Quote:
Originally Posted by Piotrsko
The VW bug was still a viable car in Mexico until recently, and CR can probably verify the recent manufacture in South America.
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I remember when the Beetle was phased out in Mexico in 2003. When it comes to Brazilian production, it was shutdown in '86, but resumed from late-'93 to mid-'96 with the so-called Itamar series (as in '93 Brazilian then-president Itamar Franco personally inquired Volkswagen about the possibility of resuming the production). Even though the Beetle as is doesn't comply neither to current safety and emission standards or to most of the newer preferences in the new car market, I'm sure some modern equivalent to the Beetle retaining a few traditional features such as rear-engine and rear-wheel drive while including comfort enhancements such as air conditioning and power steering would be quite successful. Brazil is still pretty much an agrarian country, so when it comes to off-road ability it's a desirable feature which is not the same with the mainstream front-wheel drive econoboxes and sometimes a 4WD becomes out of budget.
On a sidenote, keeping the engine and other components more concentrated at the rear end wouldn't be out of question, even if it resorted to a water-cooled engine like it's quite common to see in adaptations.
