Volkswagen Beetle

type
subcompact

significance

 * iconic for its cheap price and small size
 * became popular with hippies in the sixties and seventies

decade
sixties

trivia

 * commissioned by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler to create a car that anyone could afford
 * competed in the Trans Am Series
 * revived in the late nineties as the New Beetle, although this modern version was criticized for being very different from the original
 * the popularity of the Beetle spawned the film The Love Bug, which became a hit and began the Herbie franchise of comedy films
 * continued to be marketed in Mexico decades after it was discontinued elsewhere