The VW Beetle evokes memories of years gone by, but in Mexico it’s still part of the present

The once hugely popular design is at serious risk of extinction. But in Mexico, where the last Beetle rolled off the production line at Volkswagen’s flagship factory in Puebla in 2003, the plucky car lives on.

In today’s world of autonomous cars, keyless ignitions and charging ports, it’s hard to imagine just how big the tiny, two-door Volkswagen Beetle once was. But in Mexico, where the last Beetle rolled off the production line at Volkswagen’s flagship factory in Puebla in 2003, the plucky car lives on. Reinvented and reinvigorated by its cultural legacy, Mexico is one of the few remaining places where a taste of Beetle-fever still exists. The car’s curvy, colorful exterior and air-cooled, rear engine propelled it to a level of fame and cult status which no petrol car will achieve again. While fond stories of the lovable vehicle roam in our memories, what was once the world’s best-selling car has all but disappeared from American roads, consigned to automotive museums and collector’s forecourts. Patrolling the sprawling streets of Mexico City, traversing hair-raising mountain roads in Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte, and operating as a converted food truck serving Mexican delicacies, the “Vocho,” as the Beetle is known in Mexico, never left the stage. Moments before he was interrupted by the signature rumble of a Vocho arriving at the largest Volkswagen event in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo, President of the ‘Ixmi Volks Club’, Jesus Delgado told CNN: “When I hear a Vocho’s engine, I see my wife waving goodbye to me on her way to the shops. I see the excitement on my son’s face as I took him for his first driving lesson.” Delgado’s wife died of Covid in 2020, and his sons are all grown up, but according to him, “the emotional memories feel even more real when he’s around the car.” The first Beetle arrived on Mexican shores in 1954 as part of an exhibition to showcase Germany’s industrial growth. Sales were increasing slowly in the United States, but Volkswagen was battling against post-war anti-German sentiment for the car, which had been conceived under Adolf Hitler’s direction in 1934.