My parents bought our first VW Bug in 1954 ( for about $1,900) and bought a second one in the late sixties or early seventies. I learned to drive in that 1954 model in 1961. In 1957 all five of us climbed into that little bug and dad drove us 3,000 to visit family on the east coast. It was up to my brother and I to make sure the top mounted luggage rack was packed and secure. I remember the first night on the road we stayed in a motel for only $6 for the whole family. Mom and Dad took the bed and we three kids slept in sleeping bags on the floor. THOSE WERE THE DAYS......

Better title: “Why did Volkswagen Squash the Bug?” Missed opportunity. Damn.

I've had 3 Beetles, sold 2, and still have the last one in my garage and it makes me smile every time I see it. My wife keeps asking if I'm ever going to get rid of it......sorry dear, your going before the beetle goes.............lol

My first car was a ‘74 beetle. The gas heater never worked. It was super cold to drive in winters where it dipped to below -25 Celsius. The windshield was constantly fogged up. It had huge amounts of traction in the snow, though. And it was fun to drive in the summer. I can still smell the hot vinyl seats. :)

The new beetle wasn't anything like the old beetle. The old beetle was simple, easy to work on and had a rear engine. That, and unlike the new beetle, the old beetle was rugged. you could modify the old beetle and take it off road. you couldn't do any of that with the new beetle except drive it on the road.

The Beetle is the most customised, most re-built, most reconditioned, most hacked and channeled, most converted, most kit-carred & most crazily decorated car in the history of automobiles. No car will ever touch the Beetle.

Owned a 1961 while in college and then a 1970 Super Beatle which we drove all over the US. Great cars. Very practical.

They may have killed it in production, but VW is alive and well around the globe. I'm on my fourth VW Beetle a 1967, and I love it!!

Someone at CNBC really loves the term "Rise and Fall"

Cmon, Volks, the E-Beetle is the obvious replacement, right?

When I graduated high school during this time, gas was 30 cents a gallon. People didn’t buy them for the milage. They were viewed as fun, different and made a statement about their owners.

I had a '66', then a '75', both super easy to work on, and brilliant in the snow!

It stopped being a car for the people and became an impractical expensive fashion excessory

When I was in Mexico in the late 98's they were still making the original beetle. It was so cute to see brand new ones on the road.

I'm fixing up my 1967 beetle right now. Hasn't been started in probably thirty years. I'm just finishing the front brakes, then I go to the rear wheels. I may end up driving it across country.

I have an '01 that I've put almost 300,000 miles on and still happily driving it.

The original Beetle is a classic that will never die.

what "Fall" are you talking about? This is a legendary car that had a 60+ year lifecycle!! that is tremendous success.....

I had a friend in high school back in the early '60s, whose family had a VW bug. He would put a quarter in the gas tank, and we would go all night (at least, all night to US), which included a trip to the A&W or Krystals. He steered with his left hand and ate with his right hand. I sat, and ate with MY right hand. He pressed the clutch, I moved the gear shift with my left hand. We were a well oiled machine ...

The safety and emission requirements spelled the end of the Beetles. Their final air cooled models were chocked with emission garbage, had lousy fuel injection ugly bumpers etc . Their time was done.

I think the term ‘don’t fix what isn’t broken’ comes to mind. I miss the original beetle. My love for it came from the ‘Herbie’ movies. ❤️

It’s not dead, just taking a power nap. It will be back, who are we kidding?

The old Beatle was a success because it was simple with air cooled engine.

So sad! I have the 2000 New Beetle and it was my childhood dream to own one, I wanted to upgrade to a newer 2014+ Beetle but they stopped production of new beetles in Australia in 2014 and could only purchase from overseas. I will be holding on to my 20 year old Beetle until it dies! Because I LOVE the Beetle and dearly hope they make more 😭😭

I had a beetle in college and it was wonderful. It just ran forever.

Almost everyone has a beetle story,and I swear, every story ends with" I really miss that car, wish I still had it". It was a simple, fun car with personality that meant something different and special to each person. I have a 59 ragtop that is the car I take out when I just want to cruise and forget about all the BS going on in the world, It's the best therapy for stress I've ever had. My favorite car hands down over all the modern crap.

My father had one in the 60's and it was a blast to drive.

Lives forever, still driving a 1963

The old beetle was for the people, the new beetle was for females with money. VW made it a niche car, that's why it died.

The second gen Beetle was just a VW Golf with a round body. Nothing like the original beetle.

I loved that car. Cannot remember the year. I was expecting my first son. I was bigger than the car. I am now 81, driving a leased RAV4. Would love to have a beetle again.

Does anyone remember the Beetle clubs? Rolls Royce grills on the front? There used to be a group that met on my street back in the 1970's (yes, people, I'm that old). But it was so cool

I owned 3 Beetles - 1966, 1969, and 1971 Super Beetle. Had a lot of good memories in them.

I'll never forget my first car: a yellow 1975 VW Beetle.

I had a 1967 Beetle for part of my high school and entire college years. Mechanically, it was a very forgiving vehicle, as it would keep running, albeit not all that well, with a minimum of maintenance. It was never known to "up and quit" on drivers, but instead, would decline in performance as the mechanical issues with the engine would escalate. The US gasoline shortage of 1973/74 ; with its accompanying soaring prices for fuel, made that Beetle nearly a godsend for school and work transportation during that time.

I’ve had 30 of them. Wish I still had one from the 60s today

My first brand new car was a blue '65 beetle. After 65,000 miles, I sold it to buy a new automatic Toyota Corona. I was miserable with the Toyota until my fiance bought her first car, a used 1958 beetle. I gave her the Toyota, and drove her beetle. Loved it! Since then I've restored several, and built dune buggies as well. A great, well-designed platform.

when I was a kid, if anyone asked me to draw a car, I would draw the outline of the beetle.. Its an easy car to draw on paper and you can never go wrong...such good memories!

No no not the Beetle!!!! The most iconic car that I have ever know.

A Beetle was my first car in 1969. I loved my Beetle so much !

I've owned three beetles (63, 69, 73) and one Fastback and one Squareback. Great cars and easy to work on. Loved them all. Wish I had kept at least one.

I think competition from it's own stablemates, the Golf and Polo, were also drawing sales. They attracted more to everyone, and the Beetle is more of a niche car. Basically, the Golf is what the Beetle used to be, the people's car.

Just in Brazil, we have more than 3,500,000 Beetles, and we love them! We call it Fusca.

For me, there's only one Volkswagen Beetle: the one we knew in Mexico as "vocho". It became so popular in our country, that it lasted in production and sell until 2003, like the documentary said. In fact, mexican people loves so much these cheap & easy-fix cars, that it was immediatly replaced by Nissan Tsuru, whose sales were stopped in 2004 globally, but continued to be sold in Mexico until 2015, in its original 2004's design, when new security auto norms were applied in the country, and decided it was time to let the car go.

Bizarre VW are abandoning the Beetle now, It would be ideal as an electric car.

It died when they started adding all the bs to it...keep it simple

Thanks for this recap. Have had a series of Beetles since the early 60's, then after marriage and the family grew added a bus, then the camper. Loved every one of them.

Just a wonderful video on the Volkswagen beetle I had one in 1968 a stick shift they were fantastic cause the only thing you needed was some fan belts to keep it the car in case they broke they were easy to put on about 5 minutes and you were on the road again I give this video five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🇩🇪💯👍

I owned a much loved '67 beetle back in the day. I also drove VW buses - a '68, a '69 and finally a '72. The beetle was great, but sure wish I still had my '68 bus!

I had a 1959 Beetle in NYC and couldn't Wait till it snow, because I loved that engine. in the rear!

My 1st car was a 63 beetle w/ a sunroof. Got so good at working on that little car

It wasn’t a Beetle, a Beetle should be rear drive and with soul. The new one was a rebodied golf.

The beetle was a lawn tractor to work on. Today's cars are disposable junk, they're not made to last

They should bring it back as a hybrid or fully electric car.

The video fails to mention the one model that is the spiritual successor to the Beetle. That is the Volkswagen Up! It is a small and affordable car for the masses and has a minimalistic design. Yes, it isn't air-cooled or has the engine in the back, but that wouldn't work in today's world. The car is a hit and selling by the millions in Europe and Latin America.

I had one in 1970, very good in the snow , easy to repair. To bad the floor rotted out. Bought another,put high back seats, different exhaust. Great memories..

Also, this must be the first Beetle retrospective in history that never mentions Herbie once! :D

Nothing ever broke on the 🐞 Beetle. Yes, it started in cold weather, it got through the snow and the heater was 🔥 hot. If you didn't need a fancy outfit for work the lack of AC wasn't a big deal. The seats were comfortable and had chair-like seating making long drives a breeze. Steering was light and sporty. Those Beetles 🏁 racing were no joke. The new Beetle should have been rear engine and rear drive. Could have kept car alive and stressed reliability and value more.

I own a 2016 beetle dune in black and gold interior on the dash. It’s a really nice car.

I was just telling my dad that I haven’t seen any beetles cars in a while.

It will make a comeback as an electric car! I look forward to buying a electric version of "the bus"

Those cars sold like crazy here in Mexico and you still see few here and there .

One of my favorite cars that I owned was a beetle automatic. If you've never seen one it's a standard transmission beetle but with an electric clutch. It had a microswitch in the shifter so the weight of your had would engage the clutch allowing you to shift. It was still a three speed and you had to shift through the gears only no floor clutch.

My beetle I bought in 1947 still runs smoothly

I owned a Brazilian-made Beetle, there called "Fusca"... It was a great car, I miss it a lot

Great memories of a great fun car, just wish I kept even one of my old Beetles.

Original Beetle was the stuff of stories at summer camp by our counselors all from U.K. They said they drive years in a dead battery. They told us of the bump-start or “Starting it like the Flintstones car (tolling with legs). They said they trick was to park on an incline. Could never do that with a modern car. However, jump boxes are the six of cell phones so one can jump start themselves now with minimal space in trunk.

My family had 16 VW’s. I still have one. But the beetle was iconic. Reliable, cute and good mpg. As the oil crisis subsided, so did the need for cars that achieved better gas mileage. That non air cooled cars became more plentiful. But, I think, many have a soft spot in their hearts for this lovable car.

The old type 1 car came to a dead end due to emissions and safety concerns, the air cooled engine couldn't be tweeked enough to pass epa mandates, look even motorcycles are not aircooled anymore (nor are Porches), safety, you have ten gallons of gasoline right in front of the driver and little else. It did have great rollover safety though. It was inexpensive, fuel efficient, and easy and relatively cheap to repair, it was also fun to drive. The revival comes up against multiple problems, it is much more complicated mechanically and electronically, and it is much more expensive to build therefore it sells at a much higher price. While it resembles the original stylistically, it lacks the 'feel' of the original and it comes at a different time in history, many of us who loved the original have aged out of the market, some of our children might remember but it is totally strange to our grandchildren. The German economy is one of the world's powerplants and the resulting pricing structure means that Germany mostly concentrates on high priced luxury cars and manufactures lower priced vehicles in other countries with lower wage costs, this results in lower quality. Another factor is the rise to maturity of the Japanese auto industry and the Japanese system of quality management, even the German luxury cars can't match the quality and durability of some Asian brands. What I don't understand is VW's abandonment of the van market, years ago I had mocked up in my head a marriage of the old minibus with the engine of a front drive VW, I'll bet that Lee Iococa had the same dreams, I believe his K cars had VW engines at one point. I still drive a VW, a Tourag, one of the best cars I've owned (thus far), it gets about the same mpg as my beetle with six times the HP, 2.5 times the weight, four doors, A/C, auto trans and AWD.

A flower holder?....I would have put my weed in that thing

From about the age of 10, in the '60s, I wished I could have a Beetle. In 1971, when I got my license, my family got a new Beetle and I drove it till it was unfortunately wrecked in a rollover crash in 1978. As much as I liked this car, would never get another one - a cramped back seat that was hard to get in and out of, very little room to carry any cargo, the battery located under the back seat, etc. All this made me decide I would always own a hatchback from then on, and I have.

I'm so glad I snatched one up before production ended. I had one years ago and now that we're down to one kid in the house, I get to reclaim some of my cherished car memories. I never owned an original, but I've had a '98 (Dot) and now a '18 (Gemma). When they release them the next time around, I will probably get one of those, too.I really enjoyed this video. There were some things I had never heard before.

How can you cover this without a shot of Herbie? The most iconic Beetle ever!

You can still buy the beetle, it's just rebadged to Porsche 911

For reigning for so many decades, the word fall doesn't go with this iconic car.

German originally intended it to be affordable to everyone, but VW have lost track of this intention. The new Beetle is too fancy and too expensive, that's what killed it.

Too late, I already saw it on Business Insider

Please bring back VW Beetle: the people's car. The Beetle is an example of a good thing coming out of a bad thing.

I’ve been in love with the original beetle since the first time I saw one as a small kid. My dream is to one day be able to drive one ❤️

I have a 5 cylinder 2013 and we are still in ❤️

The real beetle died in 2003 in Mexico not that pretend one that came after. Also the second generation Volkswagen van ended production in Brazil in 2013

Love this elegant ❤Beetle❤ car hope it makes a grand comeback. People needs their car.

Beetle model is already a famous icon of Volkswagen to the people all over the world. Volkswagen car manufacturers must not stop making them but carry on making it.

I am happy I bought one of the last ones made in Mexico with the air cooled engine...I have been offered $17,000 for it.. All new cars are a ripoff they are way to expensive..

We’ve had three Beetles and loved them. If they come back, we’ll get another!

I love the fact that Volkswagen has created an electrification kit for the Classic Beetle and Bus.

It was discontinued when I could finally afford it. :( I hope they bring it back!

beloved bug! loved all mine. green, red, candy apple red, white, pumpkin orange and champagne silver 1 of last 5,000 produced. all were great, loved and used.

The expected starting price of the new bus it around 72k. I don’t see them taking off at that price point

The Bus should be a Big Hit and as for the Beetle, it WILL return one day. My hope is for the Scirocco to return to the US.

Loved the video clip of the Fords. I once bought a 1934 model A for $10. I replaced the journal bearings, did a valve job and patched the radiator in my mom's driveway one weekend in 1950 or so and then sold the car to get enough money for school.

Had 5 Beetles in my life...great cars...easy repairs...lots of parts if needed. Had a 60,62,64,67and a 70 Super...

The new beetle is no great loss .. the old one was.

I liked the original economic Rabbit, too.

i bet there will be an new electric Beatle within the next 50 years

The biggest problem with the old and most beloved Beetle is safety. I'd love to see a car with similar goals as the original Beetle, but how can you keep it cheap and safe at the same time?

Lots of Beetles were made electric. Easily converted. It will live on for years to come.

suv-crazy actually kills the majority of the iconic cars

A major problem for the Beetle, the new competition from Japan. Start with fuel economy. Beetles achieved about 27-29 mpg city and 30-33 highway. My Datsun B110 achieved 33 local and best was 42 MPG highway. Next item: Heater was far better than the Beetle, and the engine was a lot quieter and had more power. The Japanese Yen vs. Deutche Mark was very favorable and was enabled the Datsun/Nissan (as it called then) to undercut the VW's price. Sadly the Datsun/Nissan "evaporated" after a few salty winters especially when the left front fender literally fell off.

In many markets it seems to be known simply as the type or type one but in Scandinavia it is known as the bubble.