HPA started as a group of friends who drove their cars hard and built them to keep up. This documentary series follows what came next over 35 years: the builds, the partnerships, and the VR6 program that ties it all together, told by Marcel Horn and the people who were there.
Built To Be Driven, Episode 1:
A Bag of Zip Ties and an Open Highway
Episode 01 of Built To Be Driven -- the HPA Motorsports Heritage Series -- follows Marcel Horn from his first Volkswagen at 14 years old through the founding of Highwater Performance Auto in 1991 and the philosophy that has defined every build HPA has made in the 35 years since.
If you've been in the VW/Audi community long enough to know what HPA means, this is the story behind the name. If you're new to it, this is where to start.
Built to Be Driven, Episode 2:
Betting On The Beetle
Germany set the trends. North America followed years later. Then Volkswagen announced the New Beetle would launch in North America first, and Marcel Horn understood exactly what that meant.
For the first time, a North American shop could shape a platform's tuning scene instead of inheriting it from Europe. Marcel took out a bank loan, bought one of the first Beetles in Canada, and had the motor out that night. The plan was accessories: exhausts, gauge pods, a complete look for the car. In his words, it was all white noise. What the Beetle needed was the soul of Volkswagen, the GTI, the Corrado, the VR6.
Nobody planned what came next. 44 GT6 Beetles later, HPA was the VR6 swapping company, and that became the focal point for everything that followed.