If you ran across an item like this in the classified ads, you’d probably think the seller is either dreaming or simply out of touch with the used car market. And if you saw it as a nicely restored 1979 VW Beetle Sedan, you’d probably wonder if anyone in his right mind would buy it at P 690,000 since that price range can net you a collectible VW classic. (Such as a 1949 split window, 1952 oval window, or even a contemporary VW convertible.)
But Webin Manzana is neither dreaming nor misguided. And the car he is selling is not a restored 1979 Beetle (even though it looks like one), but a tax-paid, imported, brand-new 2002 Volkswagen Sedan. Yes, Virginia, Volkswagen still makes brand new Beetles.
Manufactured by Volkswagen de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., a subsidiary of and 100 percent owned by Volkswagen, A.G. of Germany, the VW Sedan is based on the 1979 German Beetle. The air-cooled 1600cc flat-four motor still resides in the rear, coupled to a four-speed manual transaxle that drives the rear wheels. The front and rear suspensions are still torsion bars and telescopic shock absorbers bolted to the rigid platform chassis. The steel body is still shaped to form that familiar 2-door Beetle that endeared itself to millions of fans.
In short, the car is exactly how a brand-new 1979 Beetle should be like. Except this one comes equipped with an electronic fuel injection (EFI) system metering the air and fuel mixture to dual port cylinder heads. It has hydraulic lifters, instead of the mechanical ones, to minimize valve noise and to eliminate periodic valve adjustments. And the exhaust has a three-way catalytic converter. Plus, it is equipped with a Digital Immobilizer and Alarm System, and a factory air-conditioning system.
A short drive around Quezon City on a rainy Friday morning gave me a warm feeling about VWs in general, Beetles in particular. I had a Volkswagen Brasilia with a modified 1600 boxer motor in my college days, and driving the new VW Beetle Sedan brought back a lot of memories and rekindled some of my dreams.
The doors open and close with a refrigerator-like "click" and you seat on wider, longer and more comfortable seats. The pedals are still a bit offset and are still hinged on the floor thus you need to lift your feet when engaging the clutch or the brakes, but overall feel is light and direct. The shift pattern on the transmission is the familiar VW push-down-to-get-reverse, and the steering is non-assisted. If you like direct mechanical control in your car, nothing beats the VW Beetle.
On the road, the EFI-equipped boxer motor, with 50 PS at 4000 rpm and 70 N-m of torque at a low 2200 rpm, delivers more than adequate power for almost all traffic conditions. Its hydraulic lifters make a lovely throaty sound that it idles like a Porsche and revs up like, well, a muffled VW. Acceleration is brisk; wheel spin is almost impossible with the weight of the engine on the driven wheels. Front discs and rear drums, aided by the rear-to-front weight transfer dynamics, provide stable braking.
Overall, the build quality of this new, er, classic Beetle is quite high. After all, this is the same Mexican assembly plant that manufactures the New Beetle (Concept 1) based on the water-cooled, front-engine, front wheel drive VW Golf/Jetta platform which VW exports to the US, Europe and other parts of the world.
The Beetle has one more thing going for it other than nostalgia: a pedigree. With over 23 million cars sold worldwide, the Volkswagen Beetle is the most successful single car model in the history of the automobile, surpassing the record set by the Ford Model T. The Beetle is likewise one of the most recognizable shapes in the history of automotive design, and is considered a cultural icon by many enthusiasts.
Designed and engineered by Dr. Ing. Ferdinand Porsche just before the Second World War, it was intended to be the "People’s Car" (volks wagen in German) for Hitler’s Third Reich. After the fall of Germany, Dr. Porsche was arrested and subsequently released by the Allies, and went on to build the Porsche 356 Type 1, loosely based on the Volkswagen platform. (He and his son, Butzi eventually established the Porsche line of sports cars.) Meanwhile, the production of the Volkswagen was continued to help Germany’s post-war economy and some GIs brought home VWs to the United States, where it slowly started the VW Bug craze. The post-WWII economy of other countries also dictated the need for fuel- and cost-efficient vehicles thus the demand for VW Beetles increased drastically. By 1965, there were more than a couple of million VW Beetles in the US and its popularity was further enhanced by the Walt Disney movie, "Herbie, the Love Bug".
In the Philippines, the Beetle got an enthusiastic reception during its introduction in the 60’s, but became an even more resounding sales success when the Arab Oil Crisis of 1973 hit Manila. It trounced the gas-guzzling American brands, and fought for the buyer’s cash against the smaller, but more modern Toyota Corolla. The higher price of the German-made Beetle (P45T vs P24T for the Corolla) eventually drove the local assembler DMG to shift to Brazilian-made Beetles in 1974 to be able to compete head-to-head with the Japanese brands. When DMG closed its doors in 1981, the VW Beetle became the favorite orphan, adopted by many middle-income families. Many local drivers learned to drive in a VW, and many had a used Beetle (in their second-, third- or even nth-ownership) as their first car.
The new VW Sedan offers a time warp where you can go back to your first car and relieve your youth without any worries of mechanical failure, noise or lack of power. Of the six cars Webin imported in May, two have been sold to local enthusiasts while one will be kept for his personal use. So you’d better hurry because you only have one chance in three to buy a brand-new VW Beetle. At 690 grand including registration, it’s really a bargain when you think about it.