The Cars

We purchased this as a second car that I briefly used for my commutes while Winnie (my second wife) got to drive the Rodeo. It was a cute little car that was surprisingly roomy and very maneuverable. With a five-speed manual transmission it got great mileage, but a stick shift in stop-and-go traffic proved irritating. Once Winnie learned to drive a stick, this became her car as it proved too impractical for carpooling, which was my normal commuting mode at the time.

Second shot of the Beetle the day I brought her home.

We start with a bit of self-congratulations and a closeup of the nose of the car. There’s lots of closeup images throughout this brochure,

Gratuitous butt shot showing the trunk space.

In truth, this little car does have a lot of interior space for its size. As a commuting car, I was able to load in three passengers with their daily baggage. Having to move the front seat up to load the back seat was a bit awkward, but once settled in people were comfortable enough.

View of the dashboard and console, with a flower. Yes, there was a little flower vase standard, mounted on the dash just behind the right side of the steering wheel. Winnie did find a nice silk sunflower to put in the vase, which added a nice personal touch. I did notice that the later models discontinued this vase.

Once again, a minimalist less is better approach for showing their interior and exterior color combos.

Here we describe standard and optional features of the car.

Specifications of the car with various measurements, fuel type, and estimated mileage. We had the stick model which did get decent gas mileage. We also have another gratuitous close up of one of the rear lights and quarter panel. The car was built well, a testament to German engineering.

Here’s a minimalist description of their GLX version.

Next, we have a one-page description of the GLX model. They make a big deal out of the rear spoiler.

Followed by a front image of the GLX model itself. I do like the sunroof feature.

Then a foldout photo of the rear of the GLX model with lots of detail. Including the spoiler.

No description would be complete without a discussion of the safety features. For a small car this did have a lot of advanced safety features for the model year.

A top-down view, very stylish.

Since they had a closeup photo of the rear taillight, they needed a closeup photo of the front headlight.

Final sales pitch on warranty. I think this is the one area where the New Beetle was wildly divergent from the original. The original Beetle could be taken apart and put back together again with a screwdriver and crescent wrench. This New Beetle was expensive to maintain. I think this would be a reflection of how much the auto industry has changed over the years.

And…the back cover, with VW’s most famous advertising line.

Although this New Beetle was only produced from 1998–2011, I wouldn’t be surprised to see yet another resurrection in the future. As of this writing, VW has come out with an electric version of their former “VW Van.” The original was fondly known as a “VW Microbus” here in the ‘States and was the transportation of choice for mid-1960s hippies, making it almost as popular as the original Beetle. Maybe we’ll see an Electric Beetle…?