Maybe not the bar part but Volkswagen does roll out its Fender themed Beetle

Volkswagen and Fender

Volkswagen has traditionally partnered with Dynaudio for its premium in-car audio systems. The only problem was the high-end German manufacturer of home and professional loudspeakers and studio monitors is largely unknown here in the U.S.

Veedubs solution was to find a partner on this side of the pond with a name more familiar to American car buyers. Boy did they ever.

Volkswagen's relationship with Fender began when the premium audio system first made its debut in the 2012 Jetta GLI's Autobahn trim level here in the U.S. And while the folks at Fender are, shall we say, experts at fabricating some of the finest guitars on the planet, they don't make car audio equipment.

So the company partnered with Panasonic to build the vehicle hardware to do the job up to Fender specs. Volkswagen furnished Fender with the specifications of the models it wanted the systems installed in and Fender constructed a sound room in Wolfsburg to work more closely with VW.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The systems

Both the Jetta and the Passat (added when the new model was introduced) feature 8 speakers in the cabin (one on each of the front doors, two on each of the rear doors plus two tweeters in the front of the cabin) plus a subwoofer (called the Fender Bassman) in the trunk.

But wait, there's more. In 2011 at the Frankfurt Auto Show, Volkswagen unveiled a Fender-based vehicle called the Beetle Fender Concept. Earlier this week, the company revealed the production version in Leipzig, Germany – which not only features the high-end sound system, "but also visually demonstrates its affiliation with the American musical icon."

2013 Beetle Fender Edition

Not only is the Beetle the first Fender-themed Volkswagen, it's also the first model so-equipped that will be offered for sale outside the U.S.

Volkswagen describes it thusly:

The Beetle Fender Edition stands out with unique interior and exterior styling. Its distinctively painted dashboard features the quintessential sunburst color of Fender guitars, and the vehicle's interior is accented with color-contrasting seams that complement the dash's colors. Beetle Fender Edition vehicles equipped with the 200-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder TSI engine will receive seats with exclusive fabric inserts. Outside, all Beetle Fender Edition vehicles are painted in Deep Black Metallic and also feature brushed chrome exterior mirrors, 18-inch "Disc" aluminum-alloy wheels, Bi-Xenon headlights, and the famous Fender logo.

Coming to a VW dealer near you

According to Volkswagen the Fender Edition Beetle will first be made available to European buyers and will reach VW new car dealers here in the U.S. sometime this fall.

New car prices, by the way, will be announced closer to introduction. Rock on!