I was thrilled when I first saw so many Beetles in the streets of Taxco (a small town near Puebla in Mexico), then I realized it constituted the Taxi system of the town.
In China, the Beetles have always been regarded with some bourgeois properties, and are even called mistress's car. No wonder I was so thrilled to view a Beetles' town across the ocean.
Having adored the Beetles during my adolescence, I was eager to read this book to know its origin and development. It was designed by Porsche to be "the people's car" (what does Volkswagen mean in Germany) under the reign of Hitler. With his assistance, the Volkswagen factory managed to survive and even thrive during the Second World War (making aircraft and using prisoners as workforce).
In order to be an authentic people's car, the characteristics of Beetle are as follows: economic, energy efficient, low maintenance fee and so on. It succeeded in becoming many family's first car and therefore left them with beautiful memories.
Despite the anti-Nazism fashion, the Beetle, with its Nazi background, gained great popularity in America. It even established a factory in Puebla (no wonder there are still so many Beetles in view around Puebla). So the "Poblanos" regarded the Beetles as their own product. During certain period, the success of Beetles in American Continent even surpassed that in the domestic market, making it a global mechanic piece.
Unlike the Model T of Ford, Beetles have never ceased to adjust themselves to cater to the popular taste, in terms of both appearance and function. That explains Beetles' popularity all around the world after more that 60 years since its invention.
