One of the most notable things about the Volkswagen Beetle is how immune it seemed to be to the passage of time. From 1938 to 2003, while it went through significant changes, it stayed pretty much the same looking, really. So when VW decides to do a brochure about The Future, it’s fun to see the way they show what’s futuristic. And, based on what they do show, the budget must have been somewhat limited, because the future shown is oddly lonely and minimal. But the Beetle is still the Beetle. And this brochure starts with a reminder of just that:
VW was always proud of how little they changed Beetle styling. And, it seems, they intended to lock things down at the 1970 look (I mean, they pretty much did) even in the distant future when all cars must be enclosed in atmo-bubbles:
I guess you need these to have clean air as you roll over the vast wastelands between the likely domed cities? That must be it. I hope that smooth bubble gives enough traction over those rocks?
Other parts of the future seems to suggest that you can drive your Beetle on the surface of Hoth, which I suppose we’ve finally colonized. That’s exciting! Let’s get tauntaun burgers!
This gas station of the future is also fascinating; it’s pretty minimal, a clever, partial-tube design, and still has an attendant, perhaps because the harsh environment requires the special suit he’s wearing. Lots of glossy white, which was very futuristic in the wood-paneled 1970s.
This must have been taken inside a domed city, with its white pavement and black markings, and in this future, people drive cars like the Fitch Phoenix (Peter our Social Guy figured it out!), as you can see in the upper left. That car is really interesting – a Chevy Corvair-based sports car with an emphasis on safety that was intended for production, but the project was cancelled, leaving just the one car. Those two humps behind the fenders are for a pair of spare tires!
This Fitch seems to be related to the Fitch behind Abercrombie & Fitch, where you could have bought one of these, along with Chevy dealers, if all went according to plan. I think it had Fiat taillights, too. This thing is fascinating! Glad to see it made it into the future! Well, now that I look, the Hemmings article mentions the A&F store angle, but A&F’s own site mentions a different Fitch as a founder. Maybe John Cooper Fitch was just a relative? How else would that deal have worked?
Man, what a future! Bubbles and Beetles and Phoenixes and wastelands! If only.
Note how closely this campaign looks like the visuals of the early 70’s Woody Allen film, “Sleeper” (which featured a VW Bug that survived into the Future)!
One of ’em looks like it influenced one of ’em.
VW’s service station of the future is very predictive of Moonbase Alpha’s travel tubes, which in 1970 were still five away, while depicting 24 years ahead of that.
Wow, that is just SO strange! The Beetle is just the most conservative non futuristic car that has ever existed. Thanks for posting that, JT 🙂
Whenever I get tired of all the post-WW2 technology in my other cars, I just work on my 1971 Super Beetle Convertible and pretend it’s 1938.
I have a 1970 beetle, hopefully we’re going to make it on a first drive this weekend (if I get my new starter in) and not end up on Hoth or in a bubble
didnt get that first drive in, voltage regulator decided to start smoking
You thought they smell bad on the outside …
Attendant: “All filled up, just need your biometric imprint here.”
Cost-conscious VW driver: “$3,700.00? What in the name of Zod is going on? It was only $3,320.00 last week!”
I think the station attendant is skimming a little on the side, to save up for the pills for his next 1996 techno rave party.
Possibly a light switch techno rave party:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwZwkk7q25I
The car in front of the VW appears to be a Fitch Firebird: http://phscollectorcarworld.blogspot.com/2018/10/1960s-customs-1967-fitch-firebirds.html
Apparently in VW’s alternative future, only Fitch and VW remain.
VW won the franchise wars. Now all cars are VW.
And Taco bell. I learned about it in a documentary on the future about 25 years ago 🙂
That gas station is incredible – bang your head on the ‘canopy’ or get, infuriatingly, rained upon. Must have been the same guys that wound up designing EV chargers.
Yeah but there’s an attendant. In the future, the haves will spend an inordinate amount of time and effort to worsen the lives of the have-nots.
I met John Fitch while he was driving the Phoenix through the paddock at Lime Rock. A strange and wonderful man.
Hoth? More like Coldth, right?
I can’t take credit for this awful joke. It either came from Family Guy or Robot Chicken.
Are we sure that is Hoth, it looks more like Delta Vega.
Wait, when did Delta 88 and Vega get married???
These images are reminding me of the Beetle in Woody Allen’s “Sleeper” 70’s sci-fi comedy. Haven’t seen that movie in probably 25 years… no idea if it holds up, but it was on the VHS after another movie 10-yr-old me liked to watch on sick-days home from school, so I ended up watching it a number of times and parts of it are stuck in my brain.
I watched it recently and I thought it was a horrible experience of bad dated jokes. Keep your nice memories of it intact and don’t watch it again.
Jason, I can’t believe you didn’t mention the 1970s film Sleeper, where they discover a 200-year old VW beetle in a cave and it starts on the first turn of the key. Every one of these images, from the ‘Hoth’ scene to the filling station to the weird bubble, looks like it could have been from that movie.
You beat me to it, but I had the same exact thoughts!
Trying to imagine modern autowriters, who practically use “old platform” as a slur these days, trying to deliver a Beetle review circa 1975.
VW Beetle, the cockroach of cars.
So, if your car is in a bubble, and you’re in the car, that means you’re in the bubble too. With the exhaust?
How’s that work?
Briefly.
Not much different from being in a small bubbly car, the builders were quite proud was air tight with an exhaust powered heating system..
Also in the future, some people still can’t f****ing park. That Fitch is intruding into the Beetle’s spot. Or, maybe, VW is implying that the Beetle’s turning radius and maneuverability will still be able to overcome parking faux-pas of the future?
With the angle of the beetle’s front wheel, I think he’s about to hit the corner of the car in front while parking too… so I guess your point stands
False: that’s a no-look pull out. Baller maneuver.