Bug bites the dust - Mex factory makes last VW classic

New York Daily News ^ | July 31 | Dave Goldiner

[jjbrouwer]

Say goodbye to the love bug. The last original Volkswagen Beetle, the tiny car that became an icon of the flower-power generation, rolled off a Mexican assembly line yesterday.

A mariachi band strummed as workers put the finishing touches on a baby-blue model marked No. 21,529,464 - the last of seven decades' worth of the beloved vehicles.

"You didn't just participate in the construction of a car, but in the creation of a legend," Volkswagen executive Reinhard Jung told a crowd of workers.

The last original bug will be shipped to a museum in Wolfsburg, Germany, home of Volkswagen's world headquarters.

An updated version of the Beetle is still being produced and sold worldwide, but the plant in Puebla, 65 miles southeast of Mexico City, was the last one producing the classic model, which was discontinued in the U.S. after it failed safety and emission standards in 1977.

Australian bug lover Gary Collis flew all the way to Mexico to experience the final call for a car he called "the heart and soul of Volkswagen."

Collis bought a new bug - the 21st of his collection - in Guadalajara and will have it shipped Down Under, at a total cost of $20,000.

"Since they first announced the final edition, I thought to myself: 'This is really the end,'" he said.

The Beetle was designed by Adolf Hitler's Nazi government as a two-door mass-production car for the German people.

It improbably morphed into an icon of 1960s counterculture and gained cult status in the U.S. with its starring role as Herbie in the popular "Love Bug" films.

Ironically, Volkswagen yesterday recalled 269,000 of its new Beetles from the 1998 through 2001 model years to fix faulty brake-light switches.

The Classic VW Beetle

Milestones:

1938: Adolf Hitler lays cornerstone for first Beetle factory.

1949: First bug sold in U.S.

1969: First "The Love Bug" movie starring Herbie, a VW Beetle.

1972: Beetle No. 15,007,034 built, overtaking Ford Model T as most-produced car.

1996: Brazil factory closes; Mexico has last plant.

Did you know?

- The Nazis' original name for the Beetle was the Kraft durch Freude-wagen - the "Joy through Strength" car.

- A blue whale's heart is the size of a VW Beetle.

- Amazon.com has 81 books about the bug on sale.

- The most popular colors are powder blue and beige.

- Two of every three taxis in Mexico City are lime-green Beetles.

[jjbrouwer]

The last original VW Beetle rolls off the assembly line.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

My first car I owned was a '62. Then had a 63, a 69, 74 and 82 (last 3 were Westfalia vans/campers). Sad to see the beetle go. They were fun to see on the road.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

FYI

[doodad]

I owned a 66 and a 67. My first two cars. Amazingly durable POS cars. I loved and hated those cars. Couldn't find the right spring for the throttle on the 66 so I carried a pack of thick rubber bands and when the pedal went dead pulled over and applied a new throttle "band." Hmm...thicker is sportier, but I have traffic so maybe one of the thinner ones. Oh and no heat. My friend called it the rolling refridgerator.

[goldstategop]

It will live on in the New Beetle. Mine is a fun car to drive and is safer than the Classic. The world's most popular car will still be produced on the updated Mark IV Golf platform its been sold on since 1998. Long live The Bug!

[bmwcyle]

I own a 1974 Burnt Orange Bug. I wish I had a new one of that year.

[goldstategop]

It will live on in the New Beetle. Mine is a fun car to drive and is safer than the Classic. The world's most popular car will still be produced on the updated Mark IV Golf platform its been sold on since 1998. Long live The Bug!

[goldstategop]

Get a new Orange New Beetle Convertible to complete your collection. :)

[goldstategop]

The Classic Beetle could be repaired on the road side. And while people complained about the heating going out in the winter and there never being air conditioning in the summer, they had great memories of the car. No wonder it become a cultural icon.

[mewzilla]

Sniff...My younger brother had a powder blue Bug. He tried to teach me how to drive standard in it. Those were the days :)

[goldstategop]

Ach... today you can drive a New Beetle with an auto tranny! ;-)

[jjbrouwer]

I had one Beatle - think it was a 1973 model. They were a Bug-ger to drive! Thing kept stalling so I would have to rev it up all the time.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Classi! First year for the dual port 1600 engine and new suspension!

[RedBloodedAmerican]

The ones I had had quirks, too.

[smith288]

Where do you find a '03 classic bug? I had no clue they were still manufacturing those ugly as hell things. (flame suit on)

[jjbrouwer]

I agree. The new ones look neat but they are probably a bit too easy to drive. Probably a bit like the difference between the new BMW Minis and the old Mini Coopers.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

So you had the oversized (95mm) pistons with a dual carb. Made it about 2000cc, right? I had those in my campers. I loved those engines, used to build them for fun.

[mewzilla]

I did look at the new ones when they first came out. After I got over the sticker shock I decided I still liked the old ones better. But heck, of all the cars I've ever driven/ridden in, my favorite is still a Ford Model A. That ought to tell you something :)

[goldstategop]

This guy drives one of those "chick cars" and I don't feel less masculine because I'm fond of The Bug! :)