My first car was a 1962 VW Beetle -- in 1974.

My wife's 2000 VW Jetta cost about ,000, and my editor's 1999 VW Passat was ,000 new.

You can imagine the sticker shock people had when they learned the Volkswagen Phaeton W12 I was testing was ,615.

Who'd have thought Volkswagen, long a purveyor of economy cars only lately reaching up-market (,965 for the V-8 Touareg SUV) could reach the six-figure mark?

Sticker shock aside, VW says it was time for more than just hatchbacks (Golf), family cars (Jetta and Passat) and luxury SUVs (Touareg). So while Volkswagen's sister company, Audi, makes a 17-foot-long, 330 hp A8 sedan, VW decided it needed its own big car. And national advertising manager Stuart Karp told me the Phaeton is the "next step in the evolution of the Volkswagen brand," needed because about 15 percent of its owners left them between 1998 and 2002 to seek someone else's luxury brand.

"We have been focusing our efforts primarily on the compact and mid-size segments. Phaeton obviously changes that. And I must emphasize that the Phaeton is a Volkswagen, not a departure from it. Phaeton is more than just a move upward. It is how we will keep our customers who will move up themselves," Karp said. "We think it is easier for a brand to venture upscale, instead of move downward. In this move up, we have a great opportunity to exceed our customers' expectations."

America won't get the standard-wheelbase Phaeton sold in Europe. We get the 118-inch wheelbase Phaeton sedan, almost 5 inches longer. But while sales haven't been that good overseas, the domestic sales forecast of 2,000 for 2004 may be reached. VW sold 753 between January and May, on top of 343 between start of sales in November and December. So the 203-inch-long, 57-inch-tall Phaeton (pronounced fayh-ton) seems to have legs stateside.

With nothing parked near it for scale, the Phaeton looks like a stretched Passat. It has a subdued presence, with chrome bumper and window accents, six chrome bar grille and a huge VW emblem, flanked by headlights that wrap around the curved nose. Chrome spears accent the bumper, while the long hood gets character lines off the grille. The gently flared fenders are akin to the Audi A8, framing seven-spoke wheels with Michelin Pilot P225-45R18-inch radials. A chrome line runs down the doors, while the roof curves aft to a high Passat-like trunk. The wrap-around taillights get jeweled lenses, two squared-off exhaust tips per side underneath signaling the W12.

Most folks didn't take a second glance until I told them the price, then reactions varied from, "Get outta here!" to "hard time getting my head around ,000." When they looked inside, its sophistication mollified them somewhat.

The front doors open wide and close with a precision click, allowing entry to a gray interior with supple, perforated leather bucket seats with 18-way power adjustments, including head restraint, upper back and thigh support, heating, cooling, back massage and four-way power lumbar support. They were comfortably firm and supportive in all the right places. Myrtle wood trim is on the dash, doors and center console, with artistic touches of chromed steel and leather elsewhere. The steering wheel is power-tilt and telescoping, with cruise control, stereo and trip computer buttons. It frames a graphite gray-trimmed gauge package with chrome-rimmed 200-mph speedometer and 8,000-rpm tach flanking a color trip computer screen that displays stereo, odometer, mileage and satellite navigation map information at a touch of a steering wheel control. Chrome-rimmed gas and temperature dials are under the screen, oil pressure and voltage outboard of a polished Phaeton nameplate.

Glossy wood panels unveil the dash air vents when you start the car, each with separate controls since the Climatronic system allows the driver or passengers to individually adjust vent air flow and temperature. A 7-inch color screen displays information on the CD changer, navigation system, onboard trip computer and air conditioning system. Information is accessed via large buttons, with a knob in the middle selecting lesser functions, and big buttons on either side of the screen allowing more functions. It's fairly easy to use, although you still have to tap twice to get what one knob could do.Two center armrests with tooled alloy hinges contain compartments, and lift to reveal a wood door with more storage. Two cupholders are in between, as are seat a/c/heat, suspension settting and Electronic Stabilization Program buttons.

Phaetons come with a rear bench or two buckets separated by a wood-trimmed console with cupholders, controls to slide, recline, massage, cool or heat the seats, more elegant center arm rests and great legroom coupled with decent head room. A rear control panel adjusts the rear a/c needs. Two co-workers spent the 10-minute lunch trip fiddling with the controls, one saying she was having "too much fun playing with the stuff," a 6-foot, 4-inch editor saying it had "more room than any sedan he's ever been in." My son's reaction was, "Holy cow. It's got enough floor space to take a nap!"

The trunk is huge, and opens or closes with a button. But touch the button again, and the trunk lid locks in position, and you have to fight to open it. Other nit-picks include a wood dash panel with three cracks, a six-disc CD changer inside the large glovebox, no street names on the navigation map, rear ashtrays that popped open when the doors closed and a stereo that automatically mutes when you turn the car off.

On the road, our 9,300-mile-old tester shone as a competent, if understated, big car.

The base 4.2 liter, 335-hp V-8 gets the car to 60 in under 7 seconds. Our car's 6-liter, 420-hp W12, despite the sedan's 5,399-pound weight, launched with vigor to 60 mph in only 5.8 seconds with the five-speed automatic in "Sport," holding shifts longer with a gentle snarl. But it didn't average much above 10-mpg.

Volkswagen's permanent 4MOTION all-wheel-drive system and air suspension with electronic damping that can be set in comfort, basic, sport 1 and sport 2, plus two driver- adjustable height settings, helped the car glide over roads and tackle wet conditions well. But the heavy car won't be mistaken for a sports sedan, understeering heavily in turns, all-wheel-drive and ESP working to keep the car in line as it offers some body roll. The steering was direct but a bit over-boosted. The brake pedal felt spongy, but the brakes offered good control and no fade despite repeated hard use during our test.

The V-8 Phaeton base price is ,600. Our Phaeton W12 started at ,600, with standard 18-inch alloy wheels; all-season tires; hand-stitched, leather-wrapped and heated steering wheel; four-zone Climatronic system with rear-seat controls; 12-speaker, 270-watt AM-FM-CD stereo with digital sound processing; satellite navigation system; Xenon high-intensity discharge headlamps; eight airbags including side curtains; tire pressure monitoring system and heated washer nozzles for the windshield. Options included a ,000 gas guzzler tax; ,700 4-seat package with 10-way power-adjustable rear seats; ,000 for high-gloss paint; for park distance sensors; keyless access and for myrtle wood accents.

The manufacturer's suggested retail price -- ,615, compared to a 330-hp, 204-inch, ,220 Audi A8L; 493-hp, 203.1-inch-long; ,000 Mercedes-Benz S600 or the 438-hp, 203.5-inch, ,495 BMW 760 Li.

"We always were non-conformists. When the Beetle came out, it was such a non-conformist automobile and so different from the mainstream, tail-finned cars," Karp said. "Look at the engineering of this car, the thought and the special factory -- people will make that connection."

Maybe. The Phaeton is a very comfortable, very capable luxury sedan with impeccably designed interior accoutrements, turbine-like 12-cylinder engine and all-wheel-drive. It doesn't stand out in a crowd, which may be the way its owners want it. It drives nicely, although the aforementioned German sedans all have a little more panache in styling and driving ability.