Volkswagen shows Golf R, Dune buggy concept

Like this topic? You may also like these photo galleries: VW offered a Beetle knockoff called the Dune, complete with singers and dancers

VW says it might build this Beetle Dune, based on high-performance underpinnings. It ",looks production ready,", VW says. (Photo: VW)

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DETROIT -- Volkswagen had something for music lovers and performance addicts today at the North American International Auto Show here.

An impromptu music performance heralded the debut of the Dune, a dune buggy version of the Beetle. And for those with a heavy foot, VW offered the Golf R, a hopped-up version of its Golf.

The Dune is intended as pure fun. It is a wide, low concept version of the Beetle aimed at keeping the brand's youth orientation. Will be it be built as a production car? VW officials won't say, but they also add that it wouldn't be that expensive to give it a try. It would certainly have nostalgia value, given how famous old Beetles were as dune buggies

The Golf R, due in showrooms in the next few months, is intended as fun of a different sort. Its little 2-liter engine develops nearly 300 horsepower and is "a real sports car," says Michael Horn, the new head of VW in the U.S.

"The Golf R is really going to heat up the 'hot hatch,' segment, Horn said, referring to performance-oriented hatchbacks.

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