'People's car' evokes passion

NIAGARA FALLS - It is perhaps the most instantly recognized and iconic shape in all of autodom: the Volkswagen Beetle.

Just about everyone has ridden in or had some experience with an old Beetle, says John Spironello, president and founder of the Niagara Volks Folks owners' club.

"The people's car" inspires remarkable passion among its owners today, as evidenced by the more than 300 VW show cars that turn out for the club's annual June Jitterbug event at Fireman's Park in Niagara Falls, and the thousands of visitors who come to view them.

Spironello identifies three main qualities that generate passion: simplicity, unique looks, "and the fact there are so many different ways they can be modified."

He notes that most kit car designs have been based on the Beetle chassis. "You could pull the body off and be left with four wheels and a floor."

People started making fibreglass bodies to go over them.

Beetle suspensions were also well suited to off-road riding, "and that's where the whole dune buggy thing started."

Their mechanical simplicity means that owners of even limited abilities and equipment can work on and maintain their Beetles themselves.

"That's a big appeal right there," Spironello says. "Parts are plentiful, they're cheap to fix and even to customize."

These days, old Beetles aren't something people buy to drive every day, he says. "They're more of a toy" or collectible.

Many collectors want to drive their cars in as original condition as possible, while others spare no time and expense making them into something they were never envisioned to be.

Officially named the Volkswagen Type 1, the Beetle was produced from 1938 to 2003 and ultimately became the longest-running and most produced automobile of a single design.

The Volkswagen New Beetle, introduced in 1998, might look similar from the outside but underneath the skin is a thoroughly modern vehicle, powered by a front-mounted engine driving the front wheels.

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