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When the German Nazis commissioned the Volkswagen Beetle in 1934, they designed it to be utilitarian vehicle for the people. It was not designed to appeal to hippies, polo-necked liberals, surfers and - as Herbie the Love Bug - American children. Most of all, they cannot have dreamt it would end its days as a four-wheeled mascot of the Third World - still trundling out of factories in Africa and Latin America long after it ceased production in Germany in 1978. The Beetle is the most popular car in history. A vehicle intended to show off the Third Reich's strength and awe the world, instead became the first global vehicle, with more than 21.5 million built in 20 countries. It is a deeply subversive success story, and its Nazi progenitors would be appalled.

The beetle collected a variety of nicknames around the world -- ''el huevito'' (the little egg) in Cuba, ''coccinelle'' (ladybird) in France and "vocho" in Mexico. The first Volkswagen Beetles arrived in Mexico in 1956 - shipped over by a trio of banana magnates who were frustrated by bringing their ships back empty from Europe. Mexico's love affair with the Beetle was almost instant. The car was cheerful, cheap, strong, and could be repaired with a screwdriver and hammer. By 1973, one in three cars sold in Mexico was a vocho.
On July 30th, 2003, the 21,529,464th and final Beetle rolled off the assembly line in the Volkswagen plant in Puebla, Mexico.

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