2008 Volkswagen New Beetle Review

Specifications

In a major car company, there are engineers, accountants, and designers. Engineers are responsible for the research, the development, the facts and the science. They’re the people that make cars work. Then, you have accountants, who, so far as I understand, are there solely to reduce budgets, force engineers to use cheaper materials, cost-cut, and, to ensure that the lab-coated professionals don’t get what they want. And then you have designers.

From a bean counter’s point of view, I can only imagine the sort of frustration and chaos that stylists might create. A designer’s job is merely to provide the clothing that a car’s frame wears, a sheetmetal dress of sorts, but ultimately, isn’t style an unnecessary cost? Mr. Bean Counter might even argue that a perfectly beautiful car could be created purely by science, citing the first Jaguar E-Type (XK-E) as an example. He’d be right. Malcolm Sayer was a scientist, specifically an aerodynamicist, who used the right geometric shapes in order to create the sleekest shape to give the E-Type a higher top speed. It ended up being a particularly beautiful design. A coincidence, as it’s been said.

It probably ticks Mr. Bean Counter off to no end that tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on focus groups, on design centers and concept cars yearly. But in reality, a car can be so much more than a transportation appliance. Cars incite emotion and feeling, which is why stylists and designers hold such important positions in car companies. Through their creativity and artistry, they infuse cars with character, something which buyers can identify with. Maybe it’s just me, but my recently fitted GE Profile wall-mount convection oven, despite being a wonderful cooking appliance, just doesn’t do it for me. Perhaps you can relate. I think that there’s no better example to justify the importance of good design than Volkswagen’s New Beetle.

Before the New Beetle hit showrooms in 1998, it, like most vehicles, started out life as a concept car. It was called the Concept One, and was the shining star of the 1994 North American International Auto Show. Being that I’m on a roll about designers, it was styled by J Mays, also of Audi TT fame. It was a no brainer that the car was designed to pay homage to the original Bug, but the approach was much more creative. When distilled down to its essence it was essentially three semi-circles overlapping each other. This symbol of sorts would eventually create the side profile of the car. Kinda cool, huh?

However, design, it must be noted, was placed as the top priority. Form did not follow function. The Concept One did seek to faithfully recreate the “Peoples’ Car” by giving them something spacious, roomy and virtually indestructible. It didn’t have an air-cooled engine mounted in its rear end, the Beetle’s most notable mechanical differentiator. No, it had a conventional layout with a complicated diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain that promised an average fuel economy rating of 118 mpg. It may not have been true to the original, but it had hippie-pleasing potential.

By the time Volkswagen was ready to launch the New Beetle, it could be argued that the car really wasn’t needed. The original Beetle was still being turned out by the thousands at VW’s Puebla, Mexico factory, and it wouldn’t have acted as a direct successor. Besides, the Golf, on which the New Beetle was based, was already the best-selling passenger car in the world, and in a way, the Golf was much more of a Peoples’ Car. Nevertheless, it sparked Beetlemania around the world; and people - specifically North Americans - just loved it. To some it was a trip down memory lane, while to others it was like having a classic car with none of the temperaments and all of the creature comforts, such as a fast-acting heater. There was also the issue of timing; numerous brands were in the process of ramping up their modern-day retro-mobiles, which certainly helped prolong the New Beetle’s attention in the eyes of the media, as well as the countless special editions. It wouldn’t be long before the New Beetle had retro-spirited company, as BMW would resurrect the Mini, and Ford the Thunderbird, and the Mustang, and the GT, etc, etc…

Ten years on, and the New Beetle is still around. Its charm has worn off somewhat, having become just another car in the eyes of the public, though you have to admit that it’s still as cute as it’s ever been. And while there have been some ever so minor changes, including the addition of projector beam headlamps and new bumpers, it just goes to show how timeless this shape is. It really ought to star in some sort of anti-aging creme advertisement.

I would say that the New Beetle is a fun car. Not fun in terms of the driving dynamics, as in that regard it’s really rather mundane. The Mk.IV Golf platform was good in its day, but the game has moved on. It’s comfortable, but it’s soft; the steering does what it’s told and the car enjoys cruising more than anything else. Gone is the Turbocharged model, gone is the TDI, and (thankfully) gone too is the 115-hp 8-valve SOHC inline-four that the car was originally launched with. Buy a New Beetle today and it comes with an unusual engine, a 2.5-liter inline-five that makes 150 horsepower and 170 lb-ft of torque. Mated to a six-speed automatic (as this car was), and the Beetle is more than capable of moving itself around. Torque is the name of the game with this one; due to how much is available at low revs, it’s almost diesel-like in nature. Props to VW for giving the New Beetle things the old one never had, such as strong brakes, and although stability control hadn’t even been dreamed of when this new Bug first hatched, it’s nice to know that such safety gear, and a full set of airbags now come standard.

No, the New Beetle is fun because it still feels special. You really sit in the middle the car, right under the peak of the roof’s arc, with the dashboard stretched out so far that it feels like it’s in another car. This isn’t the most ideal shape for maximum interior space (rear seat occupants will not be anywhere near as comfortable in this as say, a Rabbit), but there’s always that sense of occasion, plus you can wear your Gangs of New York top hat without fear of rubbing the roof liner. The shape also happens to be acoustically sound, so if you’re into tunes just crank up the radio and the New Beetle could be motoring nirvana. And by the way, that thing on the dash, it’s a pen-holder, not a vase. Alright, alright, it’s a vase…

The only thing I don’t like about the New Beetle is the lack of attention VW’s given it. I find it a bit sad that Volkswagen hasn’t shifted it over to the much more advanced Mk.V platform, like with the Golf, and hasn’t made its ingenious, fuel-saving direct-injection gasoline engines available. I also find it slightly odd that the Beetle, despite being the oldest product in Volkswagen’s lineup, still costs more than the new Rabbit, which offers more standard content, feels better made, and is also imported from Germany. I suppose that this is the price paid for style.

After all, you don’t buy a New Beetle just because you need a small car, as there are many more practical choices. The cargo hold, for instance, is not only small, but its opening is awkwardly shaped, the rear seats also only fold as one piece, not 50/50 or 60/40, and once again there’s a woeful lack of rear-seat headroom. No, you buy the New Beetle because you really want to own an icon, and you want it because of the way it looks and the way it makes you feel. For embracing its stylists, flipping the bird to Mr. Bean Counter, bringing the Bug back - and keeping it around - VW deserves a pat on the back.