My father-in-law took this great shot of a VW on the Eje Central near chocolateria el morro.
It’s with a somewhat sad heart that I read this: Mexico City set to kick out Volkswagen Beetles
I’ve always loved how Mexico City (and many cities of Mexico) are crawling with old-style VW beetles. As a pre-teen, I used to fantasize that my first car would be a red convertible VW bug. (That or a baby blue Jaguar. Teens are fickle). There’s something inherently cute and comical about them, and they definitely fit right into the Mexico City psyche — cheap, compact, efficient, noisy.
But it’s that noisy part that’s bad — those engines in the “vochos” (as they’re called here and also spelled “bocho”) are bad for the environment and not remotely fuel-efficient. So the city is planning to replace the vocho taxis with newer models. Proudly, I have already done my part for posterity — I’ve ridden in a taxi VW beetle in Mexico City not once, but twice.
It would be so cool if they auctioned ‘em on eBay. A girl can dream, no?
My favorite VW Beetle I’ve spotted so far in Mexico:
It's a stretch vocho!
AWwww. The Beetles are so cute, but the environment is way more important for Mexico City. So I say “adios” to the little bugs.
That’s sad – I love the Beetles so much I became obsessive about photographing them while I was there. But the best I’ve seen yet was taken by my friend Matt in Palenque last May – the car on its own is cool enough thanks to the large chicken on the roof, but it’s even better to see the chicken wearing a mask at the height of the swine flu hysteria:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattchalmers79/3543386497/in/set-72157618435157016/