“Hey! That looks like a VW Phaeton!” you might say. And you’d be right. The Hofele-Design Mythos Royal started out as Volkswagen’s uber-sedan that didn’t sell very well here in the U.S. of A., but by the time Hofele-Design got done with it, it was the Phaeton no more, and is now the Mythos Royal. (You! In the Back! Knock it off with the “Mythos Royal with Cheese jokes!”)
Sure, it’s kind of bland, but most of these German tuners go the other way, and make any give car astonishingly ugly.
Almost anyone who has driven the Volkswagen Phaeton will say that it’s a hell of a car. Loaded with technical wonders, screwed together really well, and a lot of value for the money.
Then why did it fail, sales-wise? Most likely because no one wanted to pay that kind of cash (50K? 60K?) for a VW. In addition to that, a lot of people found the styling of the VW Phaeton to be a little on the bland side.
Hofele-Design, a German tuning firm, has taken a crack at the Phaeton and has added a slew of cosmetic and performance modifications. For starters, they remove all the badging and logos that say “VW” and “Phaeton” and replace them with Hofele-Design badges.
They also gave the Phaeton a new fascia with a redesigned front bumper, a different grille and reshaped bonnet to fit the grille better.
At the rear, the Hofele-Design Mythos Royal has added a “discreet” spoiler for the boot lid as well as a new apron with nicely integrated trapezoidal tailpipes.
They also did a two-tone paint scheme. Legend has it that the paintwork was “inspired” by the ginormous Maybachs.
And speaking of huge, they also thought it was a good idea to stuff some 20-inch alloy wheels into the wells as well.
And speaking of two-tone color schemes … they did it on the inside as well, in a quasi-Bentley-style look. They diamond-stitched the door panels and seats.
And the Mythos Royal’s steering wheel has been covered in leather and there’s also new wood trim all over the place.
Engines? You get your choice of a 280HP V6, 335HP V8 and 450HP W12 petrol fueled mills as well as the 240HP V6 TDI turbo diesel.
Yes, that would be the same engine choices as in the original Phaeton.
You want more power? Hofele-Design has you covered. The German tuning house can work with all of the engines, but for example, the 3.0-liter V6 TDI delivers an output of 275HP and 560Nm or 413 lb-ft of peak torque.
Suspension? Hofele-Design offers a suspension module that lowers the sedan’s ride height by around 40mm.
Price? Hofele-Design did not release pricing for the Mythos Royale. But if you got to ask …
