The first appearance of the VW Beetle successor
08/01/2019
It has been over 25 years since many people first heard about a planned VW Beetle successor. That was in January 1994, when the VW Concept 1 study was presented in Detroit . It was a Beetle for modern times, modeled on the original Beetle in terms of form, but pointing to the future in terms of technology . There was even talk of electric motors and hybrid drive at the time.
The magazine Auto Motor und Sport helped Volkswagen decide whether to produce the car by conducting a survey on the "Beetle 2000" - by post, of course, as the Internet was still in its infancy.
And just over ten months later, it was reported that the "Beetle II" was indeed to go into series production in 1998. The Golf IV platform had already been chosen as the technical basis, which meant slight adjustments to the proportions of the exterior, which was otherwise almost identical to the concept car. However, the innovative drivetrains of the Concept 1 study - TDI four-cylinder with Ecomatic cut-off, three-cylinder TDI hybrid drive, electric drive - did not make it beyond 1994; the usual four-cylinder engines from the Golf engine compartment were expected, and a VR5 was also already being considered. It was announced that the car would cost USD 15,000 in 1998. The convertible, already shown as a concept car in Geneva in March 1994, was to be considered a little later.
Production actually began at the end of 1997, with the design by Freeman Thomas and J. Mays making it into series production almost unchanged! The purchasable version was then officially presented again in Detroit in January 1998, four years after the Concept 1 study had caused a sensation there.
With the New Beetle, Volkswagen was the first car manufacturer to bring a retro design to mass production, with BMW/Mini and Fiat 500 following suit. However, the competition obviously had a better hand, as the Mini and Fiat 500 were significantly more successful on the market than the New Beetle produced in Puebla (Mexico), which incidentally went into a second series in 2011 and whose production was finally (?) discontinued in 2018.
In less than ten years' time, however, the original Beetle may be parked next to a New Beetle at a classic car rally ...
