大众甲壳虫的前世今生

年富力强：1967—1974年

    1970年美国人一共买了50多万辆甲壳虫，这也是它销量的巅峰。美国的史密森尼博物馆（Smithsonian）珍而重之地收藏了第1,500万辆下线的甲壳虫，标志着这款车型正式取得了经典地位。它的发动机马力也在1967年增加到54匹，到1970年增加到57匹，不过性能上并没有明显的提高。《人车志》（Car and Driver）杂志测试了一辆1970版甲壳车，发现它的速度实际上还要比1968版稍慢一些。但这次评测丝毫没有减弱消费者的热情。

    随后又出现了一款长鼻子的甲壳虫，它有个新的名字，叫做“超级甲壳虫”（Super Beetle）。位于车前端的载货厢倒是不辜负“超级”两个字，因为它的尺寸是老款的两倍。此后大众公司一直持续对甲壳虫进行改进。1972年，它第n次扩大了后车窗，引擎盖也多了两排通风孔，倒车的时候尾灯还会亮起来。1973年，风挡变成了弧形。1974年，甲壳虫安装了能防每小时5英里低速碰撞的吸能减震保险杠。

Mature Beetles: 1967-1974

    Americans bought more than 500,000 Beetles in 1970 -- the high-water mark for sales. The Beetle officially attained icon status when the Smithsonian collected the 15-millionth car. Horsepower grew to 54 in 1967 and 57 in 1970, though without appreciably improving performance. Car and Driver tested a 1970 model and discovered that it was slightly slower than the 1968 version. The review does nothing to dampen customer enthusiasm.

    A new stretched-nose design appeared, with a new name: Super Beetle. The front compartment's cargo compartment was certainly super -- it was twice as large as it used to be. Improvements continued. In 1972, the rear window was enlarged for the nth time, two more rows of vents popped up on the engine deck lid, and the taillights now lit up when the car was put in reverse. 1973 brought a curved windshield, and in 1974 the Beetle got energy-absorbing five-mile-per-hour bumpers.