Facelifted Beetle is no ugly bug
If ever a car had heritage, it’s the Beetle. Volkswagen’s car for the masses has its origins in the 1930s and today’s car bears more than a slight resemblance to it.
The Beetle was revived in 1997 in a clever move by the Germans. It was an iconic name but VW deserves a lot of credit for realising that a modern version would be a success.
In fact New Beetle was four years ahead of another famous reincarnation, MINI, which was brought bang up to date by BMW. But to be honest New Beetle was outshone by New MINI.
In fact, it seemed like Beetle had been quietly forgotten about. It wasn’t until 2011 that another Beetle (the new New Beetle, perhaps?) was launched and it was a big improvement in lots of areas.
It was lower, longer, with better styling and a much bigger boot. Now Beetle really could take on MINI and a host of other premium models like Vauxhall Adam and Audi A1.
The current model is a very attractive car. A little on the big side for a three-door hatch and with surprisingly little space in the back, it nonetheless has much to admire.
Build quality, a very wellappointed cabin and good lean looks, it looks like the older Beetle has had a quality makeover and spent some time in the gym. The spoiler on the boot is sublime. This could be an Audi TT or even a Porsche rather than a humble VW
But the best feature is undoubtedly the engine. The 1.4 litre unit is widely acclaimed as the best engine in the world, offering much more power and economy than you could reasonably expect from such a compact unit.
It is smooth and quick to pick up speed, yet it never feels or sounds stressed. The ride and handling is much better than the previous incarnation, too.
Beetle isn’t a cheap option. The range starts at £15,835 and the test model comes at £22,085. There are many cheaper alternatives even in the VW range but the Beetle does stand out as something a little special.
Tested is the Sport version which comes pretty well equipped with a highly stylish cabin with piano black detailing. You get power steering, central locking, stability control, rather striking alloy wheels, climate control, powered mirrors and windows, cruise control, parking sensor and, for the techietypes, MP3 connectivity and Bluetooth.
You can pay a little more for a sunroof (£980), metallic paint (£535), leather seats (£2,110) and satellite navigation (£310).
The boot, always a tight space in the earlier Beetle, is now a comparatively whopping 310 litres, up from 209 litres.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen is ready to launch a new Jetta with first deliveries expected in December. Costing from £18,815, the car is claimed to be more efficient than the current Jetta.
Jetta – which made its debut at the New York Auto Show in April – features revised styling front and rear, enhanced features and trims and greater efficiency. The Jetta’s styling has been updated to make it sleeker than ever before, with an overall improvement in aerodynamics. of 10 per cent.
All new Jetta models will feature BlueMotion Technology modifications, including stop/start and battery energy recuperation