Volkswagen Phaeton W12 – Enthusiast Wanted

The Phaeton of the first generation was already quite a money-consuming, ambitious project for Volkswagen, which had already had a similar car within the group for a long time with the Audi A8. It was therefore a real prestige project, just like the W12 engine supplied in the Phaeton, the V10 TDI diesel and all the other crazy products of the Volkswagen of the beginning of this century. We dare not think about how much money has been flushed down the toilet by developing the D2 generation of the Phaeton, but not introducing it. All the more brave that the Germans now dare to show him. It must be said: that car looks quite ‘finished’. It is also unmistakably a Phaeton, with a similar amount of pomp in the interior. As if it wasn’t painful enough that we will never drive this car, it also became clear a little later that the new Phaeton should also have had that mighty W12 under the hood. Unfortunately: with the disappearance of the Phaeton, the use of the twelve-cylinder under the Volkswagen flag also came to an end. Bentley kept this engine, in the Continental series, which is strongly related to the Phaeton.

For those who like to get into such an über-Volkswagen, the second-hand market still remains. In the Phaeton area, it brings good news at first sight, because Volkswagen’s top limousine is not expensive to purchase. It will surprise no one that he is in every other respect. During the snapshot that this article is, an apparently neat 4.2 (with 358,000 km, that is) for less than €4,000 was the cheapest Phaeton. Today, however, we require that there is a twelve-cylinder under the hood, and then €9,750 is currently the minimum. For that money there is a Phaeton 6.0 W12 from 2003 at Cobicar in Heerhugowaard, with a relatively modest position of 165,500. Yet it is not all good news, because logically this is not the most beautiful Phaeton ever. That starts with the implementation. This is in fact a four-seater, so with a huge center console full of buttons in the back, but no ‘Lang’. A somewhat curious combination. Unfortunately, that cannot be said of the color scheme, which is far from original with black inside and black outside. We find the wheels successful in all modesty. The car also appears to be damage-free and virtually original, although the black window film and the black logo on the back are not necessarily signs of a good past. The import plates are a ‘no go’ for some, although such license plates are far from exceptional for relatively inexpensive German top limousines.