Beaucoup Bucks Beetle: The 2016 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible R-Line SEL

2016 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible R-Line.

Behold the most expensive Volkswagen Beetle Convertible one has ever been able to purchase new from one's local VW dealer.  The modern-day descendant of what was the ultimate "cheap car" of the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s is not cheap in any of its guises...the base Beetle's $19,795 starting price works out to nearly $2,700 in 1966 money, adjusted for inflation.  That year, the base price was $1,585.

Even so, the price tag of the 2016 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible R-Line SEL is a bit of a shocker.  It is $36,050.  That's almost $5,000 in 1966 money, adjusted for inflation.  Which would have bought you a 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible or two 1966 VW Beetle convertibles, the latter from which you would have had hundreds of dollars left over.

Where The 2014 Volkswagen Beetle Fits Today

The 2014 Volkswagen Beetle R-Line.

There is great ambivalence about the Volkswagen Beetle.  Not the original and not the New Beetle, but the current model, which replaced the New Beetle two years ago.  It was thought the more angular, less round, less cute design would boost sales, and to an extent it has, but this is still nowhere near the phenomenon the original Beetle was in the 1960s.

The May sales figures for the United States show the Beetle selling 29th among small cars, lagging behind such automotive rarities as the Hyundai Veloster, Nissan Juke and Buick Encore. Dodge sells nearly three times as many Darts.  And the Dart is not a car that is setting the world on fire.