Bizarre Car of the Month: The Phaeton

Comme c’est bizarre!

Cars that strike us as nothing else but bizarre tend to boggle our minds, assault our aesthetic tastes, and force us to ask: “Why?” The Bizarre Car of the Month Award for February is given to none other than the discontinued Volkswagen Phaeton.

Previous recipients of this dubious award have gone to the current BMW 7-Series (1/03) and the Rolls-Royce Camargue (12/14).

The Volkswagen Phaeton was a favored project of Volkswagen’s vaunted former boss, Ferdinand Piëch. A separate and elaborate factory was built just for the Phaeton at the cost of €186,000,000. The whole Phaeton project has cost Volkswagen dearly.

And to boot, the car was a flop in these United States.

I will remind you, dear reader, that Volkswagen and Audi are part and parcel of the same automotive group.

Since World War II, VWs have been best known for producing economy cars - they are after all, the "people's car". However, Herr Piëch decided that VW should skip the proletariat by going up-market and producing a $100,000 sedan that looked like a fatter, boxier Passat.

Clearly, only rich drivers were wanted for VW's flagship.

A new powerplant was designed and built specifically for the Phaeton; a twelve cylinder engine molded in a “W” format. This same, special engine can now be found in the Audi A8 W12, Bentley Continental GT and Flying Spur.

Audi at the same time continued to produce the A8, A8L, and S8 models; all legitimate rivals to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the BMW 7-Series.

Clearly, no one at Volkswagen bothered to warn the chairman that the Phaeton would cross paths into Audi territory – and would likely lose the battle.

The following comparison illustrates the clear competitive advantage of buying a 2005 Volkswagen Phaeton instead of a 2005 Audi A8.

Audi A8: V8, 335 horsepower MSRP: $68,850

VW Phaeton: V8, 335 horsepower MSRP: $66,700
$2,150 in Savings!

Audi A8 W12: W12, 450 horsepower MSRP: $118,900

VW Phaeton: W12, 444 horsepower MSRP: $96,600
$22,300 in Savings!!!

No contest. Clearly the Phaeton wins. We all know how price conscientious Audi A8 buyers can be.

Plus, it all goes to show that even in the luxury segment, buying a Volkswagen = Value for $

And100% gullibility.


For more information on the Volkswagen Phaeton, click on the following link: VW