I had a look around the Volkswagen Golf which was too terrifying to build, and I love it

Volkswagen has a reputation for mostly building sensible, comfortable, well-made and efficient cars for people who want something to waft them around without much fuss.

Sure, the GTI and R models cater to those who want something a bit more sporty, but every now and then Volkswagen’s designers like to really let their hair down and come up with something insane. This is where the Volkswagen Golf W12-650 comes in.

What is the Volkswagen Golf W12-650?

Back in 2007, Volkswagen needed something jaw-dropping to show off at Worthersee GTI-Treffen – a GTI fan festival hosted in Austria every year until it was canned in 2024 amid friction with the local community.

So two months before GTI-Treffen, VW designers started raiding the group’s vast parts bin to create something truly astonishing. It started with the humble body of a fifth-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI, but the 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine wasn’t quite crazy enough.

So the 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine from the Bentley Continental GT was shoehorned in. It would never fit under the Golf’s bonnet, so out came the rear seats and the whopping engine was slotted right behind the driver.

To put all 650hp to the ground it had the rear axle from a Lamborghini Gallardo and the automatic gearbox from the Volkswagen Phaeton luxury limousine, as well as the front brakes from an Audi RS4 to make sure it can stop properly.

The body was also widened by 6.3 inches to make way for both the side-mounted air intakes and the massive tyres, and the W12-650 also sits almost 3.0 inches lower to the ground than the standard Golf GTI.

All these changes come together to create a hot hatchback with as much power as a modern Lamborghini Urus, and one which does 0-60mph in less than four seconds. The W12-650 also achieved a top speed of 201mph, making it just as fast as the Lamborghini Gallardo.

What’s the Volkswagen Golf W12-650 like in person?

I was hugely excited to get to see the W12-650 in the metal. Ever since I watched the feature on Top Gear back in 2007 with this car, I’ve been obsessed with it. The car has been wrapped red for the launch of the Golf GTI 50, but I reckon it looked way better in its original white paint. Despite this, the attention to detail is still fantastic.

I thought a concept car as complex as this hastily thrown together in two months would be falling apart 19 years later, but the build quality is really impressive. Nothing looks tacked-on or like an afterthought – it’s much closer to a production car from the outside than I expected.

And it just looks so cool. I always thought the Mk5 Golf GTI was the best-looking of the lot, but the W12-650 is on another level. The ridiculous flared arches and massive side vents are plain juvenile, and I love it for that.

Up close there are also some hidden details which you may have missed on TV, such as the roof vent behind the rear spoiler and the hidden vents behind the rear windows. The bootlid is also sealed shut, which I can only imagine makes maintenance a pain.

Stepping inside, it does become more obvious that this is just a concept car. None of the buttons or switches are real, but it does still look the part. The transparent switch guards on the dashboard give it a racecar vibe, as do the black and white Alcantara bucket seats.

Why I love the Volkswagen Golf W12-650

The Golf W12-650 is an example of a car company making something just because it can. It’s a showcase of what can be done when the designers aren’t hamstrung by emissions regulations, or the need for a spacious boot or back seats.

Above all else, the W12-650 is dumb in the best possible way. Putting a 650hp W12 engine in the middle of a Golf was always going to end in chaos, and reviews of the car at the time were mainly centred on just how terrifying it was to drive. It was snappy, unpredictable and just downright hilarious.

But this is why I love it. This wasn’t just a show car which lived on a plinth, it was a working mid-engined Golf supercar which VW wanted to show off at every opportunity.

What it does is prove that Volkswagen, beneath its serious, sensible outward portrayal, has a great sense of humour. I wish more brands would make silly cars like this in 2026.

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