Curtain to Fall on (original) VW Beetle, Icon of Flower Power - production ends this summer

Reuters.com ^ | 6/6/03

[Libloather]

Curtain to Fall on VW Beetle, Icon of Flower Power
Fri June 6, 2003 09:09 PM ET

FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) - The original Volkswagen Beetle, the ubiquitous German car born in the Nazi drive for a "people's car" and later an icon of the hippie revolution, will roll off a production line for the last time this summer.

Europe's largest auto maker Volkswagen said Friday the last of its factories still producing the bulky little car -- in Puebla, Mexico -- would close its assembly line after nearly 50 years.

In the model's 70-year history, 22 million air-cooled Beetles were produced at VW's factories around the world. They were cheap and reliable, with the marketing slogan for years claiming "it will run and run and run."

Created in 1938 on the orders of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler who wanted to give every German family a vehicle, Volkswagen, or people's car, entered mass production only after World War II.

It quickly became the symbol of the German industrial miracle and a car of choice for the first postwar generation that rebelled in the United States and Western Europe against the tight social corset of the time.

The Beetle has enjoyed cult status since then but its relatively old technology meant sales began to fall in late 1970s.

VW replaced it with another hit, the Golf, and it recently also released a modern version of the Beetle -- this time loaded with all the newest technology but priced well above what could be considered appropriate for everyman's car.

[elmer fudd]

Long live THE Great American Car, the Ford Mustang.

The problem with Fords is they're not long lived. My Ford work van, (provided by my employer), is on it's third set of brakes, second MAF sensor and has already needed AC repairs with just under 50,000 miles on it. Total POS van.

My old Ford Bronco had just about everything on it break in the two years I owned it. It spent more time in the shop than it did on the road. Total POS SUV.

My parents Ford Taurus had it's brakes replaced twice, motor mounts once, transmission once, wiper motor twice, radiator once, fuel pump once and even more with only 75,000 miles on the car. Total POS car.

Somehow however our Toyotas, Nissans and Mitsubishis seem to keep running with only minor repairs and maintenance. My wife's Toyota RAV4 is going on 90,000 miles and has only needed new brake pads and a new water pump. My Mitsubishi pickup has 175,000 miles on it and has needed no repairs aside from a new clutch, a clutch cable, and new brake pads and shoes. My sisters Nissan Sentra went over 220,000 miles, and although it had some problems in that time, it was still running good and almost everything under the hood was still original when she sold it.

It'll be a cold day in hell before I buy another Ford. There's nothing worse than an unreliable vehicle.

[elmer fudd]

Yeah, the heaters stunk, and nowadays the cables in the vintage bugs are often so rusted you can't move them.

On my old bug I used bailing wire to wire the heater valves open every fall, and then every spring I would take a pair of dykes and cut the wire free to close them up again.

You ever notice how many old VW owners have a towel or a rag with them in the front seat to wipe all the condensation off the windshield? If you wait for the defroster to do it for you you'll be there all day.

[Henrietta]

Cool. My first car was a 1972 Superbeetle named Grenouille (it was green) and it taught me how to be a very good mechanic. I was a high school student and could not afford a mechanic, so I learned.

My second car was an Orange 1973 Superbeetle named Gretel.

I loved those cars! Not very safe, but easy to fix and pretty reliable.

[BSunday]

I have had exactly the opposite experiences. Every Ford I have owned has been great. I will never buy another car besides a Ford.

On a side note, brakes are one of those things that are "consummable", that is they aren't designed to last forever, and lots of times when they go before their expected life is up, the driver may be at fault.

[Newton]

There's just something about those cars!... I had an '87 Golf, '93 Passat still have a '95 Golf and a '99 New Beetle - green - his name is Newton...hence my screen name :-)
The '95 Golf's name is Eddie....
Velma is the first air-cooled we've owned and we just love her! We're taking her to a local car show next week......that's a lot of fun!
some more photos:

[JulieRNR21]

We got ourfirst 'Beetle' about the same time as you...then graduated to the 'Mini-Bus'when we had kids. They were great and affordable vechicles when we were younger.

Today...we prefer room & comfort so we drive this Cadillac DeVille:

[Old Professer]

Crash-worthiness was the downfall.

[RayChuang88]

Neat looking car!

Can I come over for a ride?

[Old Professer]

OBDII has standardized, generic codes for all critical emission parameters on every car built for sale in the U.S. since 1996.

[Catspaw]

On my old bug I used bailing wire to wire the heater valves open every fall, and then every spring I would take a pair of dykes and cut the wire free to close them up again.

LOL! So did we! It was like a rite of spring and fall. The heater was either all on or all off. There was nothing adjustable about it.

You ever notice how many old VW owners have a towel or a rag with them in the front seat to wipe all the condensation off the windshield? If you wait for the defroster to do it for you you'll be there all day.

Defrosters? They had defrosters?

VWs were not exactly a Wisconsin car. When it was cold, the Bug would start up every time. BUT I had to use the ice scraper on the inside of the windshield to clear it. When it was a little warmer, we had a small hand towel to wipe off the inside fogging and drips.

But ya know, I'd have another Bug for a running around town car. I could squeeze that baby into small parking spots, it was good on gas and as long as we adjusted the valves every 1000 miles or so and changed the oil periodically, it was good to go. And we could do the maintenance ourselves.

[EricT.]

Ford Tauruses bought my young friend a house before he turned 20. He is a mechanic.

[Shooter 2.5]

I have a 89 Taurus with 360,000 miles on it. The worse problem I had with it was the heater core went out and it cost me 700 to get it fixed.

It burns a little oil right now but I'm going to continue to drive it until it's completely gone.

The paint is faded althought there isn't any rust spots on it but that's Texas for you.

[goldstategop]

VW stopped German production in 1978, in Brazil in 1991 and now in Mexico. Its really the end of an era. The New Beetle, introduced in 1998, is the exact opposite of the original. Its a tad bigger, has a hatchback instead of a trunk in the front and has a front water-cooled engine instead of the air-cooled engine the rear had. Both were quirky, original cars and quite fun to drive. My 1999 New Beetle has proven very reliable and only had two problems when I took it in for regular maintenance. The funny thing about the Beetle is it stoppped being a Nazi, let alone a German car when it reached American shores. It became a part of American culture and people have lots of fond memories about it. The new version was designed in of all places in California and I don't think the Germans would have bothered making the car again except for its appeal to the American market. To consider how American the Beetle become, consider the Herbie movies made by Disney and every one knew in Woody Allen's Sleeper! exactly before he went into the cave what car he would find there. The only thing these days some people take issue with is the New Beetle made in Mexico by a German company but when you get right down to it, Herbie Still Lives and is an American car! No one thinks of it as a foreign import and that's why the Beetle will always find a place in the American heart.

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Velma, meet Tweete:

[Newton]

meep meep!

[BSunday]

So every car he worked on was a Taurus? Where did he work, a Ford dealership? /sarcasm.

There are mechanics who could say the same thing for every car made, just insert the appropriate make and model in for whatever the mechanic thinks he sees most of.

[Bringbackthedraft]

If you miss the Beetle, just go to California. You can't drive 2 blocks without seeing one somewhere.

[Bringbackthedraft]

Owned 2 Bugs, 2 Buses and 1 Carmen Ghia. Only one problem with all of them, the heads always came loose. The engines went from tic,tic tic, to flap,flap flap.

[Newton]

coool!!!! Do you show Tweetie??

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Thanks, I understand Tweete was shown by the guy we bought it from (he needed money). It still needs work, maybe after I get it done, we might, but for now, it's a drive around toy.

You did a super job on Velma. How's the engine? Tweete's a 71, been upped to 1835 cc, cruises at 80, fun to drive.