Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/728388
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER 2016 Motoring III UNDER the motto 'Crazy – not for squares', the world's largest Beetle community gathered at the weekend on the Travemünde shore- line. Present this year were several thousand spectators and 650 tuned or lovingly designed vehicles from three generations – a new record for the Beetle Sunshine Tour! Reflecting this unique, pri- vately organised fan festival with celebrity star factor, Volkswagen presented its upgraded Beetle and Beetle Cabriolet. "We have been supporting the Sunshine Tour for over 10 years, as it's an event that we're really keen on. It's attended by the real fans with a real passion for the Beetle," said an enthused Martina Biene, Head of Prod- uct Marketing at Volkswagen. The latest model of the eternally young classic has new bumpers, fresh colours and new fabrics. The revised product range, which includes the standard version with lots of personalisation options, the special edition Denim model and Beetle Exclusive and Beetle Exclusive R-Line models, certainly has some- thing for every Beetle lover. Talking of Denim, the team from Wolfsburg had a real eye-catcher with them: the Beetle Denim special edition model. Its fabric roof looks as though it is made of denim and draws on the legendary Jeans Beetle of 1974. One of the highlights of the meet was a gentle excursion. Due to the high number of participants, this was started in the form of a staggered rally, which began at five dif- ferent locations and ended on the Brügmanngarten festival meadow. Be it historic origi- nal Beetle, modern Beetle Dune or New Beetle, the visi- tors from over ten countries drove along the Baltic Sea coast in their often imagina- tively designed and tuned vehicles and demonstrated what a crowd-puller the cult car still is. Sunshine, high spirits, horsepower and a party atmosphere: there was en- tertainment for everyone on the festival meadow beside the beach promenade. From the "Miss / Mister Beetle" competition all the way to the 'Beetle Throwing' contest, fun was guaranteed. Once again this year, there were prizes for the most beautiful Beetles. Sidney Hoffmann, presenter of 'PS Profis' on German TV, and German rapper MC Fitti provided com- mentary on the 'Beetlewalk' on the most original models. This year's winner Thomas Wohlfarth gave his vehicle a "smurf"-style, which won him the jury's vote. Gaby Kraft, organiser of the Beetle Sunshinetour, was totally happy: "Every year I think, that was the best Sun- shine Tour ever ... and the next year I'm always proved wrong. This year again, it was even better!" Volkswagen publicly unveils its upgraded Beetle for the first time