication & persistence. At a time when most of our clients were going for the large grille conversion, Stanley stayed with the OEM grill style - it's probably the only thing he didn't change. The package is German from JE DESIGN - but it should be mentioned that the vented quarter panels up front (also German) come from Hofele. Altogether outstanding and well done. LLTeK likes.

You can see the project in its early stages here.