The VW Beetle: Peace, love and smoking tires.

You know what people tend to forget? Herbie may have been called a love bug, but the evidence tells us the Beetle truly loved the thrill of the race.

In fact, between DIY versions and special editions, no one really knows just how many performance-oriented Beetles are out there. Our research tells us that one of the first came in 1964, when Belgian-based D’leteren updated 29 1200cc Beetles with Oettinger Okrasa-tuned 1300/34 TSV engines. Named the Mach 1, these twin-carbed beauties produced 50 horsepower and used a Transporter-supplied clutch to handle the extra ponies. If you’re in the market for one of the rarest Beetles in existence, make sure you remember they were exclusively available in Ruby Red or Java Green with optional center racing stripe. Except no substitutes.

Not long after our Belgian friends gave us the Mach 1, VW-tuning started to get popular here in the States. A gentleman by the name of Joe Vittone, out of Riverside, California, owned both an EMPI accessories company and a VW/Porsche dealership in 1966. He’s one of the earliest dealers to offer staged performance upgrades at the point of sale that were still covered by the Volkswagen warranty. And while many of the upgrades were purely cosmetic, by stage 4, you could drive your Beetle home with a ram-induction carb kit and sport-oriented shocks, among other goodies. Known as the EMPI GTVs, or “sports cars in a box,” these beasts were one of the earliest examples of straight-from-the-factory customizable vehicles in the U.S. And here’s another fun fact: EMPI built at least one of the Beetles used in the filming of 1969’s “The Love Bug,” Herbie’s first appearance on film.

For all the Herbie enthusiasts out there, the film’s racing sequences included a Herbie fitted with a Porsche 356 Super 90 engine, on top of the appropriate suspension and braking upgrades. It’s no surprise that reported racing speeds for that monster were upwards of 115 mph. The producers of the film may not have been the first to shoehorn a Porsche engine into a Beetle, but they certainly helped to popularize the notion. No doubt, plenty of early pony and muscle cars that found themselves smoked off the line by a “cute” Beetle in a heads-up drag race in those days owed Herbie for a great deal of their frustration. Those Beetles were the prototype sleepers.

We could go on for pages about the various fan and factory-tuned Beetles and performance variants that have graced U.S. streets since the 60’s, but you get the point. Are they cute? Indisputably. Are they slow? Find out for yourself. You’ll be surprised. Now imagine what we’ve got in store for the 2012 VW Beetle later this year. When it throws your head back in your seat as you bang through the gears, you’ll know one thing’s for sure: this ain’t your kid sister’s Beetle.

Thanks to the fine folks at Special Edition Beetles for aiding our research and helping to provide some amazing Beetle photography.