Found this on the Samba, enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9L3n-w3N5I 

I'd still take the VW38 over the new one.
Nothing can compare to the old lines of a beetle.
Nor can it compare to the ride, and the fact that the beetles are so simple.
I just enjoy simplicity I guess

That 'new 2012 thing' is not a VW beetle, they might call it that but it just isn't.

Smithy, I agree completely!

The 38 would be worth more too

^^ A Hell of a lot more than a brand new 'beetle'

we will replace our new beetle with one for sure!

For someones who's an old car buff like him, you would think he could handle a crash box trans.

Smithy I agree! It's just another car now. They are suffering from water and no noise! I also prefer the 38 even if it wasn't in pristine condition.

EXCELLENT VIDEO...

although no good long shots to see what it actually look like from afar...?

much much better looking than the new beetle...

what will they cal this one??? new new beetle?
new beetle mark II ? new old beetle?

Love the running boards with the chrome strip... lol

dash looks ok... too..

headlights look better than the new beetle
but the tail lamps aren't beetle like?
more porsche-ish?

Lee

The really ironic part is though, someone out there thought that a VW38 (the one built straight after the VW38 Leno is driving to be precise) would be a better car with a water cooled engine in the front

Hah I cringe when I read what happened to that car. Props to the bloke restoring it!!!

Lee,
I'm pretty sure they're just calling it the "beetle".

It's somewhat depressing though. I know a lot of people will buy them and enjoy them,
but nothing can beat the original. Nothing.

It's like the new "kombi", they're not new ones, they're completely different!
If VW wanted to make a killing, bring back the originals, rebuilt with better air cooled engines (if you can get any better?).
People would be ordering left, right and centre.

Yes the new model will simply be called the 'Beetle.' Which of course, it isn't - it's a Golf.

It, and its bubbly predecessor, were designed for the American market, since the Americans have never 'got' VW's modern range. The US is the only market where the Jetta outsells the Golf; they don't understand hatchbacks. They now have a dumbed-down low-tech US-built version of the Passat. They rebadged a Chrysler minivan (the VW Routan) and tried to sell it as a VW. Hopeless.

The 1998 New Beetle was built to try to recapture the US market through nostalgia, since for the Americans Volkswagen=Air Cooled, exclusively. It was a success in the US - selling over a million in ten years - but a failure everywhere else in the world. The Europeans hated it as it reminded them of the austerity of the post war years, the cold war and the iron curtain. Australians thought it was a cute toy, not a mainstream model, and have bought only 8,000 in ten years. VW sells one and half times more Golfs in ONE YEAR in Australia than all the New Beetles sold here since 2000. Even in the US sales have been dropping, hence the new Chatanooga factory to produce the 'mid-size US VW' in the Camry market sector - where the money is.

VW saw there was a problem with the New Beetle and redesigned it (on the latest Golf platform) to be larger and more 'masculine'. Again it will be probably be a hit in the US, but not anywhere else. Why would you buy one when you can have a Golf, with the same running gear and more efficient body? It might be useful to get new people into VWs or convert more air-cooled fans to modern VWs, but that's about it. In Australia the most popular new VWs are the Golf, Tiguan, Caddy and Polo in that order.

The original VWs will NEVER come back - their time has passed. The Beetle could not meet the safety and pollution laws of the late 1970s, let alone of 2011, and the rising production costs and manual labour required for assembly (modern cars are designed to be assembled in modules by robots) eventually killed it off in Mexico in 2003. It can't meet modern NCAP crash requirements, can't meet modern CO2 requirements (cars are taxed on CO2 output in Europe and soon will be here too), has an ancient and inefficient body and is hopeless on the road by modern standards.

Sure the old VWs are cool but that's what they are - old cars.

wow you think too hard

we are buying one just because it is a vw, has a retro look and is not run of the mill boring.

Look at what BMW has done with the Mini, it has the nostalgia, but with all modern comforts and safety. It has been highly successful. The new VW beetle might go the same route, especially since they ditched the girly car image. But Phil is right, this won't be a mainstream car.

What I meant was not to bring back the old car, but to bring a new car that looks exactly the same.
None of this girly image, they're bloody barbie cars, ask anyone.

Hmm, if they could manufacture a new car to comply with the regs and still look exactly like the old beetle I wonder what volume of them would sell, after all the new mini dosn't realy look like the original one.

That is my point exactly donn!

Imagine, I have a 2013 Beetle that looks exactly like a ~1952 split window, but complies with all the regulations and requirements of a sedan car these days.
Now that, that is a dream and a half. Everything would look retrofitted, power steerings, ABS, disc brakes all around, 2l type 4 engine.

VW could make it work. If they went back to their old style of advertisements, they'd sell millions of these beetles within weeks of manufacture.

Yeah Sebastien but would people these days want a car with such limited internal space? let's face it, people want their comforts these days, it's just crazies like us who seem to enjoy the basic stuff, for instance, noone I know can understand why I like no doors, no heater, no wind down (what ! their not electric !!! ) windows, bugger all suspension no room for luggage and only one speed on the wipers, and all that for more than I could have paid for a good MX5, oh yeah, I replaced the seats with MX5 seats as my realy not big fat bum was having trouble with the f/glass thin paded shells that were in it. I have to wonder if they would sell many of replica old ones.

Yeah, I guess the car would only be for enthusiasts like us!

Trust me, I get that a lot in Zelda. Friends dislike the fact that they have to do manual labour if they want wind in their face!
I love the fact that I can't carry anymore than one person when I'm heading into school, seems my brother's and my own bag take precedence in the rear seat.
You're right, no luggage room, but that is what makes driving something classic good.

Older beetles, they have character. This new beetle, it has nothing on the older beetle when it comes to looks and character.

Older beetles, they have character. This new beetle, it has nothing on the older beetle when it comes to looks and character.

Looks, age and character, THAT'S ME.

AHAHAHA

But seriously, that is why I love beetles.
I've been bought up with VW's. In my blood to own one.

BMW nailed it with the new Mini, a good mate of mine has the supercharged Cooper S with a bit of work done and it is an awesome little car, an absolute blast to drive.
If i had the need for 4th car and funds for that matter I'd love one.
They are everything like the old one but updated, kind of what people hoped for with the new beetle

But the new beetle will never get that kind of status, not until they bring back the characteristics that everyone loved in the originals like being cheap, cheerful, and fun to drive not an overpriced, gimmicky, badly proportioned unpractical car.

They appeal to a handful of people who like them for what they are so if that floats your boat why not but struggling sales happens for a reason.

Yes Joel the BMW Mini is much more a 'mainstream' design than the (new) Beetle, which will only ever fill a 'niche' segment. But would you really want to spend $40,500 on a new Mini Cooper S (1.6-litre, 135 kW, 240 Nm) when you can spend $27,790 (3-dr) or $28,990 (5-door) on a VW Polo GTI? (1.4-litre 132 kW 250 Nm). More stars too.

http://theage.drive.com.au/new-car-reviews/volkswagen-polo-gti-20110203-1aevl...

Come to think of it - why not a new Golf GTI 35? 173 kW. $38,990. PLENTY of character !

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/vws-hotter-golf-gti-20110511-1ei2g.html 

I don't know whether the 'retro' look is lasting. The Plymouth Prowler and Chrysler PT Cruiser have both ended production, while the New Beetle actually ended last year (only old stock sales this year). However, sales of Ford's Mustang and the Chevy Camaro are increasing, and the Dodge Challenger has doubled sales in three years. Into this (US) market steps the latest new new Beetle - who knows. If it gets more Americans into VW dealerships and buying VWs, cool.

The only way VW can make a 'retro' Beetle in an economically justafiable way is to use existing platforms/parts. Therefore they have to use a Golf platform (no bad thing). That rules out rear engine/rear drive, but you get all the Golf goodies - FSI/TDI/DSG/ABS/ESP etc etc. Even 'R'-spec or 4Motion if you want. Of course you can style it to look as much like an original Beetle as possible, keeping in mind all the requirements of modern cars, which they have done. But you'll NEVER see a '2-litre Type 4 engine' - all other arguments aside it could never meet today's noise or pollution standards. And performance-wise it's completely obsolete. In the Porsche 914 the best version made just 95 hp (71 kW) while the VW Bus version was just 51 kW. Every modern VW engine above 1.4-litres makes more than that. In Europe you can buy a 1.2-litre Polo TSI with 77 kW, and it would use half the fuel of a 2.0-litre Type 4.

The best of both worlds - keep and preserve and enjoy our original classic Beetles, and also get a new new Beetle for driving to work every day (or a Golf, or a Polo etc etc)

Joel, as far as I know the Beetle was originally more expensive than the Mini back in the day, so from that point of view it makes sense that the new ones maintain that tradition.

In many ways the Golf is spiritually the new Beetle. They were both designed using the best of VW's engineering knowledge at the time to carry the average family anywhere they wanted to go in comfort for a reasonable cost. The new "Beetle" simply takes that Golf engineering and adds a stylised tribute to VW's heritage. I would never buy one, but that doesn't make it a bad car. The fact that the previous New Beetle lasted for over 10 years is remarkable and proves that there is a market for this type of car.

Just read that apparently the exhaust system has been tuned to produce a pulse sort of sound inside the cabin making it similar to an old aircooled engine!

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/new-vw-beetle-first-drive-20110725-1hw57.h...

I understand where you're coming from Phil, and you're right the Polo and Golf are much better value for money.

My gripe is you buy a toy for somehting thats different and out there, Golf and Polo aren;t that, they are way to common and blend in with all the other mainstream cars.

The new Minis thankfully arent that common yet.
yes you pay abit more but it all depends what you're after in a toy.

Although if I was going to cough up $40k for a 'retro' toy the bogan in me would probably want to put an extra $5k on the table and get an FJ cruiser.

Ah! that 38 model is sweet. Simplicity is king!