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What can one say about the Beetle? It's an odd-looking design, like some cartoon version of a 1930's sedan, and yet it is the largest-selling automobile in history. In 1934 Adolf Hitler commisioned Ferdinand Porsche to design a "volks-wagen" that the common man could afford, and the design had changed very little since the first pre-production cars rolled out of the factory in 1938. The 1970 model is a great representation of the Beetle (or Kafer as it's called in Germany) near the peak of its production, and prior to the introduction of the Super Beetle in 1971.
This model does a good job of capturing the character of the little car. The paint is smooth and shiny, with silver pin-striping. There are a plethora of attractive chrome accents for the lights, directionals, door handles, hood outline & handle, etc. Windshield wipers and running boards are separate black pieces - a small but unusual touch. Front wheels steer, and the color-coordinated wheels with chrome caps and rings look great. This replica comes with both top-up and top-down pieces in soft vinyl. The interior is hard plastic but the seats and doors are nicely textured for a realistic look, and the front seats fold. The doors are realistically hinged (Bravo!). Dashboard is simple but nice - it's black with a white glove compartment and chrome instrument panel. The rear engine compartment opens to show the classic air-cooled VW engine which is fairly well done - no wiring, but it has belts and hoses and it looks good. The engine compartment fit is good, the doors are OK (gaps are a little too large).
The only thing I will complain about on this model is the lack of an opening hood which would have been really nice, especially since the oddly-shaped front storage area is such an unusual feature of the Beetle. If you can get past that, the rest of the car is of very high quality, rivaling much more expensive models.
(10/20/2002)
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