Volkswagen Revives Scandalous Hoonery Car From Way Back

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

This was then ….

1973, the year when BS started his long career of doing propaganda for Volkswagen, is known for two equally momentous occasions: Volkswagen prepared for the initial launch of the Golf. Also, formerly staid Volkswagen became a bit risque when marketing its iconic Bug, and promptly got into hot water. 40 years later, they are doing it again. Hopefully, people have more humor than 40 years ago. I doubt it.

At the Chicago Auto Show, staring to day in the windy city, Volkswagen launches a special version of its revived Beetle. Limited to 3,500 editions worldwide, and fitted with a 155 kW / 210 hp engine, the car it yellow/black bumblebee livery is called “Beetle GSR.”

GSR stands for “Gelbschwarzer Renner”, German for yellow/black racer. It was the name for a special model of the VW Käfer 1303 S, likewise yellow and black. That car, and our campaign, got Volkswagen in trouble. 1973 was the year of the first oil crisis. Despite the puny 50 hp engine of the 1303, the campaign was understood as an invitation to hoonery. Huge discussions wafted back and forth, Volkswagen was denounced even in German parliament. Political correctness is not a recent invention.

There was something else that wasn’t discussed. The 1303 S was known for its increased thirst at the pump. Internally, it was called “Dreizehn-Loch-drei” or “Thirteen-Hole-Three” for the hole that was allegedly in its tank. Days after I started my job as Volkswagen propagandist, and after I erroneously praised the fuel-sipping virtues of the 1303, I was told a joke under strict non-disclosure and triple-secret life-long embargo:

A man in a Volkswagen 1303 pulls up to a gas station.

Man says: “Please fill ‘er up!”

Attendant: “Please switch off the engine.”

Also worthy of note: When the “New Beetle” was launched in 1998, any mention of the old Beetle was strictly verboten. 14 years later, that taboo also has fallen.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • RickA RickA on Feb 07, 2013

    Ah Bertel! Please tell me you were part of the team that did one of my favorite all time commercials. It was the GTI ad singing "Little GTI" in German to the tune of "Little GTO" in 1983. It's still on Youtube if you never saw it.

    • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Feb 07, 2013

      If Bertel never saw it, he wasn't part of the team.

  • Mpresley Mpresley on Feb 07, 2013

    The best VW ad of all time was, of course, the Nat Lamp Ted Kennedy satire, followed by the terrorist in a Polo blowing himself up outside a sidewalk cafe.

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