Beetle community converges

Wolfsburg / Travemünde – The Theme:  “Crazy – not for squares,” the world’s largest Beetle community gathered at the weekend on the Travemünde shoreline. Present this year were several thousand spectators and 650 tuned or lovingly designed vehicles from three generations – a new record for the Beetle Sunshine Tour.  Reflecting this unique, privately organized fan festival with celebrity star factor, Volkswagen presented its upgraded Beetle and Beetle Cabriolet. “We have been supporting the Sunshine Tour for over 10 years, as it’s an event that we’re really keen on. It’s attended by the real fans with a real passion for the Beetle,” said an enthused Martina Biene, Head of Product Marketing at Volkswagen in a press release.

The latest model of the eternally young classic has new bumpers, fresh colors and new fabrics, said the news release. The revised product range, which includes the standard version with lots of personalization options, the special edition Denim model and Beetle Exclusive and Beetle Exclusive R-Line models, certainly has something for every Beetle lover.  Talking of Denim, the team from Wolfsburg had a real eye-catcher with them: the Beetle Denim special edition model. Its fabric roof looks as though it is made of denim and draws on the legendary Jeans Beetle of 1974, said the release.

One of the highlights of the meet was a gentle excursion. Due to the high number of participants, this was started in the form of a staggered rally, which began at five different locations and ended on the Brügmanngarten festival meadow. Be it historic original Beetle, modern Beetle Dune or New Beetle, the news release said the visitors from over 10 countries drove along the Baltic Sea coast in their often imaginatively designed and tuned vehicles and demonstrated what a crowd-puller the cult car still is.

Sunshine, high spirits, horsepower and a party atmosphere: there was entertainment for everyone on the festival meadow beside the beach promenade, said the release. Sidney Hoffmann, presenter of “PS Profis” on German TV, and German rapper MC Fitti provided commentary on the “Beetlewalk” on the most original models.

Organizer Gaby Kraft was totally happy, said the press release. “Every year I think, that was the best Sunshine Tour ever … and the next year I’m always proved wrong. This year again, it was even better.”