Volkswagen is highlighting its heritage in america with an advert marketing campaign referred to as “An American Love Story” that can premiere throughout the Tremendous Bowl. Days forward of the large sport, the model launched the complete two-minute video that begins when the primary Beetle arrived in 1949.
Embedded above, the advert options Neil Diamond’s 1971 tune “I Am… I Mentioned.” It begins in 1949, when Dutch businessman Ben Pon introduced the primary Kind 1 (which later turned generally known as the Beetle) to america. Whereas a few of the scenes have been recreated in black and white, a few of the footage was shot in 1949. On the time, the Beetle was simply one other small, obscure European automobile with the engine mounted on the mistaken finish. It wasn’t the one one, and few may predict its success: it helped Volkswagen promote 569,696 vehicles on our shores in 1971.
The movie highlights a few of the key moments in Volkswagen of America’s historical past, and the methods by which the model formed standard tradition. The emblematic Kind 2 (extra generally generally known as the Bus) and Herbie the Love Bug each make an look. Volkswagen’s water-cooled vehicles, which represented the beginning of a brand new period for the model, seem as effectively; one of many highlights from this era is a second-generation GTI rally automobile. Collectors of classic Volkswagen fashions benefit from the highlight earlier than the advert transitions to extra trendy vehicles, just like the fourth-generation Jetta, and ends by highlighting Volkswagen’s present electrical vehicles, such because the heritage-laced ID. Buzz due out for 2025.
The conclusion? “We form its steel. You form its soul.”
Volkswagen has a degree: Most of us have a minimum of one story associated to its vehicles. I’ve acquired sufficient to fill a number of Autoblog pages, from bringing a long-dead 1962 Beetle again to life within the 2000s to taking a 1972 Tremendous Beetle (generally known as the 1302 right here in Europe; proven above) on a highway journey throughout France a few decade in the past. I nonetheless personal the 1302, and it is typically parked subsequent to my 1990 Golf CL fixer-upper. A lot of my colleagues have tales to share as effectively: Autoblog Senior Editor John Snyder notably has a 1974 Beetle, Information Editor Joel Stocksdale owns a 2013 Beetle and Senior Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski owned a 1975 Bus camper.
You’ll be able to catch Volkswagen’s Tremendous Bowl advert throughout the third quarter of the sport, and inform us your Volkswagen story within the feedback.
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