As a child, Megan Ashton dreamed of being whisked away to her wedding in a classic Porsche 356, and since she couldn’t afford a real one, she spent six years converting an old Volkswagen Beetle into the car of her dreams.

26-year-old Megan has always been interested in cars, and growing up in her dad’s garage she learned a little something about classic cars. Her personal favorite has always been the Porsche 356 – the first model ever produced by the German car manufacturer – but getting her hands on an authentic model would have proved too expensive for the young Air Engineer Officer in the Royal Navy, so she decided to build her own, instead. The 356 was created by Ferdinand Porsche, son of Porsche’s founder, and shared many parts with the VW Beetle, to make it more affordable. So the car enthusiast paid just £200 for a 1969 Beetle, in 2004, when she was still a student and planned to convert it into the classic jewel of her dreams.

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She started tinkering with the Volkswagen and ended up stripping it down to the chassis, which also had to be shortened. She installed larger cylinders and pistons to the engine, increasing its power from 1285 cc to 1776 cc, changed the whole body of the car, and also nailed the glamorous interior of the Porsche (white leather interior with a mahogany finish, and authentic 356 steering wheel and speedometer). Only the wheels and engine remain of the 1969 VW Beetle.

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It took six years of painstaking work for Megan Ashton to finish her Porsche 356, but she did just in time to drive it at her own wedding, this August. It was really a dream come true for her, and an even more impressive feat considering she only spent £4,000 ($6,300) on it. Now, the old VW Beetle turned luxury Porsche is valued at £25,000 ($40,000). Not too shabby…

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via Small World News Service (SWNS)