Pikabug, I Choose You

As the 1990s came to a close, there were two things that were unambiguously cool as hell: Pokémon and the Volkswagen New Beetle. Combining the two created a sensation that couldn’t be matched, and Nintendo was banking on that for the launch of what would become the highest grossing media franchise in history. A small run of ten “Pikabugs,” that is Bugs that were dressed up to look like star of stage and screen Pikachu, were built to travel around the U.S. and promote the games and shows from the late-1990s to the mid-2000s. As you can imagine, these don’t come up for sale very often, so if you absolutely have to have one, this is your chance.

If you weren’t between eight and 13 years old in 1998, you’ll probably never really understand what a sensation Pokémon was when it launched in the United States market. The video game, the trading card game, the cartoon television series, it was everywhere and everything. Kids got so into it, myself included, that my middle school banned anyone from bringing the cards or Nintendo Game Boys into the building (though that was not unusual for us, as my class also got yo-yos, pogs, and the playground game four square banned.)

Photo: Facebook Marketplace

A regular 1998 Volkswagen New Beetle with 170,000 miles on the odometer is worth about a nickel on the used market, but this is number nine of ten Pikabugs we’re talking about. Surely someone is willing to pony up the $125,000 asking price for this not-quite-complete example. It’s a piece of videogame and automotive history, after all!

This car has had the 2.0-liter four-cylinder replaced at some point, but if you wanted to get it back to numbers-matching, you could. The sale of the car comes with the “original engine crated.” When they were built, each Pikabug included a CRT television in the back hatch so that interested parties could play the games or watch episodes of the show at events. This one, sadly, has had that part of the build removed, though it could probably be replicated by a custom audio shop fairly easily. The side decals for this car are also missing.

The seller, based in Madison, Wisconsin, is sad to be getting rid of the car, saying “This is not an easy decision, but necessary.” At the asking price surely it’ll be gone in a matter of minutes. It’s a bargain at twice the price! There are only nine more of these out there in the world, just in case you gotta catch ‘em all!