Car Gazing
VW Beetle adorable as always
By Derek Price
Ever since Volkswagen introduced the New Beetle, it's been the cutest car on the road.
Sure, there are other worthy contenders for the cuteness title today – most notably the Mini Cooper – but there's still nothing quite as lovable, sweet, darling, precious and adorable as this spunky little Volkswagen. It just makes you want to give it a big bear hug.
There's a problem with this extreme cuteness, though, and it's not the fact that people with even the tiniest speck of macho-man tendencies will refuse to buy it.
The problem? It's a novelty. A toy.
Volkswagen knows this, and that's why the company has rolled out gimmicks each year to keep interest in a car that relies almost exclusively on styling to sell. People can buy a Golf if they want a better interior, bigger cargo space and more practical design, but they can only get the oh-so-cute look from a Beetle.
After its introduction in 1998, a time when Volkswagen could hardly make enough Beetles to meet intense demand, VW has steadily churned out new features to keep public interest after the novelty wore off. In 2000, it was the 1.8T model, followed by the Turbo S in 2002 and the convertible in 2003.
For 2005, the biggest news is a new, high-tech diesel engine designed to get good gas mileage, accelerate quickly and be quieter than other diesels.
With a cumbersome name even for a German car, the $20,010 New Beetle GLS TDI-PD coupe comes with a 100-horsepower, four-cylinder turbodiesel engine that is rated at 46 miles per gallon on the highway. Those are all figures Volkswagen should be proud of, especially at a time of uncertainty in the oil market and the probability of higher prices at the pump.
VW didn't deliver a diesel model for me to test, so I can't vouch for it.
Instead, I got to drive a version that I like even more – the 1.8T convertible – which suited me just fine. It's a fun car to drive, generating 150 horsepower from a turbocharged engine that still gets decent mileage.
It's quiet with the top up, handles well, accelerates fast enough to get you in trouble, and has a solid, high quality interior that's matched by very few cars at its price. Volkswagen and Audi – VW's parent company – are known for making the most well-built interiors in the industry, and while the Beetle doesn't quite match some of VW's recently redesigned cars it certainly beats other vehicles in its price range.
Assuming you're fond of its rather feminine styling, there are few reasons to dislike this car. Its back seat is a tad small and there's very little trunk space, but it's a strong offering in virtually all other respects.
The biggest downside this year is that a redesigned Beetle is coming in 2006. If you're a Beetle fanatic who won't mind spending a little more for a better car in a few months, it might be best just to wait for the new version to be released.
In the mean time, the current Beetle is still the cutest car anywhere.
(Derek Price is a newspaper editor and freelance writer living in Texas.
Contact him at dprice@cargazingonline.com)
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