Beetle-fever in full force. Beetle lovers celebrate the cult car together at the largest Volkswagen club event in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo. Mirja Vogel
August 2025
In today’s world of autonomous cars, keyless ignitions and charging ports, it’s hard to imagine just how big the tiny, two-door Volkswagen Beetle once was.
But in Mexico, where the last Beetle rolled off the production line at Volkswagen’s flagship factory in Puebla in 2003, the plucky car lives on. Reinvented and reinvigorated by its cultural legacy, Mexico is one of the few remaining places where a taste of Beetle-fever still exists.
The car’s curvy, colorful exterior and air-cooled, rear engine
propelled it to a level of fame and cult status which no petrol car will achieve
again. While fond stories of the lovable vehicle roam in our memories, what
was once the world’s best-selling car has all but disappeared from American
roads, consigned to automotive museums and collector’s forecourts.
Patrolling the sprawling streets of Mexico City, traversing hair-raising mountain
roads in Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte, and operating as a converted food truck serving
Mexican delicacies, the Vocho, as the Beetle is known in Mexico,
never left the stage.
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Gordon Cole-Schmidt, CNN Sun, August 25, 2024 |