I loved my Beetle. The front seats were so big and comfortable, and safe! The center of gravity was awesome, being equidistant between the front and back wheels. The rear portion could swallow much more than it was ever given credit for. There was no way you would hit that dash window in an accident, and when my brother flipped it, he walked away unscathed and he was going (very) highway speeds.
Then the car got lady-fied. And instead of improving the car, they simply changed it -for the worse IMHO. Can you say, "two-toned automatic convertible?"
Now we have the NEW New Beetle. Yawn. VW should never have gone down the Beetle road. While it has grown on me since coming to market, I'd rather have the Golf or Jetta Sportwagon. Which I do! I love my Golf. Should have gone with it first!