{"id":17256,"date":"2019-07-19T03:25:45","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T03:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=17256"},"modified":"2019-07-20T08:02:51","modified_gmt":"2019-07-20T08:02:51","slug":"how-the-volkswagen-beetle-sparked-americas-art-car-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/how-the-volkswagen-beetle-sparked-americas-art-car-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Volkswagen Beetle sparked America’s art car movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

John A. Heitmann<\/a>, University of Dayton<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

With a mariachi band playing along<\/a>, the last Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line of a Mexican factory on July 10.<\/p>\n

Originally created in Germany at the behest of Adolf Hitler<\/a>, the Beetle ended up being exported around the world, and every country that sold the car absorbed it into its own culture.<\/p>\n

In Mexico, it was dubbed the \u201cVocho<\/a>,\u201d and became popular among cab drivers, who painted them green and white. In France, where it was called the \u201cCoccinelle<\/a>,\u201d or \u201clady bug,\u201d it zipped through country\u2019s winding, medieval streets.<\/p>\n

And in America, where it was affectionately called \u201cthe Bug,\u201d it came to represent the unconventional and idiosyncratic.<\/p>\n

In my undergraduate history course \u201cThe Automobile and American Life,\u201d the first image of an automobile that students see is not a Ford Model T but rather a Beetle art car featured in filmmaker Harrod Blank\u2019s documentary \u201cWild Wheels<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I show Blank\u2019s Beetle because, to me, cars symbolize ingenuity, individuality and freedom. And art car enthusiasts like Blank \u2013 who transformed their cars into actual vehicles of self-expression \u2013 took these values to new heights.<\/p>\n

Would Americans buy Hitler\u2019s car?<\/h2>\n

When the Beetle was first introduced to the U.S. market in 1949<\/a>, most Americans hadn\u2019t seen anything like it. Some were vaguely aware of its connection to Adolf Hitler<\/a>, which wasn\u2019t exactly a great selling point.<\/p>\n

Aesthetically and mechanically, it was almost everything the vehicles of the \u201cDetroit Three\u201d \u2013 General Motors, Chrysler and Ford \u2013 were not.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A Volkswagen ad from 1962 emphasizes the car\u2019s compact size.<\/span>
\nAlden Jewell\/flickr<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Instead of being accented by sharp angles, it was round. Instead of being bulky and prone to overheating, it was economical, reliable and well-made. (Its parts were said<\/a> to be put together so tightly that you needed to crack a window to close a door, and that it could float when driven into a lake.) And while most car buyers wanted a vehicle that denoted status, speed and power, the Beetle seemed exceedingly \u201ccute.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Beetle was polarizing. A survey in the January 1969 issue of Road & Track magazine emphasized the divide: A majority of owners were quite satisfied with the car and indicated that they would buy another. But a number of drivers complained that the cars \u2013 especially those built before 1965 \u2013 were under-powered and slow.<\/p>\n

For these reasons, the model always seemed to cater to a niche market; but among its fans, it achieved cult-like status.<\/p>\n

Some owners made tweaks of their own, adding horsepower and improving the handling. Others, inspired by the car\u2019s sublime appearance, used it to make artistic statements. One of the first was a man named Harrod Blank.<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh My God\u2019 turns heads<\/h2>\n

The son of a filmmaker and ceramic artist, Blank was born in 1963<\/a> and graduated from University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1986 with a degree in theater arts and film studies.<\/p>\n

During the late 1980s, Blank acquired a battered VW Beetle and decided to use it as a canvas to create a work of art<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First he painted a rooster on the driver\u2019s side door. Then he added a globe to the front ornament, mounted a television to the roof and tacked plastic chickens and fruit to the bumper. He slapped a sticker on the back that exclaimed \u201cQuestion Authority\u201d and eventually christened the car \u201cOh My God.\u201d<\/p>\n

The name referenced Blank\u2019s eventual realization<\/a> that his vehicle was not the only art car in America.<\/p>\n

In fact, Blank\u2019s car ended up catalyzing a movement. Its popularity brought together enthusiasts who had modified Beetles and other car models in ingenuous ways, often adorning them with discarded consumer goods.<\/p>\n

Blank followed \u201cOh My God\u201d with another creation based on a Beetle, \u201cPico De Gallo<\/a>.\u201d A fully interactive piece of art, the car was outfitted with two electric guitars, drums, keyboards and an accordion.<\/p>\n