ROTORUA - Beetlemania hit Rotorua at the weekend. The city was crawling with more than 150 Volkswagen cars and Combi vans, there for the annual Easter national rally.
What is the appeal of the distinctive vehicles, which owners appear to treat like a protected species?
"It's very hard toexplain," says a Hamilton fanatic, Paul Smith, who admits they are not exactly performance cars.
"There are stickers out there that say, `VWs are a nasty habit.' They become addictive."
Mr Smith makes a living working on Volkswagens and says they are growing in popularity.
"There are not many cars over 40 years old still on the road. Parts are really cheap, so that - as well as love - keeps them going."
He admits to owning three Beetles, a Combi and "lots of dying classics."
No way is his collection of parts, waiting to be shared with other VW enthusiasts, a wrecker's yard. "It's a donor's yard. And they are all pre-loved, not secondhand."
Featured at Rotorua were the oldest VW in the country, a rare and immaculately restored 1947 car from New Plymouth, and the latest new "millennium bug" model.
