We like the new 2012 Beetle. Our readers like the new 2012 Beetle. So when VW called up and asked if we could modify one "a little bit", we simply asked how soon they could get it over to us. There were a few conditions however. For starters this is one of only a handful of preproduction autoshow cars in the U.S. and the car can't be driven on the streets as it was made to sit on a turntable and that's it. No registration, no plates, no airbags = no street legal. No problem we say, we'll steer clear of engine mods for now and concentrate on what we can do cosmetically. Secondly we needed to get the car done to what we called "Stage I" level by VW's dealer conference this week so they could show it to dealers. That meant we had about 2.5 weeks to get all the parts we needed, refinish the wheels, make sure everything actually bolted up to a brand new model and order a few other odds and ends. But the opportunity to be the first to modify a new Beetle doesn't come along very often and who's going to turn this down?