WHEN the new Beetle first made its appearance five years ago, everyone went bananas.
Sold in their hundreds of thousands in the forties, fifties, sixties and seventies, the Beetle was an icon. Two decades later, VW saw fit to go down the retro road and bring back the Bug.
The water-cooled, front engined, front drive new Beetle shared almost nothing but its shape with the old air-cooled, rear engined, rear drive model. But who cared?
Dealers were inundated with orders and you couldn't help but smile when you first saw one.
Under the skin, the Golf-based hatchback wasn't all that special. Performance wasn't part of its personality and as the first buzz of nostalgia wore off, some folks started to make noises for a convertible version.
Eventually, their shouts were heard in Wolfsburg, and in April a rag-top version made its debut. As it did with the hardtop, VW has done a fantastic job capturing the essence of the original Beetle convertible with the new one. A tasteful chrome strip runs along the belt-line and the rounded soft top preserves the arched roofline of the coupe.
Although built in Mexico, the new car just about retains its links with the Osnabruck-built cars turned out by Wilhelm Karmann in the late 40s. The remaining link is the pram-like hood which is assembled by Karmann-Ghia and shipped out to Mexico to be mated to the otherwise completed car. Then it's shipped back again.
Unfortunately, the weather I experienced during my week with the new Cabriolet was nothing like the heat of Mexico, more like the monsoons of the Indian sub-continent.
Topless I did not go, but the rain did allow me to thoroughly check out the hood's qualities as a surrogate roof. It passed with flying colours. Even at speed the roof remains taut with no billowing, and noise levels are hardly any different to the tin top.
Unlike the hand-cranked roof of the original, the 21st century model has an electro-hydraulic roof which, at the push of a button, takes 13 seconds to open or close. Unlike many of its rivals it doesn't stow away out of sight - a feature VW say harks back to the 1949 original.
Even though it's on show, it tucks itself low enough not to impair rear visibility. A tonneau cover is available if you want to spend time putting it on.
On the downside the rear seats are slightly smaller and have less legroom than the hatchback, and the front seats are offset slightly to the centre, just enough to make me feel slightly at odds with the driving position.
Two models are available - a lead-in 1.6-litre and a two-litre which was the test model.
Developing 115PS it has a top speed of 115mph. Acceleration from 0-62mph takes 11.7 seconds, which is adequate but underlines the fact the Beetle is more about lifestyle than performance. The engine is fairly flexible with peak power of 127lb/ft peaking at 3200rpm, but to make decent progress full use has to be made of the five-speed gearbox.
Aware that open topped cars are a security risk, VW has put a lockable storage box between the front seats, large enough to house an optional CD autochanger
- Alistair Coull
THE New Beetle was cute enough, but as a rag-top it's even more enchanting.
Unfortunately, the soft top brought with it a week-long deluge which meant opportunities for open air motoring were rare.
Actually they were non-existent - unless you count raising the roof under the canopy of a motorway service station, or opening and closing the electrically-operated hood in the garage at home, to the strains of 'Bring Me Sunshine ... '
It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but at least I was able to appreciate that, had the sun shone on my parade, it would have been a relatively easy and speedy matter to execute 'lift-off'.
Equally, caught in an unexpected shower, the reverse would have been just as swift and effortless.
Like most convertibles, the VW drophead looks quite a lot different from its hard-top equivalent. In open-top form the profile is even more attractive, with the strong canvas roof electrically concertinaed into a tidy tonneau cover which, at a glance, looks like an air dam or fin and actually acts as an aesthetic aid.
The big bonus is that as an open-topper, rear vision is not hindered and reversing is, therefore, a relatively easy affair. However, it's not the case when the roof is in place as there are some nasty blind spots you need to be aware of.
The nattily stored hood doesn't help boot space which is extremely limited, and it will not accommodate much more than a smallish overnight bag and a few bits and bobs.
Performance-wise, the two-litre sounds a lively proposition, but it's not going to blow you away. With a 0-62mph in 11.7 seconds it isn't exactly the speediest in its class, but it can motor around quite energetically.
The open top VW, with its extra structural rigidity, is heftier than most of its rivals. But the bonus is that you feel a lot better protected - though the extra weight takes its toll on the power unit.
Nevertheless, the convertible is still a lovely car to drive. The steering is nice and light and responsive and the Beetle sticks to the road like glue. It does tend to roll a little in corners, but nothing too dramatic and the car's suspension was surprisingly kind. It was super de luxe compared to a Moroccan trek in an ageing 1300 VW some twenty or more years ago!
One or two colleagues thought the seating a little too Germanic and unforgiving, but I found it perfectly acceptable.
Inside the hooded Beetle, even at speed, the cabin appeared reasonably cocooned and, amazingly, there wasn't too much intrusion from wind or road noise.
A few quibbles included restricted headroom in the rear of the car and a difficulty in operating the lever which drops the front seat backs forward to allow entry into the back. It is quite fiddly and annoying, so VW needs to address this.
All in all, though, it's a lovely cult car which continues to grab attention - especially in its convertible form. It's a placid rag-top with stacks of pzaaaz. The neat indicator repeaters on the tip of the side mirrors are a nice touch.
- Val Jessop
FAST FACTS
Volkswagen Beetle Convertible 2.0
Price: £17,520
Mechanical: 115bhp, 1,984cc 4 cyl petrol engine driving front wheels via 5-spd manual gearbox
Max speed: 115mph
0-62mph: 11.7
Combined mpg: 32.1
Insurance group: 12
CO2 emissions: 211g/km
BiK rating: 26%
Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles; 12yrs anti-rust; 6yrs paint