我和甲殼蟲有個約會

????我是嬰兒潮早期出生的那一代人。像許多同齡人一樣，我的第一臺車是一臺大眾甲殼蟲（Volkswagen Beetle）。我的大學是在佛蒙特州念的，當時校園里到處都是這種車，所以我也很自然地選擇了它。大眾富有創新性的廣告宣傳塑造了甲殼蟲既時尚、又實用的形象，這也正符合我的個人形象，而且價格也正適合我。我當年剛滿21歲，剛被允許可以在學校里擁有一輛車，我就立刻花了600美元，買了一輛1961年版的黑色甲殼蟲。（現在想想，這真是一筆劃算的投資，最近有人登廣告出售黑色的1961版甲殼蟲，叫價高達14,500美元。）

????那個時代的甲殼蟲有硬頂式和敞篷式兩種車身造型，不過動力系統卻沒得選，只有一款風冷后驅發動機，搭配三速手動變速箱。最早的甲殼蟲沒有我們常見的轉向燈，而是轉向時通過車身側面一個擺動的燈光條來提示。在1961年版甲殼蟲上，這種設計終于被后來常見的傳統轉向燈所取代，但是車里還是沒有油表。我也像其他司機一樣，車里隨時備著應急油箱。每次車子沒油拋錨的時候，我都暗暗祈禱事先沒忘記把應急油箱裝滿。

????這臺黑色甲殼蟲幾乎完美地服務了我好幾年，后來我把它處理給了我弟弟，自己又買了一輛沃爾沃544S，不過這次升級遠遠稱不上完美。我從不懷疑甲殼蟲這款車型可以延續這么多年。1938年到2003年間生產的第一代甲殼蟲是世界上歷史最悠久、也是生產得最多的一款汽車。它的后繼車型，也就是1999年版的新甲殼蟲，在歷史上并沒有那么重要的地位，但它的設計同樣特立獨行。最近，我有機會試駕了最新款的2012年版甲殼蟲，它讓我回想了過去75年來，這款擁有汽車史詩地位的“汽車活化石”的前世今生。

Meet the Beetles

????Like many members of my early baby boom generation, my first car was a Volkswagen Beetle. My Vermont college campus was blanketed with them, which made it an easy call. The hip, utilitarian image created by VW's innovative advertising fit my own self-image, and the price was right. Right after I turned 21 and was allowed a car on campus, I paid $600 for a black 1961 Beetle . (What an investment that could have been! A black '61 was recently advertised for sale at $14,500).

????Beetles of that era came in two body styles -- hard-top and cabriolet -- and with one powertrain option: air-cooled, rear-engine, three-speed manual transmission. The flipper turn signals had finally given way to more conventional lights, but there was still no gas gauge. Like other drivers I relied on the emergency tank, silently praying that I had remembered to fill it every time I made a changeover.

????That black Beetle served me nearly flawlessly until I passed it on to my brother and graduated much less successfully to a 544S Volvo. Little did I suspect that the Beetle would remain alive as long as I have. The original rear-engined Beetle, produced from 1938 to 2003, is the longest-running and most manufactured automobile in history. Its immediate successor, the 1999 New Beetle, is less historically significant but equally iconoclastic. Recently, I got a chance to drive the latest edition of this automotive epic, the 2012 Beetle, and it made me think about all its incarnations over the last three quarters of a century.

呱呱墜地：1938—1953年

????大眾甲殼蟲的歷史可以追溯到納粹德國。1933年，希特勒命令保時捷之父費迪南德?保時捷研發一款大眾化的轎車——這也是“大眾”這個品牌得名的由來。盡管讓費迪南德?保時捷揚名立萬的是跑車，但是他當時卻生產了一款造型別致的汽車，擋風玻璃是豎立的，車身采取獨特的圓形造型，搭載了一款風冷式后驅發動機。幾款原型車在二戰前研發了出來，但它直到1946年才開始量產。這款車追求的重點不是性能，它的發動機只有34匹馬力，需要27.5秒才能達到每小時60英里的速度，最高時速也只有每小時71英里。

The first Beetle: 1938-1953

????In 1933, Adolf Hitler ordered Ferdinand Porsche to develop a people's car -- literally "volkswagen" in German. Porsche, who would go on to design the sports car that bears his name, produced a two-door car with an upright windshield and a distinctive round shape, powered by an air-cooled engine mounted in the rear. A few prototypes were developed before World War II, but mass-production did not begin until 1946. Performance was not a priority. The 34-horsepower engine required 27.5 seconds to reach 60 mph, and the car had a top speed of 71 mph.