Volkswagen Beetle – Nostalgic Drive
My first experience with the Volkswagen beetle began in 1971 – It was a 1960 model, already 11 years old when I bought it, officially a second hand car, but it was more like fourth or fifth hand. Registered as NA 4903, it was officially white, but the paint was faded, and the car had obviously seen better days – the paint was faded to become almost nothing more than a dull powder coating, and in addition to a badly repaired dented bumper and many ‘battle scars’, there were also some parts that were probably held together by rust.
The electric system was a 6-volt system, and the old 1200 cc engine could hit a maximum of 65 miles per hour, downhill. To a young man just starting out in life as a travelling heavy equipment salesman, it was a ‘tool-of-the-trade’ so to speak, being my main mode of transport, travelling the length and breadth of the Peninsula, selling my earth-movers. Costing only RM1,700, it served me well for a year, never complaining, and always reliable, although at night, it was quite difficult to drive as the headlights were quite dim. I loved it though; it was almost human, and after watching ‘Herbie’ the movie, I called my beetle Herbie as well. One day, it spluttered and faltered near Dungun, four hundred kilometres from home, and in desperation, I talked to Herbie, saying, “Please don’t do this, Herbie, we need to get home, and immediately it stopped. Then, two years later, I bought another used car, a Renault 10, and on the way back to office after signing the order for the car, Herbie was so upset that he stopped dead on the Federal Highway near EPF. That was clearly a protest. When I got my ‘new’ car, I sold Herbie to a friend, and that was it.
Today, I have just returned the new Beetle to Volkswagen after a weekend of nostalgia, and I am in love with it, again.
The new Beetle is a revival of the original beetle, and retains the beetle shape that started more than 60 years ago – impractical as it is in today’s context of an automobile, it still turns heads wherever it goes. With the latest 1.4 litre TSi engine and 7-speed DSG transmission, the Beetle is built on the Golf platform – it feels very much like a Golf in its performance – which means it is fun to drive. By the way, the old joke about the guy opening the bonnet and finding the engine ‘missing’ does not apply anymore as the new Beetle is a front engine, front wheel drive car now, and not a rear engine rear wheel drive anymore.
With 160 horsepower, it goes very much faster than my 50 horsepower beetle of the 60’s – it brakes, stops, and handles like the Golf TSi, despite the fact that the rear suspension is a torsion beam arrangement. This is partly due to the fact that because of the unique body construction, most of the vehicle mass is concentrated around the centre of the car; if you could remove the fenders, you would be left with something that looks like a buggy – body in the centre, and the wheels at the four corners, exposed. Needless to say, I am quite happy with the new Beetle.
Tipping the scales at 1,373 kilograms, it will accelerate from zero to 100 kph in 8.3 seconds, and hit a top speed of 207 kph. It is also very economical, returning a rated fuel consumption of 7.7 litres per 100 kilometres in Urban cycle, 5.3 litre/100km in extra-urban cycle, and 6.2 lit/100 km in combined cycle tests. With very spirited driving, and an hour’s stint of idling with the air-conditioner on, my test car returned an average consumption of 9.7 litres/100 km, which is actually quite remarkable. I tried the ‘Think Blue’ method of driving whilst toodling around Petaling Jaya in the busy Friday after work traffic, and the average consumption was surprisingly good at 7.2 litres/100 km. The method advocates gentle throttle, and lifting off on downhill slopes to allow the engine to go into ‘overrun’ mode, at which point the engine management system cuts off all fuel to the engine, thus resulting in ‘zero’ fuel being consumed.
We do have a Mk VI Golf TSi in the family, and driving both cars one immediately after the other, I find the Beetle just as good, in terms of road behaviour. It would be hard to make a choice between the two; I would buy the Beetle for its cute shape, and for the nostalgia attached to it. I would take the Golf TSi for the practicality of four doors, and for the better illumination at night. The Beetle test car had halogens, considered good in the eighties when all it had as competition were basic filament type light bulbs, but against today’s xenons, the halogens are out-classed.
The price of the Beetle, at RM180k, seems rather high, and the ‘premium’ I would have to pay, a good RM23k above the Golf, is for the unique Beetle shell, and perhaps some of it goes to pay for the leather seats that come with the Beetle, but not with the Golf. Assuming the leather costs around RM3k, then the net premium over the Golf would be RM20k then. It seems to be a lot of money, but in terms of percentage, it is around 13 percent. If the Beetle sales is anything to go by, it appears that there are many who are willing to pay the premium. Would I? Yes, if the size of my pocket book fits.
