Just 9 spots left!

The Smyth MK4 Jetta Ute is a classic, literally – many car clubs start to classify a ride as “classic” as soon as it gets to around 20-30 years old. I know, I know, it’s a VW Jetta from 2004. Clean design, easy to work on, and a fun range of good engines to work with gave it a cult following, but going outside of the VW faithful and into the larger world of ultra cool cars, it’s tough for a Jetta to rank. The Smyth Ute conversion changes this immediately, and over the years we’ve seen these little trucks consistently grab more attention at shows than customs worth 5x more. Simplicity matched with uniqueness matters.

 

Although we’re discontinuing the MK5, Jeep, Audi, and Subie as well, the MK4 is the one that we will miss the most. It was the first Smyth Ute – Mark spent a crazy amount of time on the design – the kit he launched the modern DIY Ute movement with. 10 Years later, the car parts are still out there in spades and clean donors are around if you’re willing to spend a few weeks on Facebook Marketplace searching for a proper one. Fixer-uppers with potential are a steal and more common than the loss of a 10 mm socket into the bowels of an engine bay.

 

We told you in the previous email why we are discontinuing this fleet of classic Utes, but it’s worth mentioning how good of a time it is to finally commit to the effort. The MK4 is listed right now at a fun retro price of $3,990, just 500 bucks more than when we launched the kit in 2014. We're down to our last 9 legacy kits across all models (MK4, MK5, Jeep, Audi, and Subie). Once these 9 total spots are filled, we'll be officially discontinuing these kits.

 

Side note: I just plugged the original 2014 launch price into the old inflation converter application for craps and giggles, and what do you know: $4754.47 in 2025. 

 

We’re not going to bore you with how committed we’ve been to keeping our prices low over the past 10 years despite raw materials costs far outpacing general inflation. And we’re not going to scratch our heads as sales of these 20-year-old classic kits aren’t where they used to be -- The donor cars are getting older and the kits are priced higher, makes complete sense to us. The option of building a low-mileage 2023 Hemi Charger Ute is not lost on us, either.

 

But we are going to move on, and we are ending this big line of 2000-era kits with a bang. Again, there are 9 spots left as of right now.

 

We are proud to look back at a great run. These particular kits are all close to our hearts and were built by some of the coolest customers in the world. Quite a few of our most talented pro builders started with these VW, Audi, Jeep and Subie Smyth kits.

 

Ok, Onward! The Beetle, Charger, 300, and the new all-aluminum teardrop trailer will take center stage and all of our focus in our production line once these 9 kits are spoken for.