CLASSIC OR NEW-----------STILL MUCH LOVED

My beetle is 1200cc ..........masih cinta padanya


Beetle enthusiasts the world overmust have rejoiced when they heard the news that the new generation of the familiar cars would be produced. The car which ended production decades earlier was still popular and there were many who still maintained their old Beetles in pristine condition.
When the new Beetle came out, the familiar shape was unmistakably there and minds began wondering to younger days when they got a hold of their first Beetle.
The Beetle is, by far, the car most closely associated with Volkswagen.
The shape of it is recognisable the world over, but this is not the only characteristic with which people in every corner of the worldassociate the car.
Beginning in the late 1940s, theunmistakable sound of the engine of the Beetle - the buzzes and putters - can be picked out from the transient sounds of traffic racing through the streets.
The Beetle is perhaps Germany’s greatest ambassador to the world.
Although production began in December 1945 with only 55 units, by October 1946, the 10,000th Beetle had rolled off the lines and by the following year, the first exports were sentto the Netherlands.
For decades, it was the most popularoverseas model in the United States and it had reached the South Pacific Island of Nauru by 1967, where the advertising campaign cheekilyproclaimed that VW sales had increased by 200 per cent - from one to three Beetles!
So it was that the inhabitants of that tiny little island in the Pacific learnt the familiar sight, sound and, yes, smell of the Beetle.
Those who know the car will tell you to inhale a whiff of a hot machine mixed with the smell of warmed-up carpeting was just the ticket for them, much like what a fragrant perfume would do for others.
Driving the Beetle - with its smooth steering and gearing - was a thing of luxury in those days before power steering and automatic transmissions became an everyday norm.
The old Beetle’s air-cooled engine was a constant throughout its life. But, other parts of the vehicle moved from strength to strength.
The first Beetle with a folding top was introduced in 1950, along with the first hydraulic foot brake.
Two years later, the car came with hinged swivel windows in the doors, 15-inch rims, and more importantly, a synchronised transmission.

As the years - decades actually - roll by, the Beetle improves with each new model.
Engine powers climb ever higher, front disc brakes are added, as are front spring struts and double-jointed rear axles.
Then, in 1998, came the new Beetle. A hit around the world, the cult status ofthe Beetle was given even more life when a new model came out last year.
With its sharper contours and an optimised TDI engine, new lights and a fresh colour palette, not to mention new fabric seat covers, the results were a successful facelift that kept the recognisable shape of the Beetle but with extra-added features.