yesterday was a sad day: the VW beetle production was ceased.

[Cano]

well, yeah. yesterday, at midday or so, the last VW bug was released from VWs plant in Puebla, México (an hour and a half from where I live), thus ending with the greatest car of all time. production started roughly in 1939. now, in 2003, the VW bug says goodbye with a special edition called... well, "ultima edicion" (last edition) wich features widewhite wall tires, chrome trim, and some other stuff to resemble an old "vocho" (the nickname with wich they are called here in mexico). well, almost 22 million VWs were produced, based in the same design that Prof. Ferdinand Porsche penned 70 years ago. It was the greatest car in car history, and gawd it will be missed. I think that there is no car more beloved than the bug. as VW says, every bug has a history. long live the bug,. it will be missed.

Cano

 

[bengee]

ferdinand was a brilliant man... but i think his 911 outclasses and out does the bug... too bad vw didnt make a baja version... is it really gone... ehh there are enough of them around you will always be able to get one lol

 

[GilesGuthrie]

I disagree that it's a sad day. It was a sad day when VW started making the new Beetle, thus raping their history.

However, it's an old, outdated car, and its production should have been ceased years ago.

I do feel sorry for the Mexicans who no longer have jobs though.

Whitewalls indeed.

 

[Cobraboy]

Arent you a right little ray of sunshine today Giles?

Anywho, it is kind of sad when a car ceases production, and end of and era of sorts. But I'm not about to burst out crying or anything..

 

[MazKid]

Sad day? Nah. While the Beetle was a sort of revolutionary car, it was used by Nazis during WW2 and the Holocaust. It was definatly a sad day when production started, but with production ending it's a sigh of relief. VW should have stopped making the first Beetle with the release of the 2nd, really they shouldn't have had any. Several months ago I saw a new Beetle being towed...remember the comercials about the strength of the arches? Well, this one had rolled. The arches were fine, however, the roof panel inbetween them had collapsed down ontop of the drivers' seat. So in other words, if you flip one on a flat surface you might be ok, but flip it in a real world crash and you're gonna get hurt.

It wasn't a sad day.

A sad day was when the RX-7 ceased in April 2002. A sad day was when the MX-6 and MX-3 ceased in '97. A sad day was when the Millenia ceased in late '02. These were sad days because people actually loved these cars. I've never heard a Beetle owner say "Man this is the best car out there and I absolutely love it."

Not a sad day.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by GilesGuthrie
I disagree that it's a sad day. It was a sad day when VW started making the new Beetle, thus raping their history.

To be honest, Giles, I think it was another brilliant Ferdinand Piech move to make the Beetle - they took a Golf, made it less useful, and made an even bigger profit - the only sad thing about the current Beetle is the people who are dumb enough to buy it; Volkswagen did the right thing by producing it.

 

[Attila_Da_Hun]

Originally posted by MazKid
It wasn't a sad day.

A sad day was when the RX-7 ceased in April 2002. A sad day was when the MX-6 and MX-3 ceased in '97. A sad day was when the Millenia ceased in late '02. These were sad days because people actually loved these cars. I've never heard a Beetle owner say "Man this is the best car out there and I absolutely love it."

Not a sad day.

what, that was a happy day for me!

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by MazKid
I've never heard a Beetle owner say "Man this is the best car out there and I absolutely love it."

Most people would regard it as one of the top 20 cars of all time - can't say the same about the MX-3.

 

[milefile]

Beetle owners are like Mazkid, totally fanatical for no apparent reason other than they think it's somehow cool.

 

[Duke]

Originally posted by MazKid
A sad day was when the RX-7 ceased in April 2002. A sad day was when the MX-6 and MX-3 ceased in '97. A sad day was when the Millenia ceased in late '02. These were sad days because people actually loved these cars. I've never heard a Beetle owner say "Man this is the best car out there and I absolutely love it."

Maz, much as I appreciate your dedication, I think you'd be better served by getting out and expanding your horizons a little bit. Mazda did not invent the world and the fate of the entire automotive industry does not hang on the next car Mazda makes or even thinks about making.

There is an entire culture built up around the VW Beetle. I'm not just talking about shirtless hippies with bad hygiene. I mean there is a thriving community of people probably a million members strong throughout the world who would happily say "Man this is the best car out there and I absolutely love it." There are reams of books about how to restore your Bug, how to modify your Bug, how to keep your irreplaceable Bug going forever since you can't buy them anymore in the US. There are week-long carshows dedicated to the Bug.

Bugs have been driven half a million miles or more. Bugs have been converted into dune buggies (Myers Manx, anyone?), Baja racers (imagine an MX3 in any form doing the Baja 500), sand rails, hillclimb machines, delivery vans, ambulances and police cars. Bugs have gotten 20 million people throughout the world to and from work, while being cheap, durable, and easy to maintain.

Are they the best handling, most powerful car ever built? Obviously not. In some situations they can be downright scary. But to absolutely write off the old Beetle just because it wasn't made in Japan by a company starting with M and having a Z in the middle is just silly.

Did anybody even notice when the MX-3 went out of production? How long did it last - 4 years?

 

[MazKid]

Hah, it must be "Hate on Maz day". Alright so I was a little wrong.

 

[Duke]

I'm not hating on you. I just think that while focus is a good thing, too much focus is a bad thing. I think you're doing yourself a disservice by limiting your experience, knowledge, and interests so heavily.

 

[MazKid]

I know. I honestly don't see many Beetles, new or old, on the roads. In every pic of Mexico I've seen, there's atleast 30 of em in the pic.

Ohh, and just for the record...the MX-3 laster 5 years in the US('97), 6 in Europe(ending in '98 there).

 

[Cano]

In mexico they are used as Taxis . yeah, mexico is one of the countrys that loves the bug most. outdated car?? it is still more reliable than anything I've seen. you can find parts in drug stores. you can replace the whole thing fpor 10 bucks. maintenance cost a dam, IF you have to give it maintenance, because it can go and go and go and go and it will never broke. and they can be turned into FAST, and GOOD-HANDLING machines with really little investment, as compared to other cars. if there is one versatile car, it is the beetle. think of ANY mod tha can be done to a car, and somewhere, someday, someone has done it to the bug. it is just a fantastic car EVEN now, and I can really tell. many friends have a VW bug, and I ride in them often. they are absolutely reliable, gas eating is NULE, and they accomodate incredible ammounts of things in that tiny space... and ALL this from a 70 year old design. It wasnt produced till 3 days ago because they had leftover parts. they were produced to this very day because the provided a cheap, comfortable transportation, ease of maintenance (you cant make a bug engine run? please. get into... I dont know... cake-baking) for a damned song. is there any stock bug out there that is worth more than 500 dollars? please. you just cant denny the sheer greatness of this little car. it survived 70 years and saw others come and go because it was and it is still a great car. and it will always be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, car EVER built.

Cano

 

[Rue]

When I was about 17 my friend had a modified one in Nightfire Red with an uprated engine and exhausts, but unfortunately, standard brakes. It was a real blast, it felt like it was the fastest thing on the road and the lack of braking potential meant that you were terrified the whole time. Plus the constant smell of fuel and the rock hard suspension made it feel like it had been driven straight from a race track...happy days

 

[sn00pie]

Feel free to mock my ignorance, but I was absolutely flummoxed by the fact that VW had still been producing these cars up to this day! And I don't find it a sad day at all -- under heavy influence by my Dutch grandfather I grew up thinking of VW beetles as evil Nazi cars! So there.

Originally posted by MazKid
Hah, it must be "Hate on Maz day". Alright so I was a little wrong.

Yeah, you ****ing bastard.

 

[Duke]

Actually, I don't believe they were made by VW itself any longer. When VW ceased production around 1980, they sold the tooling to a company in Mexico which then continued to produce them.

Much like it was still possible to buy a brand new 1963 FIAT in India up until about the year 2000 or so.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by M5Power
To be honest, Giles, I think it was another brilliant Ferdinand Piech move to make the Beetle - they took a Golf, made it less useful, and made an even bigger profit - the only sad thing about the current Beetle is the people who are dumb enough to buy it; Volkswagen did the right thing by producing it.

Yeah, that gets me too. I mean, why would you want to buy a Golf, only smaller and £2000 more expensive? For the buyer, it's lunacy. However, as you say, for the seller it's magic. Platform-sharing has really worked for the VW Group.

 

[MazKid]

Yea Neon, in South Africa you can buy 323's that look exactly like my '88 currently.

It's good though...cause if I ever needed a brand new part I could possibly order it from there if it's an updated part for mine.

 

[kirkis9]

i heard some where that the engine mounts on old bugs were the same pattern as their porche counterparts. was the engine swap routinely done?

 

[Super-Supra]

Beetle was my sisters favourite car !

 

[Famine]

Originally posted by M5Power


Most people would regard it as one of the top 20 cars of all time - can't say the same about the MX-3.

Hey! Quit ragging on my next car!

 

[Cano]

Originally posted by neon_duke
Actually, I don't believe they were made by VW itself any longer. When VW ceased production around 1980, they sold the tooling to a company in Mexico which then continued to produce them.

Much like it was still possible to buy a brand new 1963 FIAT in India up until about the year 2000 or so.

no, neon. they WERE made by VW, in the same plant that now produces the new beetle and many many other VW products, the Puebla facility. Mexico was the only country that produced the bug since... well, many years now mainly because here in mexico its the cheapest car you could get, and because they are used as taxis here. as a proof, look here and also watch out for the little pop up that will appear. it is a page just devoted to the VW bug, called simply "sedan" here in mexico. there is stuff there about the "ultima edicion" bug. in spanish, of course.

Cano

just for you to see that the bug is (was ) still made, proudly, by VW mexico.