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.

[goldstategop]

Don't bother. Get a New Beetle Convertible. Its a lot safer, looks cute and is cool.

[jjbrouwer]

I wondered what had happened to you, you old b******. Long time, no hear.

[MHGinTN]

I took my young wife and baby acroos America from Virginia to California one winter in my blue Squareback. Crossing the Southwest we ran into a horrific snow and ice storm. Our VW drove on, past the semis in the ditches and big rearwheel drives abandoned all over the Interstates. I use to go to Chess Tournaments in my blue baby ... slept in the back and showered at college dorms! Loved that car ... traded it in to by a QueenAnne dining room set for my long-suffering wife. She's still got the furniture, but doesn't have me, and I don't have my Squareback ...

[MHGinTN]

You blighter! Back on rainy British soil are you? Still writing for the Scotsman?

[jjbrouwer]

I'm actually back in America, Marvin. Still in the media sphere but not for that esteemed paper.

[MHGinTN]

It's good to see you're toughing it out, JJ.

[MHGinTN]

Does the new convertible have a rollbar? What does a new Beetle with air and auto cost now-a-days? I always wanted a 'chili bean' red one.

[Tennessee_Bob]

I wish I still had my 73 Westie bus

[goldstategop]

Yes its does. I would say for $20,000 or so you can have one but if you look around you may be able to get a better deal. You have a choice between 2.0L gas engine, turbo, and TDI diesel. Take your pick of manual or automatic transmission. In the GLS line you can get the works in your NBC.

[goldstategop]

Hands down the Classic Bug is the most popular car in the world and the most popular car of all time.

[FlyVet]

One of my cousins had a Beetle back in the 70's. He was nuts. The sheriff in his town had a beetle painted in sheriff dept colors, that he used for visiting kids in schools, etc. So, my cousin got a brush and some paint, painted the front and back of his black, fenders and doors white, with big black stars on the doors, just like the sheriff. Drove it around. Didn't take long for him to get in trouble with the sheriff...heee heee. Troublemakers, those cousins of mine. His older brother but a bottle of Mr. Bubble in the city park's water fountain. That one made the papers too. Heee heee.

[Vesuvian]

...we ran into a horrific snow and ice storm. Our VW drove on, past the semis in the ditches and big rearwheel drives abandoned all over the Interstates.

There was a VW ad that went "Ever wonder how the man who drives the snowplow gets to the snowplow? This one drives a Volkswagen, so you can stop wondering."

I have heard of a company that is dropping a New Beetle body onto an Audi TT chassis, tweaking the engine, and creating a Beetle that will blow the doors off a Porsche all for around $60k.

[Vesuvian]

Wow, found the link faster than I thought...

http://www.motortrend.com/features/performance/112_0106_beetle/

[CWOJackson]

I think people are missing a little known fact concerning the bug. The Germans obviously stole the design from the Japanese. Or were Germans just exceedingly short in those days?

I tried getting into one in 68. It was harder to get off then a pair of too small saddle boots.

[conservativefromGa]

The Beetles made in Mexico are illegal to bring into the united states because of emission standards

[jjbrouwer]

Those Kraut b****** steal everything - including British deckchairs. But I'm not biased...

[CWOJackson]

LOL! Now a deck chair I can fit in.

[goldstategop]

There are companies that can get you a Mexican Classic Beetle modified to meet U.S safety and emissions standards.

[jjbrouwer]

You have seen to many Benny Hill episodes.