Poll anyone in the enthusiast scene and they’ll tell you that Waterfest is the event of the summer. Fourteen years running, you’d think the mammoth show, drag-races and all-out vendor extravaganza would stumble here or there. It hasn’t, and continues to flex its dominance in the American scene. This point made crystal clear to us recently on a visit to Volkswagen’s new headquarters in Herndon, VA.
We had it on good word that the 650-horsepower GTI W12 built for last year’s Woerthersee show had just arrived via air transport from Germany and that we might get a quick peek. The car’s been shipped to the States for the summer so that Volkswagen can utilize it at several of our own key enthusiast events. The first of these is Waterfest.As we snapped photos of the car, VW representatives explained some of the plan…
One of the many cruises funneling owners to Waterfest this year is the Eurotuner Kreuzerfest that stages from VW’s new headquarters outside of Washington, D.C. Though the GTI W12 won’t be cruising as it’s worth bajillions and isn’t street legal, Volkswagen’s Virginia staff will be rolling the car out for the cruisers and any other enthusiasts who happen by in order to get a peek before the group heads out. Eurotuner lists the time of the event in VA at 9:30AM. Past SEMA cars like the GTI-R and Jetta SportWagen will also be there to ogle before hitting the pavement for New Jersey.
Volkswagen would love to see as many enthusiasts who can show up – cruising or not, because it helps convince executives that investment and involvement in the enthusiast scene and shows like Waterfest is money well spent. Looking out their office windows and seeing a sea of rabid owners makes this even more obvious.
In addition to Kreuzerfest, there are any number of convoys and cruises that will make their way to the big event. Whether it be organized runs like the Orange Ball that originates in Montreal or word-of-mouth affairs as we’ve also seen forming, you can get the skinny on virtually all of them in our Waterfest discussion forum.
From Herndon, the W12 will be shipped to Englishtown wheremit will be on display throughout the weekend at the Volkswagen stand alongside the past SEMA cars, a Jetta TDI Cup racer and more. Make sure to stop by the stand and ask the Volkswagen staff what their plans are for Saturday night. No doubt some of these cars will make a showing after the sun falls and wherever they are may be the cool place to hang for the evening.
VWvortex and its sister website Fourtitude will have a display adjoining that of Volkswagen. In addition to our own Project Turbunnium Rabbit, the Vortex Media Group display will include Fourtitude’s 4 Season Audi S6, an Audi R8, Swedespeed.com’s Project Volvo C30, Mwerks.com’s Project BMW 135i and several other vehicles.
If you don’t have plans for Waterfest, perhaps you should reconsider. The event goes down in less than two weeks, from July 19-20 and Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ. In the meantime, check out more photos of the GTI W12 650 via the gallery link below.
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