World's last VW Beetle rolls off the assembly line in Mexico

MEXICO CITY  — The last Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line on July 30, 2003, 70 years after Adolf Hitler's government introduced Germans to a two-door passenger car that became an icon around the globe.

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Competition from newer compacts and a Mexican government decision to phase out two-door taxis led Volkswagen to shut down its only remaining "bug" production line at its plant in Puebla, 65 miles southeast of Mexico City.

Workers painstakingly crafted the final car: a baby blue version marked No. 21,529,464 that will go to a museum in Wolfsburg , Germany , home of VW headquarters. Adorned with a Mexican flag made of flowers, the car was serenaded by a mariachi band playing the Mexican song "El Rey," or "The King."

The ceremony at the factory was closed to outsiders but transmitted around the world on a satellite television feed.

VW stopped production of the bug in the United States in 1977 after the car's design and air-cooled engine no longer met U.S. safety and emission standards. That has made it virtually impossible for U.S. enthusiasts to get their hands on final models.

The bug collected a variety of nicknames around the world — "el huevito" (the little egg) in Cuba , "coccinelle" (ladybird) in France . It's known by the madeup name "vocho" in Mexico City , where bugs still crowd the streets.

The ceremony at the factory was closed to outsiders but transmitted around the world on a satellite television feed.

VW stopped production of the bug in the United States in 1977 after the car's design and air-cooled engine no longer met U.S. safety and emission standards. That has made it virtually impossible for U.S. enthusiasts to get their hands on final models.

The bug collected a variety of nicknames around the world — "el huevito" (the little egg) in Cuba , "coccinelle" (ladybird) in France . It's known by the madeup name "vocho" in Mexico City , where bugs still crowd the streets.

Guadalupe Loaeza, a well know Mexican writer, bade farewell in a column in the newspaper Reforma, fondly recounting the numerous vochos she's owned over the years.

"The vocho produced in Mexico was, without a doubt, a Mexican's best friend," she wrote.

Cheap but durable

Ferdinand Porsche designed the car in the 1930s to be cheap for Adolf Hitler's Third Reich to build and cheap to buy and maintain. Hitler thought offering cars to people at motorcycle prices would rally the support of the working classes for his regime.

Air-cooled and driven by the rear wheels, its simple, no-nonsense design made it rugged and durable. A typical car in 1930s Germany cost more than $1,000, while a Volksauto (people's car) cost about $400.

Throughout the 1950s, the Beetle turned up in the USA , snapped up by World War II veterans familiar with the car's durability. American high school and university parking lots filled with Beetles bought by poor students and underpaid teachers.