A becoming image in a time of a corruption scandal

When the Ayala Group introduced on September 18 that it could cease promoting Volkswagen (VW) automobiles within the Philippines, there was no love misplaced within the Philippines. 

Filipinos fell out of affection with VW ever for the reason that German automotive manufactuer veered away from its literal which means — “volks” “wagen” or folks’s automotive. 

VW had robust roots within the Philippines. The German automotive producer, the most important in Europe, used to have the biggest market share right here again within the Sixties. In accordance with Klaus Schadewald, former chief working adviser of VW Philippines, VW’s market share was once 64%, which means two out of each three automobiles within the Philippines was a VW. Even our police automobiles have been VW Beetles at one level.

VW as soon as had three manufacturing vegetation within the Philippines, and Schadewald says the Philippines nonetheless has one of many largest VW golf equipment on the earth. The Samahan VW Membership of the Philippines, as an illustration, has round 30,000 members on Fb.

These have been years when Germany’s manufacturing-engineering prowess was on show everywhere in the world, and VW would outsell large American automaker Ford with their basic Beetles, Kombis, Golfs, Karmann Ghias, and Brasilias.

Volkswagen’s two-door Beetle sedan bought over 21 million worldwide, “making it the most well-liked automotive manufactured off a single platform of all time,” in accordance with Volkswagen AG. It additionally turned a cultural icon in the course of the “Hippies” counter-culture motion within the late Sixties and Nineteen Seventies, with peace advocates bringing Beetles and Kombis to protests such because the Woodstock music competition in New York, USA.

My Love Bug story

Like many middle-class Filipinos, our household as soon as had a VW Beetle. My late father purchased one in 1965, a pale-blue Bug, which he gave up three years later in all probability as a result of it turned too small for the rising household. 

In 1968, he bought it to my late mom’s shut pal, the late Gregorio Catapang Sr., father of former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief (ret.) Gregorio P. Catapang Jr. (2014-2015), presently the Bureau of Corrections chief.

The Catapang household had it for 37 years, pushed principally by Greg Sr., a easy authorities worker who retired from the Securties and Change Fee, and his second son the late Dr. Jose “Joey” Catapang, a UP alumnus who taught bodily training and human kinetics in some colleges right here earlier than he turned an abroad Filipino worker-teacher in Saudi Arabia. 

In 2005, I took an curiosity in restoring a Beetle and known as Joey if anybody was nonetheless utilizing it. It turned out the automotive was simply parked of their storage of their modest household house in Undertaking 6, Quezon Metropolis. And so I purchased it from him for P15,000, and received a towing service to take it to my father-in-law Joven Reyes’ home in Antipolo Metropolis for P750.

Daddy Joven, a automotive fanatic and as soon as a automotive rally driver, had already restored a few Beetles by then. I spent round P160,000 for the nine-month restoration work, free labor courtesy of Daddy Joven, who labored on the automotive from September 2005 till June 2006. I then gave it as a present for my spouse. She often drove it to work to the then-Nationwide Financial and Improvement Authority in Pasig Metropolis.

From pale blue to white, the 1965 VW 1300 turned fireplace truck crimson. The seat covers have been reupholstered into denim. The automobile was restored with its authentic components, together with the massive white steering wheel, the lengthy stick gear, all of the home windows, the speedometer, and the leather-based security deal with on high of the glove compartment field. The one non-original components I had to purchase have been the wheels, side-view mirrors, the gas gauge, and one hub cap. 

It turned my household’s second automotive, used totally on coding days of our different automotive. Each time I drove the automotive, I’d often encounter different folks driving Beetles. I’d study that Beetle homeowners ought to honk the horn each time they’d encounters on the street, and that this had grow to be a observe amongst Beetle homeowners. It felt good being a part of the Beetle neighborhood homeowners within the nation. A lot of them would exhibit their restored basic automobiles on weekends. 

The largest downside I had with the restoration was not availability of components (one may simply purchase spare components both in Banawe, Quezon Metropolis or shops in Buendia, Makati); it was within the registration of the automobile. Because it hadn’t been registered for 5 years, it turned out that some unhealthy eggs within the Land Transportation Workplace (LTO) used the registration particulars of the VW for one more automotive.

On document, the VW I had was registered as a Toyota! I don’t know the way LTO resolved the problem, however luckily, I used to be capable of “restore” the automotive’s registration again to being a VW 1965 Beetle two-door sedan.

My household had the 40-year-old Beetle for round 10 years. After Joey Catapang’s passing from most cancers over a decade in the past, I even drove it to his wake in Camp Aguinaldo. Greg Jr. was nonetheless Armed Forces chief of workers at the moment, if I’m not mistaken.

It was a “reunion” between Joey and the Bug he drove for some 20 years. He had many tales in regards to the Beetle, together with occasions when the steering wheel would immediately get indifferent however he’d nonetheless be capable to put it again on and drive. He cherished what he known as the Beetle’s “aircon,” (even it had none) referring to its triangular entrance window vents and the pop-out home windows on the again sides. When the automotive runs and all 4 vents are open, the wind flows contained in the automotive, offering pure cooling. 

A yr or two after he retired from the AFP in 2015, Greg took an curiosity in shopping for the automotive, and because it was hardly getting used, due primarily to it not having air-conditioning, I bought it to him. The Beetle was again to its second proprietor.

This story is typical of many Beetle fans. The automotive has survived six a long time or over two generations attributable to its high quality and reliability. In contrast to lots of the luxurious automobiles at this time, its components are typically inexpensive and the automotive is straightforward to take care of — no computer systems wanted.

When VW returned to the Philippines by way of the Ayala Group in 2012, I used to be one in all many Beetle fans who received excited, hoping that I’d get to purchase the brand new Technology Beetle. However alas, when these automobiles turned broadly obtainable in 2014, many have been disillusioned after they discovered that they have been too costly (price ticket of round P1 million) even for the center class; the trendy Beetle was definitely no “folks’s automotive.” 

The fashionable Beetle bought solely 2 million items worldwide, and was retired by Volkswagen AG in 2019. Just a few thousand items (or much less) have been maybe bought within the Philippines. It didn’t win the hearts of individuals. 

As we’re made conscious of the existence of these concerned within the flood management scandal, such because the fleet of luxurious automobiles of the Discayas (together with a Rolls Royce), dismissed Division of Public Works and Highways engineer Brice Hernandez’s P12 million GMC SUV and Lamborghini, the basic VW Beetle gives us with symbols which are related at this time: simplicity versus opulence; sturdiness and good design in distinction to substandard initiatives; a reputation which means serving folks’s wants; and, its cultural historical past of being an emblem of protest towards institutions that do improper.

Hail to the basic VW Beetle! – Rappler.com