See http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=275870&highlight=vortex

My wife and I became parents 9 months ago, and are discovering that her Beetle is not an ideal baby-transporter (my Jetta wagon is though). So, we've been thinking about selling the Beetle and buying a Passat TDI wagon from relatives.

What makes this Beetle rare? It is a 2001 Vortex Blue Beetle GLS TDI. The Vortex Blue color was a special edition in 2001 (with black leather, heated
seats, sunroof, power windows/locks, etc.). It was supposedly ONLY available with the 1.8T engine. You can see a picture of it in this old thread here:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=26370

See this discussion of the color at NewBeetle.org
Around 2000 were made in the 1.8T form - the form they were supposedly only made. In that NewBeetle thread there is speculation that 1 or 2 were made with TDIs (although that speculation came largely from the fact that my wife used to post there, so the moderator who speculates that 1 or 2 were made with TDIs was basing that on knowing that we have one). 

When we bought the car (in 2002 with 6k miles, from a dealer in Canada), I ran the VIN by VW to see what the deal was - since I knew that Vortex Blue was a color-concept car, so it shouldn't have a TDI engine. They confirmed that it was originally made as a Vortex Blue TDI, although couldn't say exactly why it had been, or how many others may have been made that way. 

Anyway - we are in New Hampshire. The car now has ~65k miles, and is up-to-date on maintenance. I do the filter changes, changing the oil and fuel filter every fall, even though that is only about every 8-9k miles. Timing belt has been done. Only "mods" are a dieselgeek skid plate and an aftermarket rear wing that the original owner had installed. I put an aftermarket radio in, but can put the original radio and CD changer back in. 

We definitely want the car to go to someone who will appreciate it both for how rare it is, and also as a TDI. 

 

See the thread at tdiclub for pictures of the interior and exterior.

 

Price is now at $7500 / BRO