GERMAN FASHION, L.A. style; Oettinger 2003 Volkswagen GTI 1.8T.(News)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Byline: ROGER HART

A drive down Wilshire Boulevard through the heart of Beverly Hills, California, can be an eye-opening experience for a Midwesterner. In just a few blocks you realize you're not in Kansas (or Michigan) anymore. The people, the architecture and the cars provide sensory overload. Few have bought into the idea of personalizing cars like Southern Californians, and the beautiful people in Beverly Hills offer prime examples. The bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go traffic, while a headache for the locals, makes car gawking much easier for visitors.

You'll see a Ferrari and Focus bumper-to-tail in front of Starbucks, and the city seems flush with German cars-Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche-most sporting at least a wheel-and-tire upgrade.

We made these unscientific observations while behind the wheel of a battleship gray (VW calls it "Reflex Silver'') Oettinger 2003 Volkswagen GTI 1.8T that got some serious makeover work from Claus Ettensberger Corporation.

CEC is one reason Beverly Hills is loaded to its gilded gills with so many customized German cars. From its showroom on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Los Angeles, the company offers a variety of tuner parts and accessories for all the German brands, as well as German parts for Jaguars-go figure.

Our GTI received a full exterior treatment. The complete aero kit, (front grille, front bumper, side skirts, rear skirt and roof wing) comes from Oettinger ($2,150), as do its 18-inch RE wheels ($1,600), these fitted with Toyo Proxes T1-S tires ($1,020).

While some aftermarket body kits can be called garish, this Oettinger treatment is subtle and tasteful. It helps that the VW is a hatchback and there isn't space for a big rear wing, but we liked the new grille and wheels.