Volkswagon Announces End of Beetle Production
The end of an era has come.
The iconic Volkswagon Beetle hit the streets in 1938 and has been turning heads ever since. However, this week the latest version of the vehicle has been halted from production.
As best said by the Associated Press, the Beetle has been "a part of Germany's darkest hours as a never-realized Nazi prestige project. A symbol of Germany's postwar economic renaissance and rising middle-class prosperity. An example of globalization, sold and recognized all over the world. An emblem of the 1960s counterculture in the United States. Above all, the car remains a landmark in design, as recognizable as the Coca-Cola bottle."
Its curved, futuristic design caught the eyes of millions of people over the last eight decades, and it's hard to imagine a world without them.
The last of 5,961 Final Edition versions of the Beetle is headed for a museum after ceremonies in Puebla, Mexico on July 10 to mark the end of production.
Growing up, we always called them Punch Bugs and gave each other a good jab in the arm when one passed by. What about you? What did you call them?
So long, Punch Bugs.