Houston, we have lift off...

What a nice little lift to the January blues the town of Wolfsburg has given the nation of stars and stripes. Welcome to our American cousins!

We hope you find some solace on VWROC.COM while you wait for your orders. Remember our members have been out road testing these little beauties for nearly a year, so we're sure they’d be delighted to help answer any questions you may have.

So far, over in Europe, this little car has been taken more scalps against the competition than the Crow Creek Massacre, and for good reason.

Here’s what Chris Harris thought of it when he put it up against a race prepped BMW M235i.

So let’s have look at what you’re getting over there.

The first 500 buyers who sign up on VW’s website and put down a $500 deposit will allegedly get a certificate based on the cars production number. Nice! What would be nicer would be a numbered plaque on the dash somewhere, like the limited edition BMWs of old, but hey we’re not complaining, it’s better than what we got over here (unless you count a long wait as a badge of honour). You’ll also get an R wristwatch and a carbon fibre/stainless-steel keychain!

A "nearly" full blown 292hp engine also makes its way across the pond, only slightly down on the EU 296hp, which must be a relief as some parts of the world, Australia and South Africa, have a massively detuned version to deal with the hot climate. So that’s a good start.

Leather seats look like standard fit, as does the DSG gearbox. The manual, stick shift won’t be available for a while but will cost $1100 less. Also standard on the launch model are Dynamic Chassis Control, 19” Cadiz wheels, parking sensors and the small 5.8in “Discover” navigation. But it will set you back more the base model, coming in at $39,090.

We have no idea how long you early adopters will have to wait to take delivery, but if it’s anything like over here in the UK, you may be looking at 5 to 6 months!

Part of the fun is in the waiting. In the meantime come over and join the debate on the world’s largest specialist site, the Volkswagen R Owners Club.