Beetles forever: Collectors still in love with VW’s Bug
Most of us don’t find insects endearing, but Volkswagen’s Bug can elicit smiles. Unofficially nicknamed both Beetle and Bug, the original Volkswagen Type 1 is the car that won the hearts of U.S. motorists with its quirky personality, unique appearance and a brilliant ad campaign.
Although beloved today, the car that made Volkswagen a major automaker was born ignominiously as a pet project of Adolf Hitler, who wanted an inexpensive vehicle for average Germans.
But the car never got off the ground in Hitler’s time.
Ferdinand Porsche and his team completed their design by 1938, but wartime production took precedence, and the Beetle was not mass produced until the end of the 1940s.
Porsche has traditionally been credited as the Beetle’s creator, but in 1953 his standing was challenged by Bela Barenyi, a Hungarian engineer who contended in court that he had designed a very similar machine for Mercedes-Benz before Porsche made his first Beetle. Thus the Bug was born with two squabbling fathers.
Today, it may be hard to imagine how one can fall in love with a car whose first iteration had a mere 25 horsepower and took almost forever to reach its top speed of 62 mph. But a growing number of classic car collectors and VW enthusiasts are enamored of Beetle models from 1949 through 1965 that got by with 40 horsepower or less and a top speed of 60-72 mph.
Matthew Smith, a doctorate candidate at the University of Manchester in England, is basing his thesis on the special place the little car holds in the lives of many and how this relationship can foster positive
mental health. Smith practices what he preaches: He owns numerous Beetles, the oldest a 1954 model.
The fan base is big, and the barriers to entry to this corner of the collector market are relatively low — think $20,000-$30,000 for a nice specimen, and substantially lower for a project car.
Many people name their cars, but Beetle owners seem more inclined than most. Taking cues from Herbie, the Love Bug? In posts on Facebook Beetle groups, women’s names are common.
Doug and Nancy Barber, who live in Ohio, bought their 1964 Beetle from the second owner’s grandson. The car, now known as Bella, was driven 85,150 meticulously documented miles before being taken off the road for the most part in 1983 and retired to a life of pampering. Every autumn, Bella was treated to an extensive maintenance and beautification procedure until the owner died in 2018. Those 35 years added only 2,630 miles to the odometer.
The car now lives in a climate-controlled garage and gets a maintenance and appearance refresh every autumn. Since the Barbers bought the car, they have driven it about 3,000 miles a year: 65 mph max in the
right lane.
“When we get in Bella, it’s 1964 all over again,” said Doug Barber, a retired teacher and an automotive historian who has owned six Volkswagens. That connection may be due to his mother having chauffeured him around in a ’60s Beetle when he was young. It is no coincidence that Mom’s Beetle wore the same “sea blue” paint as Bella.
“It sounds like I remember it. It smells like I remember it,” Barber said.
Sherry Hendershot of Spencerport, New York, has been driving Beetles for 40 years. One of her current cars is a practical late model, the other a 36-horsepower 1960 model. She named it Flo.
“The older Beetles are more utilitarian,” Hendershot said. “I love the old-style look, with a metal dashboard and not many bells and whistles.”
Hendershot fell in love with the little cars at an early age. Her science teacher, Mr. Warren, gave her a ride home in his Beetle when she was a 15-year-old high school student. “I’ve been in love with them ever since,” she said.
As if to underscore her devotion, Hendershot recently bought yet another Beetle, a largely original ’59.