What is it: You know the VW Jetta, I know the Jetta, everyone knows the Jetta. It鈥檚 been around for, oh, about 40 years now. This year marks the seventh generation of the small sedan and with it new front and rear fascias, a new platform (larger in every dimension) and an updated interior. All 2019 Jettas come with the company鈥檚 MIB II infotainment, which uses capacitive touch like a smartphone as opposed to a resistive touchscreen that requires pressure. That鈥檚 double edged sword, and I鈥檒l explain in a minute. Highlights: Besides the Jetta GLI, the only engine option for 2019 is a 147-hp, 184 lb-ft 1.4-liter turbocharged I4. You can still get a six-speed manual-equipped Jetta, but not in this top-spec SEL Premium model. It adds 17-inch alloy wheels, an 8-inch touchscreen navigation setup and leather seats in addition to the Beats Audio system, ambient lighting Digital Cockpit and other standard features on less expensive models.
Nothing says 鈥淣ew Beetle鈥?like a perfectly pink paint job and a white leather interior. Volkswagen has long been about the people鈥檚 car. After all, it鈥檚 in the name, and is a beautifully simple premise: Build quality cars for all people. Cars we want to drive, love to drive, and that last for a long time. A quality car for a fair price. So simple. And yet so complicated. Do it right and the next thing you know, ambitions take over. There鈥檚 talk of reaching unheard-of sales volumes, of becoming the largest carmaker in the world. Lines get crossed. Mistakes are made. For Volkswagen, it has at times meant that the automaker sells vehicles that fail to meet consumer demands, like the Routan. Or builds wacky special editions, like the New Beetle Barbie car. Or gets caught in a bramble patch of deception, like the infamous diesel scandal. Throughout its illustrious and brilliant history, VW has strived to build and sell simple cars that people love. Yet, over the decades, a few just didn鈥檛 quite come close to the goal, and a few displayed cold and calculated expressions of misplaced ambition.
Our list of the ten worst Volkswagens of all time is based on the following: they had to be terrible, dull, weird, pointless, or all of the above. The 10 worst VWs are listed below, in chronological order. The Volkswagen 411/412 lasted just four years in America. Say goodnight, sweet air-cooled, rear-drive, rear-engine car. You were great for a good long time, but by the late 1960s a little innovation called the front-wheel-drive car came along. And you, ultimately, were kaput. Of course, in the mid-1970s Volkswagen built a groundbreaking front-driver called the Golf (Rabbit). But in the late 1960s, at a time when the Beetle was still so popular, and VW was building everything around a rear-drive, rear-mounted, air-cooled engine configuration, it made sense to use the off-the-shelf components at hand. It was a weird-looking creature with a long and horrible snout, terrible gas mileage, and virtually no zip. But it had the traditional VW drivetrain layout, and also boasted four doors - a 鈥渓andmark鈥?achievement for VW that spawned the 鈥渇our doors, 11 years too late鈥?saying.
VW鈥檚 first-ever large car-like thing just didn鈥檛 get much love. At best, buyers were unimpressed. The VW Thing was cool for soldiers, and as a Hot Wheels collectible. When I was a child, I played with childish things. But then I grew up and got rid of my VW Thing infatuation. Heck, if it鈥檚 called a 鈥淭hing,鈥?it ought to be able to crawl rocks, right? The Volkswagen 181 was instead a slightly more capable street car wrapped in a brilliant marketing plan. Inspired by the German military鈥檚 Type 82 Kubelwagen, but with Beetle powertrain mechanicals and Type 2 Transporter suspension components, the Thing became a one-hit wonder thanks to a colorful paint palette and some crazy stickers. It didn鈥檛 really go off-road, but it was a beach favorite. It was as slow as a long August day, with just 48 horsepower to start. And, let鈥檚 face it: the thing was ugly. Yeah, I know. It was cool!
