Core77

The "21st Century Beetle" Debuts

By Rain Noe - April 20, 2011

in Object Culture

There's a scene in the excellent Danish crime series Forbrydelsen in which Sarah Lund, the beleaguered homicide detective, is forced to take her elderly mother's car. It's a '50s-era VW Bug. From a production-design standpoint, the choice of the car is meant to show how far the discredited protagonist has fallen from her department-issued Saab, but I was stunned at how good the VW looked, even driving through Copenhagen where it seems no car is older than five years.

I'm not the only one who's noticed the old model still looks good, of course. On Monday, Volkswagen pulled the wraps off of their updated "21st Century Beetle," and as PSFK's Dave Pinter reports, the designers went back into the car's heritage by parking a 1950s Bug in the studio for inspiration.

The new model reflects this, dialing back the bubble-like cutesiness of the Beetle we've been seeing for the past decade and hewing back to the flatter shape of the '50s version.

The interior has been updated—well, retro-updated—as well:

The 2012 Beetle gets a heritage derived passenger compartment that is more harmonious with the exterior. With the new windshield angled back further, the dashboard doesn't extend far forward like the second generation. This immediately makes the interior look more familiar and less like a spaceship. Wrapping the doors and dash are color matched panels relating to the exterior. This again has a 50s inspired look especially with the silver trim.

The debut event was held simultaneously in Berlin, Shanghai and New York. Read more coverage here.

o

Favorite This
Q
8

Comment

Comments

Shane

13 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

As an owner of a 1959 vw and 1955 vw I can tell you that the vw in the picture above is not a 50's era bug. Instead it looks to date from the mid to late 60's.
!Report as spam
54

13 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Drove that 2nd gen Beetle as a rental for a few days, hated the interior before I even left the parking lot. the visor is so tiny, it's useless for the So. Cal. sun, even worst when you swing it to the side..it only covers like 9 square inches of the side window. It also had no arm rest to speak off, very tiring on a long drive.... Nothing in that car is easy to reach and intuitive to use. It's a cute exterior, but bad ergonomics all around inside. Hope that get changed.
!Report as spam
Elizabeth M. Smith

13 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

I loved my Beetles through the 1950s, despite the deplorable AC (we live in Texas).. And I have loved my 2000 Beetle, despite its woeful mileage.. Such loyalty deserves something better than what VW is dishing up in November and calling a Beetle...
!Report as spam
Ken

13 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Interesting, an economy version of the Porsche 911. The initial impression is one of plagiarism, due to the iconic styling of the 911. But the truth is the son imitates the father and its just a family's design ethos coming through different manufacturers. I think there are some issues with the same design taking two different routes, then trying to combine them again. The refinements in style that the Beetle and the 911 series accomplished are somehow lost in this marriage of the two. But that's what you get for being an inbred.
!Report as spam
manu

13 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

It looks so serious.. where did all the playfulness go?
!Report as spam
Nick

13 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

It's a smooshed beetle with the backend of a PT cruiser. This is really disappointing and lives on the far right of the "cuteness" of the current beetle with no sporty benefit to it's pulled proportions.

They need to steal some Audi designers!
!Report as spam
BFresh

13 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

It looks like a distorted or squashed Porche. especially with that 'TURBO' decal on the side.
!Report as spam
mid-westerner

13 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Meh.

Looks like the old 'new' Beetle had a love child with a PT Cruiser.

Disappointed.
!Report as spam