New Cars 2012: VW Beetle

In 1994, Volkswagen debuted its retrocool Concept 1 to much fanfare. After just three short calendar years, the car was headed to production as a the Volkswagen "VW New Beetle". Unlike the cult classic that bore its namesake, this new compact car bore a traditional F/F drivetrain, whereas the original piece was built on a rear engine, rear-drive platform. Also, unlike the cult classic, Volkswagen knew they could make a huge profit on this car based on image alone. During the late 1990s, and early 2000s, the retro boom was really beginning to take off, and the introduction of the New Beetle brought "retro-cool" to the masses. Sure, you had the legendary Porsche 993 available as a used car, but that wasn't exactly affordable.
Shortly after the New Beetle was launched, Chrysler saw need to jump into the fray with its own little hatchback, and like the Beetle, their PT Cruiser worked. All good trends must come to an end, right? Well.. the PT Cruiser died a slow and agonizing death; it was put out to pasture nearly ten years too late, as far as I'm concerned. The Volkswagen Beetle along with its convertible stablemate, however, have remained a staple in VW's North American lineup since it's original introduction nearly twenty years ago. With the arrival of the hardtop Beetle, one can only hope that the convertible is right around the corner. After all, despite the hardtop having "male variants" (ala Turbo), VW suspects that convertible is the primary choice of female buyers, and based on what I've seen locally, they may be right.
Would I spend my dollars on a Beetle? It's hard to say. I have grown to almost despise the first generation New Beetle, but I quite like the second generation; I bet its the rake roofline that does it for me, or maybe its the Porsche-esque wheels on the Turbo model. Not quite sure what it is, but I definitely approve of the new car's styling. What I am a little concerned about, though, is supposed reliability. I do realize VW has certainly made strides in their efforts of build quality, I'm not sure if they've made the cars actually better or they've simply tailored them to the American market-- aka made them cheap by cutting costs. We'll see just exactly how it stands up to real life when I start seeing more of them around.

Minneapolis Street Sighting: VW Beetle

I usually don't shoot Beetles; for good reason. I'm not too keen on the later models, for one, and I don't see nice early examples. So, why did I shoot this one, you ask? Well.. just look at it! I couldn't believe how much rust this poor thing had. Obviously, at one point, this 1970s example of the ever-loved classic looked better. That's not to say I would've cared more though. I dislike this era for the Beetle. Fat bumpers (not phat, you morons), ugly steelies, hideous interior, wretched paint choices, and lots of minor niggles I don't really want to explain. Anyway, I'll just say this. I'm glad this one was a rusted up piece of crap; if I'm honest, this is the only way it got my attention enough to deserve a close inspection.
As you can clearly see, the body of this once-beautiful (in another generation) classic cultmobile has seen its fair share of Minnesota winters. With rust like this, I'm amazed that it still moves. Evidenced by the semi-current tags, this much-loved (ruined?) example is someone's daily driver. (I refuse to call it pride and joy because, well, look at it. Would you be joyous driving this turd?) Aside from the rust, the trim (what's left of it anyway) looked decent. The chrome hood strip is untouched by mother nature, as well as the turn signal. Quite possibly, these are the only two good exterior parts remaining.
I don't often say this, but in this case I will. Remove the turn signal, the hood chrome strip, and the taillights, and haul this wreck off to U-Pull-It. It deserves to be killed rather than die a slow death stalking the streets of the Twin Cities.