You’ve heard the hype about the New Beetle. You may even have seen one of the Concept One drawings or photos. And if you’re like most Beetle fans of the 60’s and 70’s you’re just dying to see one in person. Will it be just like your familiar favorite of decades gone by? It’s been almost 20 years, what will they have done differently?

The New Beetle is borne of style and a love affair with the original Beetle, but bread of Volkswagen’s technology and passion for innovation. The days of the clunky, air-cooled, rear-engine, slow-to-accelerate Beetle we know so well are gone. The New Beetle is liquid cooled and sports a front-mounted engine, with front-wheel drive, and four times the horsepower of its predecessor. Its unibody design is based structurally on the VW Golf, it is roomier, posseses all the state-of-the-art safety features like front and side-mounted air bags, and clearly has the European design and engineering that is expected from a luxury oriented manufacturer like Volkswagen.

And don’t be surprised when the base sticker price starts at around $15,000, more than double the $7,000 base sticker price for a 1979 Beetle, the year they were discontinued in the US. This is not an entry-level vehicle, and Volkswagen wants to make sure consumers understand that.

Despite all the technological and safety innovations of the New Beetle, retro features such as a big round speedometer and gauge pod along with bulbous fenders and front-passenger dashboard grab handles are nostalgic reminders of Beetles past. In keeping with the old Beetle’s reputation for fun, the new models will be available in a variety of crayon-colored hues. Volkswagen is expecting that the New Beetle, like its predecessor, will be more than a vehicle; they are hoping that it too becomes a personal statement, and gains the sort of physical and emotional attachment the old Beetle did.

Revived in a California-based design division of Volkswagen, the New Beetle is meant to appeal to the same demographic consumer that was buying them back in the late 60’s and 70’s. If you owned a Beetle back then, add about 20 years of growth, maturity, and increases in income to your lifestyle, likes, and standard of living, and you’ve got the New Beetle, tailored just for you. Today, you can opt for power windows, air conditioning (that works), and even a CD player. It’s clearly a renaissance vehicle, designed to stir the hearts of Beetle lovers all over the world. Volkswagen doesn’t just believe, they know that a specific portion of the population buying the New Beetle will be doing so just because they loved their last Beetle. And one Beetle fan noted that in years to come New Beetle lovers will be painting flowers on the sides of their cars just as their parents and grandparents before them did. It’s part of owning a VW Beetle.

Autohaus owner Mike Wanner told MODE that the debut of the New Beetle has been building for over a year. “It’s taken a long time for VW to bring the New Beetle from the design studio in California to the streets, but it’s a car well worth waiting for.” Clearly evoking the emotional and almost physical attachment to the original Beetle, the style of the New Beetle will appeal to all age groups, from the nostalgia-seeking baby boomers, to the style-minded Generation Xers. “In a time when Japanese, mid-priced, mid-satisfaction vehicles flood the market, here comes Volkswagen with what is sure to instantly become the ‘cool, fun, hip’ car to own now, and well into the next century,” said Wanner.