The car, with its distinctive rounded shape and prominent headlights, traces its origins back to 1934 when Adolf Hitler instructed designers to draw up an affordable car for the masses.

Since then millions have been sold around the world, and its stylish design has inspired a generation of car enthusiasts.

What are your memories of the Beetle? Do you have an unusual model? Will you miss it?

Maybe you have a picture of your Beetle to share?

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This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

The following comments reflect the balance of views we have received:

A truly nasty car to drive and to do any serious work on. I had a Brazilian-built version, about four years old when I bought it. I was always under it doing something. My knuckles have only just recovered.
David, Qatar

My (aeronautical engineer) father loved them, I was born in 1971 and brought home from hospital in one, they are part of my childhood memories. Sad to see them go - we need more cars with character.
Kerie, London, UK

Once heard the story that VW Beetles were called bellybuttons in Mexico, because everyone has one!
Gordon, Scotland

Great trips, great adventures, wonderful performance! Christos, Hellas

Indeed the sad end of an era! However, I feel really lucky to be the owner of two 1303S Beetles of 1973. Great trips, great adventures, wonderful performance! I hope to keep them running for the rest of my life.
Christos, Hellas

The end of an era, and the dawn of a new one...
Neville Sloane, UK/Canada

Oh no! I think I'm going to cry!
Wendy, UK

A truly dreadful car! Badly designed, badly engineered and extremely ugly. I can't think of a single good thing to say about this monstrosity other than that it had the decency to rot quite quickly. A triumph of hype over experience.
Tom, UK

Vive le Bug! Susan, UK

I have always loved Bugs, perhaps inspired by watching Herbie's adventures countless times as a child. My husband and I still play 'Slug Bug, no returns!' when we spot a Bug. The most memorable Slug Bug he ever got me with was this year, from the top of the Eiffel Tower, when he spotted one on the busy roads of Paris! Vive le Bug!
Susan, UK (ex USA)

It is sad, it is such a classic car and the modern Beetle did well too. I have never owned one but I have always liked them to look at, but I would not mind to have a silver convertible one day.
Nina, UK

Beetles in Mexico are EVERYWHERE so it came as quite a shock that they are so loved around the world. For me a Beetle is one of the cheapest ways to get around as most taxis seemed to be bright green Beetles. So hard to drive and with no air conditioning but what a distinctive sound! Will be missed (but I suspect that thousands will forever be found in Mexico for years to come).
Claudia, Mexico (now living in the UK)

I've never really understood the obsession with Beetles Bryn Roberts, Yorkshire, UK

I've never really understood the obsession with Beetles, but hey, we're all different, and I suppose it's one of only a handful of cars that can be painted any colour and still look OK. I'd still rather have an Mini, though!
Bryn Roberts, Yorkshire, UK

Bought one, because of its colour - bright pink, green and white, called it Junior. Beautiful. No heating, the battery drained every time you used it instead of re-charging and I can remember scraping ice off the inside of the car. Funniest incident was when the accelerator stuck and I drove down the main high street with both my feet on the seat whilst "Junior" got me home. It really was like Herbie!
Claire, Lincoln, England

Sadly met its end due to rust and an old railway bridge Thomas Bennett, York, UK

My first? A 1973 GT limited edition that absolutely flew, and the handling and build quality saved my life on more than one occasion. Sadly met its end due to rust and an old railway bridge, although it's now reincarnated as a beach buggy somewhere...
Thomas Bennett, York, UK

I had a green one in 1986. The floor leaked water in the rain, the driver's seat collapsed and the engine mountings broke. Apart from this it was a pig to start each morning. But it was a fun car to drive and when it finally died I was in mourning for some time.
Lloyd, England

My mother had a turquoise blue Beetle and my father had a green one. The one thing I remember of the Beetle is the black plastic seat covers that got seriously hot when the car had been parked in the sun.
James, Bristol, UK

It carried me up and down the country for eight years Rachel Bennett, England

My first car was an old yellow VW Beetle which I got just before going off to university in 1992. It carried me up and down the country for eight years and got to witness more than one momentous occasion in my life. When it finally died a slow and painful death in 2000 I replaced it with a new yellow Beetle, but it was never quite the same...
Rachel Bennett, England

My first two cars were Beetles. Very happy memories, which make you forget about the heaters that never worked, or were so hot that your feet got burnt!!
Paul, Saudi Arabia

I bought a Beetle from my sister after she had driven it for years and her son had run it into the ground and stripped it down. An engineering firm put the engine back together and it was the most reliable car I ever had... noisy, bouncy, I loved it.
Jann, New Zealand

I had a beetle for three years 1975 to 1978 and would have taken it abroad with me had it had air conditioning. Five things stick in my mind: 1. An aching left leg because the clutch pedal was so high, 2. changing the exhaust, what a job that was! 3. leaving the engine noise behind, it was surprisingly quiet at speed, 4. Being left looking at the sky as I drove into a very powerful wind (after that experience, I carried a sack of sand in the boot) and 5. how other beetle drivers used to flash their headlights in acknowledgement and would stop to see if I had broken down when I was having a rest.
Graham Wetton, UK

I was born, (literally!) in a Beetle in 1972, when my Mum went into labour on the way to hospital. My sisters and I grew up enjoying the solidity of two beetles; my Mum's and my Dad's, apart from a few crushed fingers in those heavy doors, and one incident when we had to "bale out" of a burning Beetle! My Dad bought one later in life, 1992, to convey him daily to hospital for physiotherapy after he had totalled his Peugeot.

I inherited the Beetle, which I named Mathilda and drove all over the mid-eastern part of Nigeria for two years before, sadly, I had to put Mathilda to sleep. I got so into that car, I could do repairs myself, for long I had to hold the gear in fourth because it had a tendency to pop out! I had to drive Mathilda with a pair of pliers once (pulling on the cable to the accelerator!) Oh, for want of a Beetle! Adieu... Miss ya!
Emmanuel O. Oklobia, Nigeria

it always got me home, but then refused to start until I'd done some maintenance! Paul Komarek, USA

A 1972 powder-blue beetle was my first car. My girlfriend (now wife) could always here me coming to pick her up. By accident, I once drove it across a small mountain pass on three cylinders - it always got me home, but then refused to start until I'd done some maintenance! I sold the car in 1997, after 25 years in service to at least three owners.
Paul Komarek, USA

In 1971, my Dad bought me a new orange convertible VW. It cost $3000.00. Like always, the cable to the gas pedal always disconnected at the wrong time! Going uphill to get home was always in my prayers. The girls loved it.
Perry, Santa Rosa, USA

Back in the seventies my dad had a Beetle ("little frog VW" as they used to call it in Romania). My most vivid memory is of my dad trying to turn the car around in a mountain village in the middle of nowhere. The lane was pipe shaped and he ended up upside down. Eventually with the help of all the villagers the car was turned around - literally.
Paul, UK/Romania

Our family owned a yellow VW Beetle in the mid-70s. It served us well. Filipino children made a Beetle-inspired game. If Beetle passes by and a child does not salute (military style), his friends could hit him at the back of his head. To the Beetle, a final salute.
Jay Villagomez, Saipan, USA (Originally from the Philippines)

My first car was a turquoise coloured seven-year-old, 1967 Beetle. It was built like a tank and had all the handling characteristics of one. Even at 30mph a small side wind could send you swinging across onto the wrong side of the road as you passed a junction, but it was great fun. It had floor mounted 'air vents' in the front footwells.

I remember once in a thunderstorm running into a few inches of groundwater. Two jets of water came poring into the car through the vents completely filling it in seconds. We opened the doors to let the surplus out then drove home with three inches of water sloshing about at our feet. It cost me �100 and I sold it after 12 months for �120 - the only car I ever made a profit on!
Alan, UK

What a distinctive sound, profile, and headlights in the dark! Kristine, USA

My father had an orange Beetle. What a distinctive sound, profile, and headlights in the dark! It was our family car for many years (our bodies were little then, so my brother and I fit in the back no problem). The engine in the rear, and the luggage in the front! Unique and wonderful. We don't have the car anymore (had to move up to a station wagon) but we still give toy Beetles to my Dad. And our favourite nickname for the car? Pregnant roller skate.
Kristine, USA

We were at the end of a very long queue to board a small car - ferry to cross a river in New Brunswick. We were resigned to a lengthy two-sailing wait when a ferry employee waved us to the front and managed to squeeze our sweet little Beetle into a parking space far too small for a "normal" car. I will always love the Beetle, and wonder why - in an era of pollution, global warming, and high fuel prices - small cars are disappearing!
Mrs C Bacon, Canada

When I was a child in the late seventies, my dad bought a used Beetle. It was grey with red seats. Due to a lack of spares in India, the car kept breaking down. This used to get me and my sisters excited because we would have to get out and start pushing the car down the street amidst the chaos of Indian traffic in the summer heat. My dad would lead the 'push', controlling the steering wheel with one hand, and pushing the car with the other, while an extremely embarrassed mom sat in the front seat. My dad sold the car after a few years, much to the delight of my mom, but he had three weeping kids to deal with too!
Gautam Sathu, USA

If anybody reads about the end of the Second World War they'll know the Beetle was around then - but does anybody know how much the Beetle owes to British military engineering? It was our lot that retooled the bombed-out factories to get the German industries up and running again! The Beetle owes a lot to certain individuals in the Royal Engineers and I think it only fitting they're remembered too!
Rob, England

Among all the cars I've ever owned, this was probably the most fun Shady N. Janzeir, Jordan

I owned a 1975 Brazilian-made beetle for four years, and among all the cars I've ever owned, this was probably the most fun and the most reliable. I really miss it. I'm particularly fond of the 1974 1303S with front disk brakes and the 1.6l bus engine.
Shady N. Janzeir, Jordan

My Parents had a green Beetle with a silver aeroplane on the bonnet. The memory that sticks the most was when me and my brother escaped into the tiny space behind the back seat when my cousin was car sick into my aunt's beret. Just thinking - there was probably seven of us in the car at the time!
Ros, Ireland

My memories are the thousands of Beetle taxis in Lima, Peru. I am sure they still build them in Latin America, so perhaps they will not disappear.
Ally, Dubai

We loved our '65 Bug which I bought in Spain and drove all over the western world until we sold it in the late '70s in Denver, Colorado. What a rush of nostalgia my wife and I experienced last week when driving through a small town in New Mexico and there was an exact copy of our Bug driving in front of us. We were almost in tears as we recalled all the memorable trips and events we experienced "together" with our Bug. It was wonderful to see how well this current owner had taken care of "our Bug" for us, after all these years. We are certain the Bug will live on as a reminder for this crazy world of the benefits from "back to the basics".
Dave, Texas, USA

The most vivid memory of the beetle is from one of the greatest movies ever, Herbie!
Appu, Australia

Wherever we are in the world we play the same game - when we spot a Beetle we say, "Punch Buggy, no punch back." the first person to spot it gets to punch everyone. Is this a game played anywhere else?
Chelsea Brookes (12), USA

A great car - it just ran and ran and ran Stuart, ex pat in USA

My first car was a green beetle 1302S. I remember driving around London in it as a student. Whenever anyone said they had a beetle, if you said "Is it the one with the dented wing?" the answer was "Yes - have you seen it?". I would then reply that they all had at least one dented wing! A great car - it just ran and ran and ran, although the wet weather handling was always unpredictable!
Stuart, ex pat in USA

It sad that the beetle will be gone. At home in Kenya we still cherish them as they are the fast affordable cars, which consume little fuel.
George K Tanui, Kenya

The sad end of an era for me. The history of the car goes back a hundred years or so - the original Volkswagen has been around for seventy of those years! No other car comes close in terms of production run! The Beetle sold in vast number to virtually every country, a true 'World Car'. I still have mine, and always will.
Richard Shore, North Yorkshire, UK

Built as a car to mobilize Nazi Germany. Rear engine with all the power of a food blender and the style of Russell Grant. It was and still is awful. Rust in peace.
Richard White, London, UK

I grew up on Iowa, USA and my dad had one of the first beetles in town. When he and the only other owner saw each other on the road, they would toot their horns at each other. My dad always put a fresh flower in a little vase that was provided on the dashboard. My grandmother drove hers until she was 88 years old. The distinctive sound of the VW engine as she tootled down the driveway is something I'll never forget.
Laurie MacGregor, Venezuela

I had a new Beetle about ten years back now its my new garden bar - I didn't like the car but I like the bar.
Varun Chawla, India

Hopefully some entrepreneur will buy up the machine tools and jigs and resurrect it Charles Moore, Scotland

My most amusing memory is learning that a window had to be open before the doors would shut properly. This was because the doors fitted so well that there had to be some way of allowing the air to escape! What a beautiful creation it was. Hopefully some entrepreneur will buy up the machine tools and jigs and resurrect it. It's been done with the Trabby and Morris 1000, so why not the beetle?
Charles Moore, Scotland

I was born in Karachi in 1970, and the first car that remember being in was Beetle. My Dad loved it and if I remember it correctly his first three cars were Beetles. Nice Cars.
Saadat, USA

Love it or hate it, the Beetle was the masses delight because of its affordability, reliability and sheer ruggedness. I will miss it. I remember my first right in my uncle's Beetle in Lagos, Nigeria in the early eighties. Adieu Beetles. You will be missed.
Sunny Ofili, Nigeria/USA

Truly an end of an era. I have many fond memories of my old VWs, including the infamous iced up windscreens and less than comfortable interior heating. But these cars served me well over the years, and I am not sure that many of today's cars offer as much personality as did the old lovable Beetle.
J. Baker, USA

When i first started dating my boyfriend - now husband - he drove a 1960 ragtop, and now after 30 years of marriage we have three bugs, one 1967, and two 1964s. Sorry to see them go!
Alice M Taylor, USA

The beetle was for me the first taste of the West Vlad, Canada

When my family emigrated from the Soviet Union in 1974 and had to spend five months in Italy before being allowed into Canada, we bought a Beetle for 100 dollars. This was our first car, and my father learned how to drive in the midst of Rome's insane traffic. I sat at the steering wheel as a 12-year-old (with the engine turned off) and pretended to drive in the parking lot. The beetle was for me the first taste of the West, and its memory will always surpass any subsequent car experiences I've had.
Vlad, Canada

"Beat the beetle." I remember the beetle well and knew it inside out - as much as a young boy can know a car. I grew up in it, around it and with it. But, it was often a disappointment to my parents as it never did well in the winter snows up in the Swiss alps. My family also had another "timeless" car, that was the Citroen 2CV "deux-chevaux". In contrast to the beetle, the "ugly duckling did marvellously in the snow and anywhere else. It may have been of a lesser quality with a weak engine, but - with its opened roof and huge inside space for skis or bicycles - it beat the beetle in all our childhood memories.
Olivier, Switzerland

I don't know why there are negative comments about the Beatle. I once was caught in a five hour jam across the Penang Bridge (Malaysia) at a heat of 36 Celsius. When I cross the bridge, I saw few Mercedes, BMWs and other "luxury" cars parked aside for overheating. And me and my Beatle just passed thru and waived at them. Let's face it: the Beatle is an engineering feat, and need only a fraction of space that a BMW or Mercedes needs for its engine! It is the world's ultimate driving machine.
Abd Rahman, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I hated the beetle my folks would pick me up from school in the beetle and I was so ashamed as it had different colour wings and every beetle owner would wave to each other (which i found a little sad) - one good point was a pair of tights made great fan belt replacements in an emergency.
Nick, Wales

It was a wonderful car which took me all over Western Europe without a problem William Blair, Canada

My "Kaefer", as VWs were called in Germany was a baby blue 1967 1300 purchased second hand in Munich in 1971. It was a wonderful car which took me all over Western Europe without a problem. I ended up selling it in London to a Nigerian barrister who was planning to ship it back to his country. The only problem was that he didn't want the snow tires as there was no snow where he was going!
William Blair, Canada

I had bought a brand new VW1300 way back in 1969. It lasted 10 years. My memories are reliability, rust and more rust.
V.B. Carbott, Malta

Had a blue 1200 Beetle, loved the car. One day I was driving it into a head wind with my foot to the floor. Only could get 45 miles per hour out of it. Then when I had the wind to my back it went 75 miles an hour.
Joe Lor, Canada

I am glad to hear that VW have decided to stop making this characterless car they call a 'beetle'. The name is where the similarities end with the original beetle; ok the new version is basically an ugly Golf so it does not suffer from the terrible handling and reliability of its predecessor (I had to put a concrete block in the front to help it round corners!), but at least the original had a head turning presence on the road!
Dave, Devon, UK