Popular there as taxi cabs, manufacture of the last iteration of Ferdinand Porsche's original concept finally ends tomorrow. The company continues, minus the Beetle.
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I owned two Beetles, a 1965 and a 1970. The latter VW the DrsC kept until 1985, dragging it along behind our motorhome across the U.S. twice and across much of Canada too.
The Beetle was both fun and frustrating. If you had it maintained very regularly, with the valves readjusted each time, it would give good service. If valves weren't adjusted every 3000 miles, a valve job was up next.
Driving it at speed in a crosswind on a freeway was 'interesting.' You'd have the steering wheel canted over, pointing the front wheels into the wind to counter the force trying to blow you off the road. You'd come to an underpass which blocked the wind for a couple of seconds and the Beetle would zig toward the side of the road until you came out the other side, when the wind would knock you straight again - a very exciting experience.
The Beetle was a great car to drive to grad school. In 3 years I drove the '65 VW back and forth from CA to Eugene, OR, many times.
The car wasn't capable of seriously exceeding the speed limit on I-5, so I'd drive for hours on end with the pedal pressed to the floor. That it could be driven flat-out without damage was, I believe, an intentional design feature which acted like a governor/speed regulator.
