Volkswagen Automobile

The Beetle's back, but the new Volkswagen bug isn't exactly the easy-to-fix, easy-to-afford, noisy-to-drive car that made road trips to distant campuses and rock concerts decades ago. The new generation of Beetle comes with air conditioning, remote-control electric locks, six-speaker stereo and a $15,000 price tag.

SOMETIME during the night of Sept. 29, 1913, aboard the steamer Dresden, Rudolph Diesel, age 55, slipped out of his overcoat and into the English Channel. His body was found 10 days later. The inventor of the engine that bears his name had a Homburg hat full of troubles. He was broke. He suffered crippling headaches -- the common cold of fin de siecle Europe. And he was disillusioned.

Former Volkswagen salesman Sam Sands can remember when it really was the people's car. "They cost $1,895, or $300 down and $65 a month for two years. And everybody could qualify," Sands, 52, said of 1960s-era VWs. Today, the Laguna Hills resident wouldn't take $14,000 for his vintage 1967 red convertible displayed proudly Sunday at the 10th annual California Volkswagen Jamboree at the Orange County Fairgrounds. "I'm too close to it," Sands said. "It would be kind of like selling your wife."

At the end of a memory lane rooted in nightmares of Nazi Germany, here was the moment of proof. Only two questions loitered above the reinvented Volkswagen Beetle for a jury of its seers. Would driving the reincarnation be an unfortunate reunion with discomfort and forgotten compromises? Like returning to boot camp for a month? Or would this little car reclaim the ladybug charm of originals that tens of millions of Americans drove from the '50s into the '70s?

The Bug, it seems, has bugs. In an embarrassing admission, Volkswagen of America Inc. said Friday it is recalling all 8,500 New Beetles it has sold in the United States because of a wiring problem that could lead to engine fires. The voluntary recall--one of the earliest on record after the introduction of a new model--comes just seven weeks after the first of the retro-styled compacts were delivered to dealers.

The Volkswagen Beetle, the much-loved and fondly remembered car that disappeared from auto showrooms more than a decade ago, may be coming back to U.S. markets. If Americans like the idea, a sleek futuristic version--complete with convertible top and environmental controls--could be sold in the United States as early as 1997. The German auto maker is tapping into American nostalgia to reverse a sharp decline in its overall U.S.

Sharing a streak of adventurism and zest for the unknown, three young men are planning to leave tonight on a 4,200-mile expedition from Encino to the Arctic Circle in a vintage 1967 Volkswagen camper van. "With a new car, you're sure you'll make it, but with an old car, the challenge is making it," was the explanation given by Matthew Gossin, 25, when asked about the group's choice of tour vehicle.

I was up to no good. But there's only so much wrong you can do in a Volkswagen New Beetle. It looks slow even when it's going fast. It's the egg shape. I'm convinced. People don't take seriously cars that resemble eggs, and the New Beetle looks like an egg threefold. There is the center portion, the main body of the car. It looks like an egg. There are the wheel wells, front and rear. Both sets mimic eggs.

Wolfgang SCHREIBER is smart like you wouldn't believe. Scary smart. I-vill-crush-you-like-bugs smart. Best known as the technical director of the Bugatti Veyron program, Schreiber is one of Volkswagen Group's most prolific engineers (ultra-exotic Bugatti is owned by VW).