Motorshows. Not as exciting for me as they once were. I can handle the new technology and promises that we will be hover-boarding to the shops.
What I can’t quite abide is that a lot of models are now not exactly updated but deliberately uglified. I am sure that the new BMW 3 Series is a wonderful thing – Autocar said so and the changes make it better – but it is certainly no prettier than the high standard set by an E46-era 3 Series.
Listen, I know why changes are regularly made: Vance Packard explained built-in obsolescence back in 1957 in his seminal work, The Waste Makers. It is all about marketing and snobbery, so everyone knows you drive the very latest. However, the car-buying public love something retro, don’t they? That’s how the new Mini really got started and the Fiat 500 looks pretty good. Meanwhile, any short-run, road-legal or not Aston Martin, Jaguar or, right now, Porsche sell out before they are announced.
Then there is the Volkswagen Beetle, the new one with the plant pot. Back from the dead in 1998, it has passed away again. Clearly, that reboot didn’t go at all well. That was a retro wrong move, but Beetles remain an interesting used buy. In the ‘part-exchanges to clear’ section of some online classified ads, you can pick up a 2003 1.6 with almost 140k miles and enough MOT to get you into 2019 for £375. If you want more poke, then a 2000 2.0 with 120k miles is £470, with the private seller rather desperate to move it on.
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More poke still? How about a 2.3 V5? A 77k-mile 2004 one with leather is £1995. It looks a lot more purposeful in darker colours and is as quick as a contemporary Golf; sure, not as practical, but blobby cool. The nicer ones are around £2750.
For many, the whole point of the attention-seeking Beetle was the cabriolet and, at just under a grand, you can pick up a 2004 1.4 with 80k miles and a half-decent history. The nicer ones with recently changed cambelts are £1500 and, as we head into winter, they’ll get cheaper.
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In defense of the new Beetle
In defense of the new Beetle (both generations) -
The original Beetle was never a design masterpiece. But the retro ones are very good indeed. Both generations took different aspects of the original Beetle and successfully developed on them in terms of form and geometry. Not practical but very impressive as styling exercises.
Volkswagen Beetle
How the new Beetle lasted so long is a mystery,overpriced, cramped and with dubious build quality why would anyone over the age of 21 want one? the stupidist feature that flower vase on the fascia don;t get me started
"why you need a Volkswagen Beetle"
I don't.