Off Into The Sunset: The 2019 Volkswagen Beetle Final Edition Cabrio

The 2019 Volkswagen Beetle Final Edition Cabrio.

You probably saw the articles and videos earlier this year---“Volkswagen Beetle ends production after 70 years!”  I hate to be a buzzkill, but I hate hype and inaccuracy more, so indulge me a moment, please. 

The Volkswagen Beetle that started production 70 years ago ended production 40 years ago. There was a whole big farewell for that one, too---in 1979.  And the triple-white Final Edition convertibles are still on the street in a whole lot of American towns.

Once that one went away, there wasn’t a Beetle for sale in America for 19 years---until the arrival of the 1998 New Beetle, which had zero in common with the original apart from a rounded body.  The engine was in the front, not the back, it was water-cooled, not air-cooled---it was a rounded Beetle-inspired body on the chassis of a Jetta.  But we’re not mourning the retirement of that car after a 21-year run, either.  Its last year was 2011.

No, the model that we’re saying goodbye to is the current Volkswagen Beetle---which has been in production since 2012.  But “Volkswagen Beetle ends production after 7 years” isn’t much of a headline, is it?

30 Minutes With: The 2019 Mercedes-AMG E53 Cabriolet

2019 Mercedes-AMG E53 Cabriolet.

Publisher's note: Normally, the cars you read about here at TireKicker are loaned to us by the press fleets of the various manufacturers for several days. Seven is typical.  Occasionally, we'll get a longer period of time, and sometimes it'll only be three or four days.  Our "30 Minutes With" series features cars we spent half an hour driving during the just-concluded Western Automotive Journalists Media Day in Monterey, California.

Needless to say, these are quick drives and brief impressions that we hope to be able to flesh out with a full review of the vehicle at some point in the near future.

Media Days is a driving program, with journalists taking cars from the staging area at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley over Laureles Grade and back or off-road on the acclaimed Land Rover Experience on the grounds of Quail Lodge.

My first car of the day was a stunner---the 2019 Mercedes-AMG E53 Cabriolet.

Dream Machine: The 2018 Audi A5 Cabriolet 2.0T quattro S tronic

The 2018 Audi A5 Cabriolet.

I was raised to believe that flashy and quality simply did not go together.  Things must have changed, because the 2018 Audi A5 Cabriolet is flashy personified and the quality is tremendous.