I remember reading in Road & Track, sometime in the mid 60s, a story called "The Flight of the Thunderbeetle".
A couple of guys dropped a Porsche 356 Carrera engine into a beetle, and would go blow off unsuspecting big car drivers at the lights.
They got curious about what it would actually do, so late one night they hit the highway and floored it. A few miles down the road they saw flashing lights in the mirror, so slowed down to a sedate speed. Two highway patrolmen pulled them over and popped the hood, peering inside with flashlights. They didn't notice that what they were looking at was rather different from a standard VW motor.
"What seems to be the problem, Officer?"
"One of our guys at a speed trap back down the road a ways claims he clocked a beetle go through at 123mph. Musta been dreaming".