The beloved VW "Beetle" Is there anything more adorable?

[Jara sang]

http://www1.ndr.de/container/ndr_style_images_default/0,2299,OID386226,00.jpg

I especially love it when people come up with "cutsy" vanity plates for their bugs. Some of my favorites:

For a red VW: "LADY BUG"
For a yellow one: "BUMBLEBEE"
For an orange one: "ORNGSLICE"
For a black one: "SPEDBUMP"
Etc, etc. etc...:puke:


Awwww... Isn't that precious... SIEG HEIL!

[Goldmund]

1. LOL what's your point?

[Kraklen]

2. Kind of ironic, when you think about it...

That the Volkswagen would go from being the pride of Nazi Germany to being the affectionate object of one of Woody Allen's best bits.

[GOPisEvil]

3. So, every Beetle is a memorial to Hitler?

Am I reading this correctly? :D

[davidinalameda]

4. so is Herbie so some sort of Neo-Nazi

:shrug:

[Kraklen]

9. Neo? Are you kidding? Herbie's the original nazi.

Herbie is possessed by the immortal spirit of Hitler himself.

Think about it.

Hitler...

Herbie...

Duh.

This was actually the subject of the original Herbie movie: "Herbie: Pure Strength of Will." It was written and directed by Walt Disney himself and is about how Hermann Goering (Buddy Hackett) seals the spirit of Hitler in a genie bottle then releases him into the carbeurator of a secret experimental Nazi beetle. Which is struck by lightning, thereby gaining full Hitleriffic sentience.

[DIKB]

16. To "quote" Kevin Smith.

D: It was your contention that Herbie wasn't a benevolent Volkswagen, but rather a german hate-machine possessed by the spectre of Adolf Hitler.

R: It was a sentient German car whose contempt for Jews was disturbingly apparent, for chrissakes! Herbie represented the repackaging of third reich ideals into something Americans would swallow easier: An Affordable Car.

D: It was called THE LOVE BUG, You Idiot!

R: Yes, But love of WHAT? Read between the lines, my friend: It was the love of Hating Jews!

[slor]

10. Just call it...

"Herbie Himmler"!

[Jara sang]

12. How about "Hitlerbie"?

[wtmusic]

5. Yeah well

you might as well scratch BMW off your list too

[GOPisEvil]

6. Mercedes-Benz, too.

[slor]

11. Porsche too!

[democracyindanger]

18. All Axis cars--Toyota, Ferrari, Mitsubishi, Alfa Romeo...

[wallwriter]

23. You should make some distinctions.

Mitsubishi indeed manufactured war planes in WWII. But Ferrari wasn't even founded until after the war. VW by contrast was, as the images show, the people's car. It was an intrinsic part of promoting the values and the economy of the Third Reich. Lumping them all together is a bit ridiculous.

[democracyindanger]

24. Um...the entire thread is ridiculous.

[wallwriter]

27. If you're serious about technology and material culture,

it's not ridiculous. At least we agree on what makes a fine avatar.

[Kellanved]

28. actually it was not.

"Volkswagen" is a post-war name. The Nazi name for the car was "KDF Wagen" and it was never mass-produced in the Nazi-era; the company to become "Volkswagen" was created by the British occupation force.

Ford and GM were also building cars for the Wehrmacht, using slave labor.

[Cerridwen]

8. Singer Sewing Machine and Ford Motors, too. And soooo many more....

n/t

[youspeakmylanguage]

7. Hitler was also instrumental in developing the Autobahn...

...the first interstate.

Are we all Nazi's for going on roadtrips?

I do recognize the irony of the "cute" bug, though.

[Book Lover]

13. Shoot! This thread isn't what I thought it was!

But that won't stop me from posting my vote for cutest car, the Dino :-)

[slor]

14. Awwww... Isn't that preciou"s... SIEG HEIL!"...

you cracked me up with that line. But I owned a 1966 bug, that I bought from some guy, and I loved it.

[SoCalDem]

15. Hey now!!!

Bugs are cute...they cannot help their "heritage"

[Jara sang]

17. Herbie the "Love Bug" possessed by the demonic soul of Adolph Hitler?

:rofl: Oh I am surely going to hell for starting this.

[JimmyJazz]

20. I still won't buy a VW of any kind. They made their money off the

backs of slave labor. :(

[Kellanved]

21. that's debatable

Slave labor certainly was used in the factory, that's without question.

But the bug was never produced there pre-war; the company "Volkswagen" was founded after the war.

[JVS]

19. Hey, don't knock the "strength through joy"-mobile

It seems a lot better than the current automotive philosophy of joy through strength.

[Kellanved]

22. your point?

Athough they were offered it; Ford and GM both denied to buy it.

The design and the factory were built under Hitler, that is true.

But large-scale production didn't start until after the war; the production (not the design, mind you) of the Bug has more to do with the British Major Ivan Hirst than with Hitler.

[Floogeldy]

25. I love 'em!

[seemunkee]

26. Mini's are FAR more adorable

Paul thought so


So did John


and George


Don't forget Ringo