See How The Backside Of The Volkswagen Beetle Has Evolved Since 1949

Beep, beep, beep....let's back up...

The Beetle’s backend started out small but grew steadily to accommodate increasingly larger tail lights and bumpers. The New Beetle of the 90s sported a bubble back, but its ongoing redesign has evolved into a sleek look with wider haunches that offer better aerodynamics to the car.

Following the evolution of the iconic Volkswagen’s backend, we wanted to share this graphic that combines key body changes and a few fun facts.

Beetle back IG

More Fun Bug Facts From the Trunk, Driver’s Seat, and Other Locations:

  • 1949 – The Beetle contained a tool kit in the center of its spare tire. Handy.
  • 1949 and onward – The windshield washer fluid is released using pressure from the spare tire. Better overinflate it a bit.
  • 1970s – In addition to The Love Bug, the Volkswagen appeared in What’s Up, Doc?, Bullit, Sleeper, and other popular movies.
  • 1971 – Super Beetle was introduced – the fastest Beetle yet. Car and Driver reported it hit 60 mph in 16.1 seconds.
  • 1973 – TV reporter and skeptic Stanley Siegel borrows a Beetle, gets in and drives into Beetle Creek (Wisconsin). Prepared for the car to sink, Stanley realizes it’s floating. The test becomes a print ad for VW, and Stanley’s anticipated exposé sinks.
  • 1984 – Transformers hit the airways. The original Bumblebee was disguised as an unassuming VW Beetle.
  • 1998 – It’s rumored that during Fight Club rehearsals, Brad Pitt and Edward Norton discovered their mutual distaste for the new Beetle. When preparing for a scene where they hit cars with baseball bats, the pair insisted one of the cars be a 1998 Beetle. Ouch.
  • 2009 – Children of the 60s and 70s invented a backseat game called Punch Buggy or Slug Bug because spotting a Beetle was a great excuse to hit your little brother. Appealing to that nostalgia, VW launched a 2009 campaign that credited a fictitious ad agency with the game’s invention.
  • 2010- Although trying to stuff a bunch of people into a Beetle was a fun pastime in the 60s and 70s, Guiness says the most people ever jammed into a classic Beetle happened in 2010, when the Asbury University Emancipation Project put 20 folks into a 1964 Beetle. Other sources say 27 folks got into a new Beetle in 2001. We’re just not that close to our friends.
  • 2012 – VW eliminated the cute glass vase during the Beetle’s 2012 redesign in an effort to increase the car’s appeal to male drivers, but…
  • 2017 – A limited edition PinkBeetle was introduced and offered in its own unique shade of Fresh Fuchsia Metallic paint. That’ll show ‘em.

Do you have a favorite Bug fact? Share it on Facebook.