Mexico City Taxis Keep the Iconic Volkswagen Beetle Alive

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Janette Navarro’s 1996 Volkswagen Beetle roars as she climbs a steep hill overlooking concrete houses stacked like cardboard boxes on the outskirts of Mexico City.

She puts her foot on the pedal, passes a lime green Beetle like hers, then one marked red and yellow, then another painted a bright navy blue.

“No other cars come up here,” she said. “Just the vocho.”

The Volkswagen Beetle, or “vocho” as it’s known in Mexico, may have been born in Germany, but in this hilly neighborhood on the outskirts of Mexico City, there’s no doubt: the “Bug” is king.

The Beetle has a long history in the country’s sprawling capital. Old-school models like these – once driven like taxis – dotted the blocks as their original looks captured the fascination of many people around the world. It has long been known as “the people’s car”.

But after production of older models ceased in Mexico in 2003 and newer versions in 2019, the Bug population is decreasing in the metropolitan area of ​​23 million people. But in the northern neighborhood of Cuautepec, the classic beetles still line the streets – so much so that the area has been nicknamed “Vocholandia.”

Taxi drivers like Navarro say they continue to use vochos because the cars are cheap and the engine in the back of the vehicle gives it more power to climb the neighborhood’s steep grades.

Navarro started driving Beetles for work eight years ago to feed his three children and send them to school.

“When people ask me what I do for work, I proudly answer that I am a vochera (a vocho driver),” Navarro said a day before International VW Beetle Day on Saturday. “This work keeps me afloat…It’s my worship, my love.”

While some of the older cars falter, the paint long gone from years of wear and tear, other drivers dress up their cars, keeping them in pristine condition.

One driver named his bright blue car “Gualupita” after his wife, Guadalupe, and adorned the underside with aluminum flames sprouting from a VW logo. Another painted his VW pink and white, sticking pink cat eyes on the front headlights.

Area mechanics, however, say driving vochos is a dying tradition. David Enojosa, an auto mechanic, said his family’s small auto shop in the city sold parts and performed maintenance primarily on Beetles. But since Volkswagen stopped production five years ago, parts have become harder to find.

“With the current trend, this will disappear in two or three years,” Enojosa said, his hands blackened by automobile grease. “Before, we had too many parts for the vochos, now there aren’t enough… So they have to look for parts in repair shops or scrapyards.”

As he spoke, a customer showed up with a worn bolt, looking for a replacement for his Volkswagen’s clutch.

The customer, Jesús Becerra, was lucky: Enojosa came out of his store holding a brand new bolt.

Less fortunate drivers have to drive around the neighborhood looking for certain parts. More and more cars are falling apart and failing to pass emissions checks.

But Becerra is among those who believe vochos will continue in his neighborhood.

“You adapt them, you find a way to keep it working,” he said. “You say, ‘We’ll do this, fix that, and off we go.’ » »

Others, like Joaquín Peréz, say continuing to drive his 1991 Herbie-style white Beetle is a way to continue his family tradition. He grew up near Bugs, he explained as his car rumbled to life. His father was a taxi driver like him and he learned to drive a VW.

Today, after 18 years of experience as a driver, his dashboard is decorated with trinkets from his family. A rubber duck from his son, a stuffed frog from his daughter and a fabric rose from his wife.

“This area, forever, ever, as long as I can remember, has been a place of vochos,” he said. “This is the people’s car.”