Bug Deux.
Or maybe you call it Bug II.
Whatever, it’s coming back!
The lovable Bug. The Beetle. The car that claimed to be able to float. The inverted bathtub that made Volkswagen a household name.
In January 1994, VW surprised the automotive community when, without fanfare or advance buildup at the Detroit Auto Show, it simply pulled the curtain open on what it called Concept I, a screaming-yellow ’90s rendition of the old Beetle.
Concept I bears a clone-like resemblance to the revered Bug, last sold here in 1974 before being replaced by the Rabbit.
Now VW management has given approval to produce the car and move concept to reality. No firm date has been set, other than before the year 2000, which means very soon. Speculation is that the car will be assembled in 1997 or 1998.
The concept unveiled in Detroit was, to say the least, a smashing success. Rather than ask what it was, the media begged when it would appear. VW, shocked by the wide acceptance, immediately brought the car back to its German headquarters without any more public showings, asked for a show of hands, and got a resounding JaVol.
In October of this year, VW unveiled Concept I again at the Tokyo Auto Show, only this time it was Concept I with an update–slightly longer and wider than the Detroit version.
One other change: VW announced that concept will become reality and it will produce the car at its Puebla, Mexico, plant for the world market.
The fact that VW even considered a design theme reminiscent of the old Beetle was an admission that it made a huge mistake when it dropped the Bug from the lineup in 1975. Now, 20 years later, it will try to atone.
“Volkswagen had nothing but years of grief after it chose to drop the Beetle,” noted Art Spinella, vice president and general manager of CNW Marketing/Research in Bandon, Ore., a company that specializes in why people do or don’t buy cars.
“The Beetle was a culture. It had a cult following. It was a fun car. What’s ironic is that VW had a new Beetle ready to take the old one’s place back in 1975,” Spinella said. “I saw a rendering of that ’75 Beetle and it looked exactly like the Concept I. Then they decided to drop the Beetle and brought out the Rabbit. Now they’ve gone back to the drawing board and brought back a car that they had ready to go 20 years ago.”
Even its admirers will admit that the Beetle was the ugliest car on the planet. No glitz, no glitter, no frills. A rude, crude machine. You needed a shoehorn to fit people in the front seats. And the back seats? Forget it. AM/FM stereo? You hung a Japanese transistor radio from the inside rear view mirror–providing the mirror hadn’t already fallen off. And, with all that, for some unexplainable reason, folks loved the car.
There’s some concern that the Beetle that attracted so many followers in the ’60s and ’70s won’t necessarily be much of a draw in the ’90s. After all, the majority of those who owned one are now mothers and fathers with kids of their own.
Spinella insists the Beetle was so well-known and admired that a new generation should have little trouble associating with it. While most youth today refuse to purchase a car their mother or father own, they won’t resist a car that their mother or father once owned when they were young.
“Research shows there still is a connection between the Beetle and people of all ages,” Spinella said. “People in their 20s still know what a Beetle was.”
The 2-door Concept I, which is still awaiting a formal name, is built on a 101-inch wheelbase and is 159.8 inches long. The original Beetle, by comparison, was built on a 94.5-inch wheelbase and was 163.4 inches long. A major change is that the Concept I is 67 inches wide (versus 61 inches on the original Beetle and 65 inches on the Detroit version of Concept I).
How wide is 67 inches? The Mercedes-Benz C280 luxury sedan is only 0.7 inch wider!
While still a small car in overall length, the Concept I comfortably seats four adults in the passenger cabin. We were able to climb aboard the model at the Detroit show for a first-hand feel of interior room. The car was spacious–and that was in the vehicle three inches narrower than in the current model.
Concept I also boasts dual air bags and anti-lock brakes. It will be powered by a four-cylinder gasoline engine teamed with a choice of 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission, with a turbo diesel engine as a possible option. On the show circuit, the car has been powered by a 1.9-liter, 3-cylinder turbo diesel.
While the Concept I brings back fond memories, one of the reasons the original Bug was a success is that owners tolerated its quirks, like lack of heat, lack of air conditioning, lack of a fuel guage, lack of. . .you get the point. The Beetle was basic transportation, simplicity at its simplest.
“The new car will have quality,” vows Fouladpour. “And there will be a heater, air conditioning, and a gas guage.”
There also will be round headlamps, integrated bumpers (not hang ons), front-wheel drive, an engine mounted up-front and a trunk in back, folding rear seat backs for more cargo room, radio, side-impact beams and traction control.
“We’ve made no decision on whether there will be more than one model,” Fouladpour said. Also undetermined is the price of the new vehicle though VW initially hinted the company was aiming for around $13,000.
“This new car will be the second car for the family, not the primary car. It will be a commuter car for the old Beetle lovers. If it’s overloaded it won’t be the old Beetle,” Spinella said.
In 1994 when VW unveiled the Concept I, total unit sales in the U.S. barely reached 50,000 a year. In the first 10 months of this year the German automaker sold more than 100,000 vehicles in the U.S. for the first time in five years.
When VW sold the Beetle, the company was a power in the U.S. In 1970, for example, it sold a record 569,696 vehicles here. The Beetle was the top-selling import nameplate well before anyone heard of the Japanese.
After the 1974 model year, however, VW dropped the Beetle and replaced it with the Rabbit. Cult members were crushed. In 1985 the Rabbit gave way to the Golf. VW slipped from powerhouse to doghouse in the minds of consumers.
Some observers say the Concept I will return VW to its past glories and give it the respectability it lost when dropping the Beetle. VW insists that getting back to the 100,000 sales mark shows that it has made a comeback.
