September 28, 2008

Grey Market Phaeton W12


Volkswagen proved that Germans do in fact have a sense of humor when they came out with the Phaeton. They built a car that's arguably far superior to the top of the line Audi A8 and costs roughly $100,000. It also has a VW badge on it. They were only sold in the United States from 2004 to 2006 and are quite rare on this side of the Atlantic. 
I was rather surprised to find this example parked (poorly) in the parking lot in front of Penn State's North residence halls. I was even more surprised when I realized that it was obviously a grey-market car too. On close inspection, you will notice the front and rear bumpers have provisions for European sized plates. It also has reflective tape on the bumper - perhaps to comply with US regulations. Inside the car still sports a speedometer that displays kilometers per hour. There is likely an interesting story behind how this car ended up here, yet alas, we may never know.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, the Phaeton. A car who's windshield wipers are designed to effectively clear the windscreen during a downpour at 186mph, even though it's electronically limited to 155. You know, just in case.

What a fantastic flight of fancy it was. A hopelessly bad idea, but awesome result nonetheless.

Ronan Glon said...

Good to see the gray market trade is still alive and well. Now where the hell is my E220 CDI?