How we love the

Bug lovers - from left, Alex Ching, Roy Dunlap, Gordon Abbott, Edwin Cacayorin and Tony Fajota - gather around a 1965 convertible. In back, from left, are a '67 sedan, '58 sedan, '58 ragtop and '55 European convertible.

In the beginning, you could buy a Bug for $390

Stories by Malia Rulon
Photos by George F. Lee
Star-Bulletin

It was a cute little car, a slow, bashful buggy with an endearing happy shape that somehow caught the eye of car owners throughout the world.

Called the endangered species of the car world, the Volkswagen "Beetle" (if you're British), "Bug" (If you're American) or "Kafer" (if you're German) has become the most lovable and familiar car ever made.

But back in the 1950s when the Bug first landed at car dealerships in the United States, it was regarded as little more than an oddly shaped curiosity when standing alongside its monstrous gas-guzzling American counterparts.

It was small, it was noisy and it was foreign.

But to economical car buyers in Hawaii, it was practical and instantly loved. The first Bugs that arrived in Hawaii were shipped in one at a time, through pre-ordered arrangements that didn't include the owner's choice of color. Then in 1958, Volkswagen opened its first Hawaii dealership in Waikiki.

That's when Rudy Metzger first arrived in the islands. A factory mechanic from Germany's VW plant, Metzger worked in Switzerland and England before traveling to Hawaii to work at the Waikiki dealership.

Already in love with Volkswagens, Metzger fell in love with the islands and decided to stay. In 1961, he opened his own business, European Car Service, and has been repairing Volkswagens in Hawaii ever since.

"We get more work than we can handle," he said. "There are quite a few left."

Metzger's right. Even though it's been nearly 20 years since the last Bug rolled off the production line, vintage Volkswagens remain in general use in parts of the mainland and all over Hawaii. As Mililani VW collector Gordon Abbott said, the VW spirit is part of Hawaii culture. "They're like the old mom-and-pop car - everyone pretty much drove a Volkswagen one time in their life."

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The original Bug had a bud vase mounted on the dashboard. The new Beetle also has an optional bud vase.

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It is this mix of nostalgia and loyalty that has kept the cars chugging down America's roadways and Hawaii's scenic island roads. Driven by baby boomers, surfers or hippie wannabes, these "revived" Bugs are souped up with bright paint jobs and shiny bumpers. Some sport the flower- power dashboard bud vases, while others carry surfboard racks on their roofs.

Besides Bugs and Beetles, they have been referred to as Wobblies, Air-coolies, Slugs, Cal Lookers, V-dubs, Krauts, Corn-poppers, Slug-bugs, Love Bugs, Punch buggies, Kafers, Hebs and much, much more.

They have starred in movies - "The Love Bug" and "Herbie Rides Again" - and were the car of choice for college car-stuffing contests in the '60s.

Millions have been turned into beach buggies, airplanes, golf-course lawn mowers, trailers, camper vans, limos or other customized specials.

But they're still here - in 1997.

Over the weekend, VW Vintage Club President Mark Austin took a look at the new Bug and deemed it "pretty nice," but says, "Although the new one has all the creature comforts, I'd rather have my old one (a '63 ragtop) just because it's a classic, with older body styling."

The new Beetle might appeal to him, "maybe 20 years from now when it becomes a classic car."

"A lot of the people who grew up in those days say, 'I still love my Bug. I don't care if it doesn't have air-conditioning - it would take me all the way to Makaha to go surfing and back to town with the surf board on the top," said VW repairman Joe Cabrera.

"And it's so simple to fix," he added. "Once they're running OK, I guarantee you'll make it out to Wahiawa or around the island, no problem."

Dependability and serviceability, not to mention charm, convinced millions of Americans that fuel-efficient, small foreign cars were not only a viable alternative to Detroit's land cruisers, but indeed the way of the future.

This is a concept that Hawaii folks caught onto real fast.

"They were popular in Hawaii because they weren't real big American cars," Abbott said. Hawaii people have always preferred Japanese or foreign cars to Detroit's offerings, he said.

Thus, the first true "world car" was born. The Bug appealed to Americans, Europeans, Asians, Africans, Hispanics - and Hawaiians - alike.

It could be produced in such large quantities that development costs were spread widely, making it as inexpensive as possible - $390, to be exact.

The brain child of Ferdinand Porsche, the car was dubbed "the People's car" because Porsche thought everyone should be able to afford their own car.

The story of the Bug's success takes off after that, following a convoluted tale of engineering genius, political intrigue, and irresistible charm. The Bug metamorphosed into the kubelwagen and schwimmwagen before emerging from war-torn Germany as the cute little ladybug on wheels that captured the hearts of millions.

No other foreign-car manufacturer has come close to the consistent record of Volkswagen's sales in America - 4.7 million by 1979. More than 21.3 million have been sold in more than 180 countries to date.

"There's just something about it that I can't (explain)," said Kaneohe Volkswagen collector Barry Bettencourt. "There's just some kind of power that car has over a person."

Bettencourt, who will become the owner of Hawaii's oldest VW when his 1946 bug is shipped here next month from Kansas City, has been a fan ever since he drove his first VW bug - a 1947 split-window.

"That's all we could afford," he said, "but it was cheap to maintain and real reliable."

And that's the reason the car is still around. A dependable island car, the Bug has proved time and time again that it was indeed the "little Bug that could." Sure it was cramped, noisy, under-powered and lacking in air-conditioning - but it was the "People's car." And it has faithfully transported millions of people millions of miles each year - even in the high-tech world of today.

Volkswagen
The new Beetle has the bulbous shape of the old Bug, but mechanically it's a different machine.

And now the new Beetle inherits the legacy

The cute little bug that could has grown up - to a sleek pearlescent car for active but alternative drivers.

The futuristic but familiar-looking coupe is the first Bug to roll off the Volkswagen production line in nearly two decades. Called the "new Beetle," the car debuted in Hawaii at the weekend's First Hawaiian Bank Auto Show to an audience of 175,000.

Don Ocvirk, an assistant vice president for the bank, was among the first to see the car and raved, "It's so cute. You just want to put a hat on it, pick it up and carry it with you."

"There are cars that you can just tell will be great sellers, and this will be one of them," said Gary Scheuring, sales manager for Cutter Ala Moana Volkswagen.

"Everybody at the show was staring at it. We were driving people from the show to our showroom," said George Nako, also a sales manager for Cutter. "We've been taking deposits and putting people on a waiting list."

At Mike McKenna's Windward Volkswagen, general manager Howard Finley said 80 percent of the calls to the dealership over the weekend involved questions about the new Beetle. He expects the first of the cars to arrive in the showroom in March.

With anti-lock brakes, dual front and side airbags, syncro four wheel drive and air-conditioning, the new Beetle seems to have everything going for it - including a heritage of legendary proportions.

But the car's only similarity to its internationally loved predecessor is its odd bulbous shape and a few nostalgic touches - the big round speedometer and gauge pad, passenger grab handle and built-in running boards.

The vehicle bears no mechanical resemblance to the old air-cooled Bug. Based on the next-generation Golf, the car runs on a front engine instead of a rear one. And at 13.3 feet long, 5 feet high and 5.7 feet wide, the car is larger and more spacious than the original. In essence, it evokes memories of the old bug, while offering the technical advantages of a modern car.

The four-seat coupe comes in eight futuristic colors: cyber green, silver, white, pearly yellow, red, black and two shades of blue. It also features some funky touches - like a dashboard bud vase.

Called a "nod to the heritage of the car," the bud vase was added as an option for new Beetle buyers. Another popular feature, the Porsche system glass sunroof that disappears into the tail of the vehicle, under the large rear window, will have a delayed introduction.

But given the expected starting price, many buyers may opt to pass on the nifty extras. Volkswagen has set the base price of the coupe at $15,200.

"It's not an entry-level car," said West Coast Volkswagen representative John McCormick, who described the new Beetle's target buyers as "active" and "highly educated" people shopping for a second car.

"They want to be different and they want to feel different," he said. "They want something ... alternative."

The new Beetle, which was designed in California, will be assembled in Puebla, Mexico. Volkswagen is expecting to produce 120,000 to 150,000 in 1998, with 60,000 to 100,000 available to buyers in the United States.

The number of cars Hawaii will get has not yet been announced.

"I like it, it has the same old shape," said VW collector and enthusiast Gordon Abbott, who predicted that the car would "sell out like crazy" the first year. "It's going to create a whole new wave," he said.