18 April 2011 - 13:00
Shanghai motor show 2011: new VW Beetle
This is the new Volkswagen Beetle, unveiled today at the Shanghai motor show. Yes, new.
The first thing you'll notice is the slightly hotch-potch styling. The third generation of the little bug gets a new face, blending VW's ubiquitous corporate front with the unmistakable grinning eyes of the Beetle on top. Rear three-quarters takes us back to the first-gen model, making it more car-like than its predecessor. And sportier too, apparently.
See more pictures of the new Beetle
Volkswagen says the exterior was designed by Marc Lichte, who also did the Scirocco, while underneath sits a Golf: new new Beetle pinches the Golf's platform and engines, right up to a 2.0-litre turbo with 149kW, top speed 225km/h. This frenetic top end in a car never initially designed to do such speed necessitates a self-raising rear spoiler, dontcha' know.
Once you've swallowed the looks, however, it's all top-notch VW inside. The dash combines every-VW-you've-seen together with an upwards-opening glove-box (remember that?) and a Panasonic/Fender hi-fi system. You can even option a triumvirate of gauges previously unheard of for a Beetle: oil temp, boost and stopwatch. Fancy that. Sadly, though, the flower vase on the desk has gone missing in action...
No word on release date or pricing for Australia (of course we'll bring it to you when we know), but it'll hit UK shores in January 2012. Figure it lobbing in Oz late next year.
Your thoughts?
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This new new beetle looks like the new beetle that the old new beetle always should have been. Pretty stylin', that's for sure. A proper ode to an amazing car.
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This new new beetle looks like the new beetle that the old new beetle always should have been. Pretty stylin', that's for sure. A proper ode to an amazing car.
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This new new beetle looks like the new beetle that the old new beetle always should have been. Pretty stylin', that's for sure. A proper ode to an amazing car.
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Brilliant apart from one small thing: The engine should be in the back.
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Brad87 commented on this article
at 11:58 pm on 18 April 2011
looks quite good and i beleive it looks more like the original than the previous model. With the option of the 2ltr turbo could this be a hint of an upcomming carrera retro model?
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