Volkswagen is refreshing its iconic New Beetle model with a range of options which include the kind of “go-faster” rally stripes seen on the racing version of its predecessor in the cult Disney comedy film The Love Bug.
The decorative films for 2014 are part of VW’s plans to boost demand for the car which has a devoted following but has failed to notch up anything near the sensational sales volume of the original.
Among the other new customer choices is two-tone paintwork, allowing owners to pick a standard shade and combine it with an all-black roof. The black or silver rally stripes cost 350 euros ($ around 450) a set.
They can be combined with a range of eight stickers with German, Italian and Spanish nicknames for the Beetle.
The rally stripes hark back to an earlier Beetle era in the 1970s when the limited-edition Beetle Jeans and Beetle Sport Jeans models featured similar lower body stickers along with special wheels and unique paint colours.