Beetlemania... Herbie gets a makeover...

Herbie gets a makeover as Volkswagen reinvent the Beetle

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 11:19 PM on 18th April 2011

• 73-year-old Love Bug gets flatter roof to look 'sportier'
• Design spearheads major assault on U.S. market by VW

Volkswagen has reinvented its cult Beetle for the third time in 73 years. 

The ergonomic new design, which will be offered initially to U.S. customers, gives the car a flatter roof, a less bulbous shape, narrowed windows and a sharp crease along the side.

It is the first overhaul of the Bug since 1998, when Volkswagen came up with the New Beetle, a curvaceous front-wheel drive version of the classic car.

Revamped: The new squatter Beetle comes with a much flatter roof and spearheads a Volkswagen assault on the United States market

The new design is part of a drive by VW to increase sales Stateside. The car firm wants to triple U.S. sales of cars and trucks over the next decade

It said the changes to the Beetle - making it sportier and less 'cute' - will appeal to more buyers, and especially men. But there is speculation that VW's move could also anger devoted Beetle fans who love the four-seater for its curves and perky attitude.

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The turbo version of the Bug is revealed in New York

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The 1998 incarnation of the Beetle - the first change since the car's design in 1938 - saw the engine moved to the front of the car and the luggage space moved to the back.

A vase for a single flower was added in a move that clearly brought the car into the realm of the female motorist. 

Now though, the vase is gone, and an altogether more masculine image is being projected, with low-profile alloy wheels, LEDs, redesigned tail lights and even a turbo model on offer. 

Brand new: The very first Beetles of the preproduction series VW 38 roll onto the streets in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate in 1938

A VW Beetle attracts admiring glances in the rain parked in Oxford Street in London in June 1946

Even if it does win admirers, the third incarnation of the Beetle will have to compete in a US small-car market that is bigger and more competitive than it was in 1998.

The Volkswagen Beetle in its original incarnation was first manufactured in 1938, and more than 21 million were sold before VW ended production of the cult design in 2003.  

Making a splash: A Beetle named Herbie races through a lake in the 1969 film 'The Love Bug', while a newer version of the car cruises through London in the early 90s

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ENDURING LOVE: HOW THE BEETLE WON THE HEARTS OF DRIVERS

The Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle was first produced in Germany in 1938 as a simple economy car.

In Europe, the car was marketed as the Volkswagen 1100, 1200, 1300, 1500, or 1600 – denoting its engine size.

But the popular car soon became widely known around the world by its nickname - the Beetle - named after its similarity in shape to a large, round bug.

The Volkswagen factory survived after the war because the British were not interested and believed the motors to be 'average'.

But by 1953 the Beetle began selling in Britain after J.Gilder & Co Ltd in Sheffield applied for the franchise and became Volkswagen’s representative in the North of England.

There were slight alterations to the design of the Beetle up until the 1970s but the overall shape remained the same.

As competition increased, the Beetle's popularity waned and by 2003, annual production had fallen to 30,000 from a peak of 1.3 million in 1971. 

Volkswagen ended production of the type 1 car in 2003 and instead focused on its type 2 models.

The Beetle is now the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single design anywhere in the world. 

THE NEW BEETLE:
FACT BOX

In all, 21.5million Beetles have been sold in the past 73 years.

The new car will be available to order in the UK in the summer, with first cars arriving in showrooms early in 2012.

Length - 4,278 mm
Width - 1,808 mm
Height - 1,486 mm
Wheelbase - 2,537 mm
Boot capacity - 310 litres
Seats - Four (with a split-fold rear seat)
Variants - Three (Beetle, Design and Sport)
Engines - Three petrol – a 1.2-litre TSI 105 PS, a 1.4-litre TSI 160 PS and a 2.0-litre TSI 200 PS: One diesel – a 1.6-litre 105 PS
Fuel consumption (1.6-litre 105 PS) 65.7 mpg
Carbon dioxide emissions (1.6-litre 105 PS) 112 g/km
Price: To be announced...

The VW company was set up in 1937 at Hitler's request, as the leader wished to create opportunities for citizens to own their own cars. He declared that the company should make family-friendly 'people's cars' which could comfortably carry two adults and three children and should be affordable to every German family.

The Beetle was one of the resulting designs. In its homeland it was known as Käfer, German for beetle, and the model went on to take the same nickname when it gained popularity in the UK. 

Flash: The type two Beetle won many more fans when it was released in 1998 as an updated version of the early model

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