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As sport coupes go, this one is actually quite practical. The New Beetle's driving and emotional appeal are strong enough too, to overcome its skimpy rear seat and visibility blind spots.
The Volkswagen Type 1, more commonly known as the Beetle, Fusca, Coccinelle, Vocho, Bug or Volky is an economy car produced by the German automaker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. Although the names "Beetle" and "Bug" were quickly adopted by the public, it was not until August of 1967 that VW themselves began using the name Beetle in their marketing. It had previously been known only as either the "Type I" or as the 1200 (twelve-hundred), 1300 (thirteen-hundred) or 1500 (fifteen-hundred), which had been the names under which the car was marketed in Europe prior to 1967; the numbers denoted the vehicle's engine size in cubic centimetres.
In 1998, many years after the classic model had been dropped from the lineup in most of the world (it continued in Mexico and a handful of other countries until 2003) VW introduced the "New Beetle" (built on a Volkswagen Golf platform), bearing a strong resemblance to the original. In the international poll for the award of the world's most influential car of the twentieth century the Beetle came fourth after the Ford Model T, the Mini and the Citroën DS.
At the 1994 North American International Auto Show, VW unveiled the J Mays-penned "Concept 1", a concept car with futuristic styling reminiscent of the original Beetle's rounded shape. A positive public reaction convinced Volkswagen to move the car into production, and in 1998, 20 years after the last original Beetle was sold in the United States, Volkswagen launched the New Beetle, designed by Mays and Freeman Thomas in California.
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