Driver's Seat: 2012 Beetle - nostalgia with some cool, cute touches

Meet the Beetles: Volkswagen this week offered the media a chance to test-drive its 2012 Beetles for a day near its U.S. headquarters in Herndon, Va.

Price: $18,995 for a 2.5-liter, five-cylinder base model, and $23,995 for the 2.0-liter turbo.

Marketer's pitch: "Everyone deserves a better car."

Tim Mahoney, executive vice president and chief product and marketing officer, said before the event that he was among the many new leaders for a company hoping to change its place, if not in the world, at least in the United States.

"We have new faces coming all the time," Mahoney said.

He comes to the company from Subaru, which recently completed its own transformation from niche brand to more conventional lineup. Expect the unexpected from this carmaker.

Conventional wisdom: Slow, noisy, air-cooled ... oh, wait, that was 35 years ago. Round, bulbous, too modernistic ... whoops, that was last year.

Mahoney did point out that the company's past was a bit of a hurdle.

Reality: If you like the new look and the way other Volkswagen products drive, and you have some money saved up, you'll like the 2012 Beetle.

First glance: I guess the 2012 Beetle looks better in the real world. I panned the design after the vehicle was unveiled in April in New York (and Shanghai and Berlin). But as I saw twin rows of Beetles in red, black, white, and silver in front of the headquarters, my heart softened a bit.

Wheel-y neat: In my defense, the two vehicles shown in the Big Apple wore big, ungainly, 19-inch wheels more suitable to a concept car. While those clodhoppers are still available, the 2.5-liter models feature 17- or 18-inch wheels, dish-style and more worthy of the original.

First seating: The 2012 Beetle interior offers the right touch of nostalgia as well. The color-coordinated composite dash panel, shorter dashboard, gauges, and more-upright windshield hark back to the original.

Friends and stuff: Rainer Michel, vice president for product marketing, made much of the vehicle's kaeferfach, which loosely translates into "junk cubby," that sits above the glovebox and has a cool push-pull chrome handle that operates it.

Unlike the original, the 2012 also has a nice, big glovebox underneath that. And the hatchback is fairly spacious.

Sitting in the rear was not uncomfortable, and the front seats slide forward to make getting in the back of the two-door a little less embarrassing.

Simpler: Executive vice president for quality Marc Trahan pointed out the simpler climate controls across Volkswagen's 2012 lineup, and they definitely are easy to understand and operate - a bonus over some of the touchscreen, climate-control fiascoes I've encountered.

On the road: We got to tour automatic Beetles and Beetle Turbos along the border of Virginia and West Virginia near Harpers Ferry.

The Turbo is strong, fast, and tight. It made short work of climbing the steep mountainsides entering West Virginia, and handled some tight corners very well.

The 2.5-liter is pleasant to drive and not too much of a letdown, even when preceded by the Turbo.

Both cars are hamstrung by Volkswagen's six-speed automatic with a too-sporty Sport mode and a too-dogged Drive mode, which annoyed me when I test-drove a Jetta earlier this year. Shifting your own gears is the best way to enjoy the VW. I would have liked to try a manual, but none was made available.

Noisy: We had a blustery day while venturing from the wine country and quaint villages around Purcellville, Va., to the tired trailers and tin-roofed shacks that lined the first twisty road over the border into West Virginia. Some wind noise was evident in the cabin.

Cover it up: Fender offers audio systems for the new Beetle, so there's no need to listen to that wind noise. Nice sound.

Sunny roof: The big sunroof available on the Beetle really makes most of the ceiling a skylight. Unfortunately, it doesn't open more than regular sunroofs.

Clever cargo opener: Press the VW logo, and open the hatch on the Beetle - and other VW models. Cute.

Where it's built: Puebla, Mexico.

How it's built: Quality chief Trahan spoke unabashedly about Volkswagen's 28th-place finish among 32 automakers in the 2011 J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey. But he also mentioned the recent J.D. Power Total Quality awards for the Golf, Jetta, and Tiguan.

I found that the Beetle could take a beating. After accidentally launching a Turbo Beetle off a deep dip in a country road, the car kept right on going upon reentry. No Beetles were harmed in the making of this review, but I came awfully close.

In the end: I put the retro 2011 Mini Cooper convertible and 2012 Fiat 500c to the test earlier this summer, anticipating this Beetle moment.

The Mini is by far the most fun to drive, but it has its own price- and quality-control issues to deal with. The Fiat would save retro aficionados several thousand dollars, but it's a new entity in the States.

A hundred miles or so in an afternoon on unfamiliar roads does not a fair comparison make, but the 2012 Beetle certainly appears to be a match.