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Long live the Beetle! Iconic ‘people’s car’ thrives in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — The Beetle, the past’s gift to the present, has ceased production, according to media accounts, and the news is giving heartache to millions who grew up with this “people’s car,” including those who have it in their must-have bucket list.

But there’s a place where the Beetle still thrives, according to an Associated Press report: Cuautepec on the outskirts of Mexico City where people “still rely on the original no-frills version, praising it for its affordability, reparability and, most of all, its dexterity at handling the district’s steep streets.”

“High above the capital, where the notorious smog turns the surrounding hills into hazy silhouettes, the old-model compacts are popularly used as informal taxis for a place that lacks public transportation,” said the report.

The sputtering, bulbous, back-engine cars popularly known as “vochos” are ever-present in Cuautepec, an obsession for some after production of the Type 1’s stopped in 2003 and the New Beetle failed to impress most locals, it added.

“The new ones don’t get uphill, and the old ones can climb any incline without problem,” AP quoted taxi driver Adrián Martínez as saying.

An exception is businessman David Álvarez, a resident of neighboring Mexico State who, AP said, drives a 2008 New Beetle with a roll-down top.

Though he has owned older Beetles and admits his newer version isn’t as ideal for hilly terrain, he likes the attention it draws.

“It’s an attractive car with a lot of personality,” Álvarez said. “It turns a lot of heads in the streets.”

For Mexico, the halt to Beetle production marks an end of an era. The VW factory in Puebla, southeast of the capital, had long been the only plant in the world still manufacturing classic Beetles and more recently became the only one left making modern ones.

Staff Report

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