the Volkswagen Beetle

Examine photos of the 1932 Volkswagen Beetle prototype, and discover a shape and style that remains intact even in today's most recent edition. For reasons that aren't entirely clear, that form speaks to us, and although it may no longer generate the hysteria it once did, we still love it enough to keep it around.

However, Volkswagen didn't always recognize this. After dwindling sales in the 1970s, Volkswagen essentially abandoned the Beetle. For the 1980s and much of the 1990s, the Beetle was a "forgotten" automobile. Yet, the popularity built in the 1960s was still part of our culture.