|
I get annoyed by those precocious kids you see in those movies and ads. They are so intelligent that they give Einstein an inferiority complex and so saccharine-sweet that you get diabetes by just looking at them. The problem is precipitated because they <I>know<I> it. The New Beetle from Volkswagen is something like them. It is cho-chweet and so clever that you feel like pinching its cheeks. What’s worse is that it actually has them. All that makes it a superstar on Indian roads; it attracts mobs of admirers and gawkers who all look as if they are hopeless extras in the crowd scene of a Bollywood movie. With additional props like cellphone cameras. It’s like a mobile billboard for Volkswagen.
Then they look at the chump sitting inside – and the only thing that’s going on in their minds is ‘What’s a car like you doing with a guy like this?’ Good question. This car is for hair dressers or fashion designers. And girls with rich fathers or wealthy husbands or to be politically correct, wealthy women. It goes well with teddy bears and cuddly toys, especially with its ‘I need a hug’ look. It’s certainly not for a straight, forward person like me. That too, one who owns a classic Beetle from 1960, painted in identical colours. But I am just doing my job. This car is not about performance or the quarter-mile drag. Nor is it about handling and cornering. So this whole story is not a typical Road Test No 347. Yet there is a section dedicated to the performance and dynamics of the New Beetle, so you can head straight to that. For the rest of you, it’s about the philosophy of the New Beetle and what it means to me, an owner of the original. Ready?
|
