The sensual Bollywood actor Bipasha Basu has always been in news for her fitness regimen, love affairs and of course the movies. However, many of us don’t know that she is a crazy car lover, too. She owns several luxurious and expensive cars including Audi Q7, Volkswagen Beetle, Mercedes S Class and Porsche Cayenne. Though, the red Beetle is one of her most favorite cars that she nicknamed - ‘Brad’. The Beetle is one of the most popular celebrity cars in India, which is also owned by Arshad Warsi, Imran Khan and others.
Launched back in 1938, the Volkswagen Beetle, the rear engine, rear wheel drive car, received a retro themed update - ‘new Beetle’ - in 1998, followed by a couple of midlife facelifts. Sadly, the Beetle could not generate volumes for the company, despite being one of the most iconic yet affordable Volkswagen cars in India. Therefore, VW discontinued the Beetle in India in 2013. Based on the Golf platform, the Beetle looks very cute, compact and an absolute head-turner. Its sophisticated and retro styling makes it quite popular among celebrity cars in India.
The new Beetle shares a great resemblance to its predecessor. Features like sloping headlamps, vestigial running boards, large round tail lights, separate wings and high rounded roofline floating above the rear bumper are carried forward from the old model. The side indicators on the external rear view mirrors, large round headlamps, retro-styled stop lamps, high mounted brake lamp add more to its modern retro looks. The all black interior with superior plastic quality, fit and finish feels very plush and comfortable. It’s well-packed, and offers decent legroom for front passenger.
Seats are extremely supportive, but the rear one has restricted space. The dashboard integrated music system, steering mounted audio controls, power windows and instrument cluster further enhance its comfort and ease level. For safety purpose, it gets ABS (Anti-lock braking system) with EBD (Electronic brake-force distribution), all 4 disc brakes, dual SRS front airbags, engine immobilizer and 195/65/15 Pirelli tyres.
Volkswagen cars in India are known for their excellent drivability, handling and ride quality, so as the Beetle. Unlike the original model, the retro styled Beetle has front engine configuration. Powering the car is a 1984cc, 2.0-litre, 8V, SOHC petrol engine that delivers a maximum power of 115bhp at 5400rpm with 172Nm of torque at 3200rpm. Paired with a 6-speed tiptronic manual gearbox, it returns a fuel economy of 11kmpl.
