MEXICO CITY (AP) — Janette Navarro’s 1996 Volkswagen Beetle rumbles as it barrels up a steep hill overlooking the boxy concrete houses on the outskirts of Mexico City.
She presses her foot on the pedal, passes a lime green Beetle like her own, then one marked in red and yellow, then another painted a bright navy blue.
“No other car pulls up here,” she said. “Just watch.”
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 about it: the “Bug” is king.
The Beetle has a long history in the nation’s sprawling capital. Old-school models like these – once driven like taxis – were used to dot city blocks as the quirky sight captured the fascination of many around the world. It has long been known as the “people’s car”.
But as production of older models ceased in Mexico in 2003, and newer versions in 2019, the bug population is dwindling in the metro 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 dubbed “Vocholandia”.
Taxi drivers like Navarro say they continue to use vochos because the cars are cheap and the engine placed in the back of the vehicle gives it more power to climb the neighborhood’s steep hills.
Navarro started driving Beetles to work eight years ago as a way to feed her three children and get them through school.
“When I’m asked what I do for work, I proudly say I’m a vochera (vocho driver),” Navarro said a day before International VW Beetle Day on Saturday. “This job keeps me going … It’s my worship, my love.”
While some of the older cars rock along, the paint long faded from years of wear and tear, other drivers dress up their cars, keeping them in good shape.
One driver has named his bright blue car “Gualupita” after his wife, Guadalupe, and adorns the underside with aluminum flames bursting from a VW logo. Another painted their VW pink and white, affixing pink cat eyes to the headlights.
Taxi rank manager Rafael Ortega helps passengers in a Volkswagen Beetle in the Cuautepec neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, June 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Aurea Del Rosario)
However, mechanics in the area say that driving vochos is a dying tradition. David Enojosa, an auto mechanic, said his family’s small auto shop in town sold parts and did maintenance mostly on Beetles. But since Volkswagen stopped production five years ago, parts have been harder to come by.
“With the current trend, it will be gone in two or three years,” Enojosa said, his hands blackened with car grease. “Before we had a lot of parts for vochos, now there aren’t enough… So they have to look for parts in repair shops or junkyards.”
As he spoke, a customer walked up holding a lightning bolt, looking for a replacement for his Volkswagen clutch.
The customer, Jesús Becerra, was in luck: Enojosa walked out of his shop holding a shiny new lightning bolt.
Less fortunate drivers have to drive around the neighborhood looking for certain parts. Even more cars fall into disrepair and fail emissions inspections.
But Becerra is among those who believed that vochos will endure in his neighborhood.
“You adapt them, you find a way to make it still work,” he said. “You say, ‘We’re going to do this, fix it and let’s go.'”
Taxi driver Claudio Garcia sits inside his Volkswagen Beetle, which he named “Gualupita” after his wife, in the Cuautepec neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, June 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Aurea Del Rosario)
Others like Joaquín Peréz say continuing to drive his white 1991 Herbie-style Beetle is a way to carry on his family tradition. He grew up around Bugs, he explained as his car rumbled. His father was a taxi driver like him and he learned to drive a VW.
Now, 18 years after working as a driver himself, his dashboard is covered with trinkets from his family. A plastic duck from his son, a frog stuffed animal from his daughter and a rose cloth from his wife.
“This area, always, always for as long as I can remember, has been a noisy place,” he said. “This here is the people’s car.”