Ah, Halloween, how I love this holiday. The perfect day to dress up as your hero. I’m certain that many of you out there have memories of dressing up as someone you looked up to when you were young. Cop, fireman, military member, comic book hero. But how many of you have looked at some of those older pictures to see what you really looked like back then? I had the opportunity a little while ago to see myself, at about seven years old, dressed up as Superman. Back then, I thought it was awesome…mostly because I came home that night with an IGA bag full of sugar in all of it’s various and wonderful forms. But, twenty-four years later, it’s laughable: the mask looked like it was made by Dixie and the outfit and cape were made from the same materials that you see on cheap-ass picnic tablecloths. It’s a good thing there wasn’t an open flame nearby or I would’ve been shrink-wrapped in a red and blue plastic cocoon with a shriveled-up “S” on my chest. It was a wonderful idea at the time, but looking at the photos now makes me realize just how awful it was.

Apparently what’s left of this Volkswagen is thinking the same thing. Tired of being it’s old, pedestrian Bug self, it decided to dress up in kit car’s costume, choosing the “McLaren F1” for it’s disguise, which is a very worthy choice. The F1 isn’t just the badass car of the 1990’s, it’s badass period:  How did it do? 243 mph with the limiter off with a naturally-aspirated 627hp BMW V-12 that sat in a gold-lined engine bay. The driver sat in the middle of the car and the two passengers sat on either side of him. The VW is by far not the only car to try to pull off the  “super car” costume, but let’s compare how well it did, shall we?

A McLaren F1.

…nailed it.

The kit is called a McLela Blaze. They debuted in the mid-1990’s, and there are only about 10 or so of these little roadsters running around. While it’s far from a McLaren in the form of looks, it is an interesting little car. It used the basic Beetle floorpan and engine, was meant to use the dash cluster from a Golf, and if you didn’t feel like putting the car together yourself, you could buy one for about $13,000.

Ignoring the McLaren reference, honestly this is a pretty cool little roadster. If it’s anywhere as light as it looks, it would make for a interesting little track car, especially if you hopped up the VW flat four or went with a Subaru swap. The cabin is as cozy as most air-cooled era VW’s are, but for a sports car it would feel natural. The wedge shape is a touch dated but it’s not comical, and the kit itself was lauded by Kit Car Magazine when it came out for it’s structure and overall well-done fit and finish.

So what do you think? Is it a VW that successfully pulls off the superhero look or is this a K-Mart Halloween costume?