28 Aug 07
9. Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet (2003-)
Arguably the most credible New Beetle, this Golf Mk4-based cabriolet is ridiculously kitsch, but somehow more lovable than the New Beetle hatch. After all, if you're going to buy a compromised, impractical and expensive car solely for its retro looks, then you might as well go the whole hog and buy the convertible, which also seems to bear more spiritual relationship to its original equivalent than the hard-top. The Beetle Convertible was always about posing (preferably on a California beachfront), not utilitarian basic transport.
Basic-spec 1.4s come with a manually-operated hood only and are very slow indeed; the 1.6 is not much quicker and the diesel is noisy, which makes the 1.8T and 2.0-litre the best bets. But the Beetle was never meant to be a sports car; just stick a flower in that dash-mounted vase and enjoy the sunshine...
Road Test: Volkswagen Beetle
Driven: Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet
