Have You Ever Heard of – The VW Beetle RSi Cup?

Yes, it’s a Volkswagen Beetle and everyone and their grandmother has heard of the Volkswagen Beetle, being as it is one of the most famous and recognisable cars, nay things, ever created but this is no ordinary bug. The car we’re talking about is the little known VW Beetle RSi Cup. No, that doesn’t stand for repetitive strain injury, although that may come into play with all of the trophies you’ll be hefting if you win the auction for this particular car because it was built with one thing in mind: competitive motorsport.

Cast your mind back to 1997. The Spice Girls were everywhere, The English Patient took home best picture at the Oscars, Tony Blair’s Labour Party had won the UK general election and J. K. Rowling had just published a cautionary tale about letting over-imaginative kids play with sticks. All eyes were on Britain but German automaker Volkswagen were about to be the talk of the motoring world with its release of the new Beetle. Based on the Mk4 Golf platform it was very much a continuation of the original bug and heavily influenced by it, at least from a design perspective, although this time around the engine was at the other end, driving the front wheels instead of the rear. It was a successful endeavour for VW and people got on board with its cutesy looks and inherent drive-ability but it’s never enough to merely put a new car into production. There needs to be at least a touch of pomp and circumstance.

And that’s exactly what VW did with the Beetle Cup race series introduced in ’99 in a bid to make the new Beetle seem a little more exciting and give it some motorsport kudos. Of course, the cars used to actually compete were a far cry from standard showroom spec models. For starters VW dropped in its 2.8-litre VR6 engine and tweaked it ever so slightly, installing new cams and fettling the timing. All of the power was sent via a six-speed close ratio manual gearbox through a Quaife limited slip differential to the front wheels.

Exterior upgrades included a full race-spec, wide stance bodykit with not one, but two rear spoilers; one on the back of the roof and a huge wing on the bootlid, all sitting on fully adjustable Bilstein suspension. 18 inch magnesium OZ alloy wheels completed the aggro aesthetic and at any angle the Beetle RSi Cup looks ready to rip your face off – quite the departure from the somewhat Teletubby image of the standard cars. This was definitely less Po and way more go.

The stripped out interior received similar treatment with the addition of a full roll cage, proper bucket seats and fuel cell. Here was a car that you could immediately jump into and go racing. It’s unclear how many official Cup cars were built but suffice to say it wasn’t a lot, with 200 being the maximum number ever quoted and this particular example apparently being number 197. Speaking of which, the car we have available via our auctions platform is a bona fide racing veteran having debuted in ’99 and been used in the 2001 VW Racing Cup. Not only that but it also competed in the 2nd group of the Coppa Italia Turismo, which explains its technical passport from Automobile Club d’Italia. The current vendor purchased the car from a UK-based race team and can help with transportation from Italy where it currently resides.

This car has been used exactly as intended – to go racing, and that’s a good thing as it’s a proven entity. There is always an inherent risk with racecars, whether fresh from the factory or built and modified after the fact. There are no guarantees the engine won’t explode with the first downshift to second, or that the suspension won’t fall out just as you’ve perfectly clipped the apex at turn one of your first race. Nothing is promised and nothing is infallible but the beauty of this particular car is that proven track record (pun intended). You know it can and has successfully performed in competition and that’s a great feeling to have going into any club race or track day behind the wheel of a new steed.

The RSi Cup wasn’t restricted to the track, however. So enamoured was VW with its creation that it decided to make a road-going version, albeit limiting numbers to a strict 250. Hitting the streets in 2001 the VW Beetle RSi retained the wide body, 18 inch OZ wheels and whale tail of the track versions but underneath the bonnet was a 220-odd bhp, 3.2-litre version of the VR6 engine as opposed to the 2.8. The front-wheel drive setup was also ditched in favour of VW’s 4 Motion all-wheel drive system although the six-speed manual gearbox was carried over. Its impressive performance was matched only by its colossal price tag but then you get what you pay for and the RSi was a damn good car. It still is.

But it’s the pure racing version like this one that we’d have. Go big or go home, as the old adage goes and in the case of this VW Beetle RSi Cup you can certainly fulfil that particular maxim. Buy it, take it racing and then make some shelf for your trophies, confident that you’ve made a great choice when it comes to a suitably capable and not to mention rare track weapon.

Inspired to try one? Here’s where you can find a Volkswagen Beetle for sale.