Will.i.am’s $900,000 one-of-a-kind car has been in the headlines lately after TMZ posted a photo of the mysterious vehicle on the back of a flatbed truck at a Lowe’s in Los Angeles and speculated that it belonged to Will. Shortly after they posted the photos, TMZ verified the Black Eyed Peas rocker was the owner. But what exactly is it? Believe it or not, it actually started as a 1958 Volkswagen Beetle!
According to a site called Jalopnik, Will first took the car to Austin Weiss at The Garage in Florida with the goal of making it into a speedster. “Will originally wanted a twin turbo Porsche flat six in the back,” Austin revealed. But then, six weeks into the process, Will had a change of heart. “He wanted something crazy futuristic with stretched doors and a front engine. I told him it’d be easier to make a whole new chassis, but he said to ‘do it to the bug.'” And that he did.
Will’s bug was given a supercharged LS3, a Bentley front grille, suicide doors, and the list goes on. After spending $400,000 in Austin’s shop, Will’s bug was now a completely different automobile and the only original part was the bug cowl. (No that’s not a typo, and no I have no idea what a “cowl” is.)
Will was constantly changing his mind about the car, which extended the building process a great deal, and when all was said and done at The Garage, the car had spent about two years there. Then, after deciding that he wanted the car on stage at the 2011 Super Bowl Half Time Show, Will opted on taking the “Franken Beetle” to West Coast Customs (you know, from Pimp My Ride) to speed up the design and get the show on the road, so to speak.
However, things took longer than expected and the car remained at West Coast Customs for an additional two years getting everything from an aluminum dashboard to bucket seats. Once completed, the car and all its changes added up to $900k.
Obviously, the most important question is… Does it count in Punch Bug? I say yep!
Here’s a VERY brief video clip of Will.I.Am driving his pimped out Beetle:
Will also has a custom built white sports car which is reportedly worth about $700k. Obviously, he “Just Can’t Get Enough.”
