Our opinion
We like
Appealing style, quality, dynamic competence
Room for improvement
Tight back seat, high price
By TIM BRITTEN 25/02/2000
RETRO-FRENZY has been sweeping through the car industry for some years now, but there are few examples of the art more compelling than Volkswagen's new interpretation of the original Beetle.
The car, dubbed New Beetle by VW, springs from an entirely different inspiration to that which created the original in the late 1930s.
This is no people's car, aimed at putting the working class on wheels. Rather, it is a trendy, niche product aimed at those who can afford to spend quite a bit of money to be different to other motorists.
Not that the car is really that different to anything else once the bug-like outer shape is stripped away.
Underneath those fetchingly curved lines is a Volkswagen Golf, or an Audi A3.
Where the original used an air-cooled, rear-mounted, flat-four "boxer" engine, the new car is front-wheel drive, powered by a conventional water-cooled inline four-cylinder - just like most other small cars on the road today.
No, the essence of the New Beetle is its borrowed styling, its exploitation of people's fixations with past automotive icons. Packaging efficiency, among other values, is sacrificed in the name of style.
But it is interesting to observe how finely the stylists have drawn the line between adopting basic design themes and copying - curve for curve, detail for detail - all the basic elements of the original.
Even though the New Beetle could be described as entirely gratuitous, there is nothing really gratuitous about the detail.
So the car gets moulded plastic bumpers rather than the pseudo-steel designs they may have adopted (similar to the Daihatsu Sirion, for example), no running boards and no phoney air vents to simulate a rear-engined, rear-drive configuration (although, thanks to today's understanding of thermodynamics the designers have been able to faithfully recreate the grille-less front end of the original).
The only really gratuitous feature is the provision of a vase on the dashboard, kindly fitted out with a plastic chrysanthemum by the local VW distributors.
So the car ends up being an interesting blend of the practical and the impractical.
Impractical is the essential shape of the body, which means that only small children are going to be comfortable in the low-roofed rear compartment, while the boot area is limited in the bulk it is capable of carrying.
Practical is that the New Beetle's hatchback configuration means the rear seat can be folded forward to provide what becomes a fairly handy storage area - big enough for at least one bike. A downside here is the backrest is one-piece only, so both kids are left on the pavement if the regular boot is not big enough.
Practical also is the way the front seats fold up and slide forward so at least those intending to climb in the back can easily find their way aboard.
Up front there is a wonderful feeling of space and freedom. Headroom is exceptional and the range of fore-aft, up-down movement in the front seats is very Germanic in its generosity.
Seated in the front seat, the first-time New Beetle driver will marvel at the distance between the steering wheel and windscreen.
The original Beetle's screen was an in-your-face affair, small and flat with no provision for any sort of crash pad. The new version locates the screen so far away that it is impossible to reach from a seated position.
This is okay except that the generous A-pillars are also located well forward and tend to obscure vision where it is not normally obscured. And the sun visors end up being too small to effectively do their job.
The general layout of the interior is tidy and distinctive with a large, single pod holding the instruments and a jutting central bulge containing air vents and sound system/heating-ventilation controls.
Like the original, a dashboard grab-handle is provided for the passenger and there are straps on each B-pillar to assist getting in and out of that back seat.
Airbags abound, with one for driver and passenger and two seat-mounted side bags. Like other cars based on this platform, the New Beetle comes with impeccable safety credentials.
The quality and presentation of the Mexican-built car is superb, consistent with VW's top-end market aspirations.
New Beetle buyers will find the same attention to detail that is evident in other VWs, like the new Bora sedan, or in related Audi models.
Fit and finish is outstanding, as is the quality of the trim materials - although the very light beige of our blue test car would be very prone to stains and scuff marks.
Equipment levels are appropriate for the price with anti-lock brakes, radio/CD player, remote central locking and power windows and rear view mirrors all standard. Alloy wheels and electric sunroof are the main options.
Driving the New Beetle, not surprisingly, is pretty much the same as driving a current model 2.0-litre Golf.
Apart from the interior's more airy feel, the sensations are otherwise similar to the more practical, box-shaped VW hatchback.
The single camshaft, eight-valve, 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine, one of the more primitive powerplants in this category, does its job with reasonable efficiency and effectiveness.
Performance is adequate, sufficient to keep pace in traffic with the optional (and efficient) four-speed automatic and apart from a bit of chattering at idle speeds, it is reasonably quiet.
The five-speed manual is a better proposition for those who prefer to have more driver control but the lever is a little more heavy-handed than would be ideal. But the driver does become accustomed to this.
Wind and road noise are no bother and the ride is generally comfortable and absorbing. The steering, maybe a little over-assisted, is nevertheless accurate and pleasant.
Like the Golf, the New Beetle is not a sports car - the 85kW engine would never allow that - but is capable and pleasant to drive.
Unlike the more functional (and slightly larger, although it shares the same wheelbase) Golf, the New Beetle is a cheeky, fun car that encourages smiles in passers-by and is a great antidote for depressed spirits in peak-hour traffic.
There is no way it can be compared with the original Beetle, either as that car is seen today as an ancient, noisy and cheap means of transport, or as it was seen in its heydays as a well-built, efficient and long-lasting car that suffered from serious handling quirks.
It will be interesting to observe how the New Beetle rates in 10 years time although one thing is certain - you can bet that, unlike the original, Volkswagen will never build 20 million-plus New Beetles.