我和甲殼蟲有個(gè)約會(huì)

????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(tái)車是一臺(tái)大眾甲殼蟲（Volkswagen Beetle）。我的大學(xué)是在佛蒙特州念的，當(dāng)時(shí)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(chuàng)新性的廣告宣傳塑造了甲殼蟲既時(shí)尚、又實(shí)用的形象，這也正符合我的個(gè)人形象，而且價(jià)格也正適合我。我當(dāng)年剛滿21歲，剛被允許可以在學(xué)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(xiàn)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(jià)高達(dá)14,500美元。）

????那個(gè)時(shí)代的甲殼蟲有硬頂式和敞篷式兩種車身造型，不過動(dòng)力系統(tǒng)卻沒得選，只有一款風(fēng)冷后驅(qū)發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)，搭配三速手動(dòng)變速箱。最早的甲殼蟲沒有我們常見的轉(zhuǎn)向燈，而是轉(zhuǎn)向時(shí)通過車身側(cè)面一個(gè)擺動(dòng)的燈光條來提示。在1961年版甲殼蟲上，這種設(shè)計(jì)終于被后來常見的傳統(tǒng)轉(zhuǎn)向燈所取代，但是車?yán)镞€是沒有油表。我也像其他司機(jī)一樣，車?yán)镫S時(shí)備著應(yīng)急油箱。每次車子沒油拋錨的時(shí)候，我都暗暗祈禱事先沒忘記把應(yīng)急油箱裝滿。

????這臺(tái)黑色甲殼蟲幾乎完美地服務(wù)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(jí)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)稱不上完美。我從不懷疑甲殼蟲這款車型可以延續(xù)這么多年。1938年到2003年間生產(chǎn)的第一代甲殼蟲是世界上歷史最悠久、也是生產(chǎn)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(shè)計(jì)同樣特立獨(dú)行。最近，我有機(jī)會(huì)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(guó)。1933年，希特勒命令保時(shí)捷之父費(fèi)迪南德?保時(shí)捷研發(fā)一款大眾化的轎車——這也是“大眾”這個(gè)品牌得名的由來。盡管讓費(fèi)迪南德?保時(shí)捷揚(yáng)名立萬的是跑車，但是他當(dāng)時(shí)卻生產(chǎn)了一款造型別致的汽車，擋風(fēng)玻璃是豎立的，車身采取獨(dú)特的圓形造型，搭載了一款風(fēng)冷式后驅(qū)發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)。幾款原型車在二戰(zhàn)前研發(fā)了出來，但它直到1946年才開始量產(chǎn)。這款車追求的重點(diǎn)不是性能，它的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)只有34匹馬力，需要27.5秒才能達(dá)到每小時(shí)60英里的速度，最高時(shí)速也只有每小時(shí)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.