Not just a car

"Tinkering is the way I relax after work," says Michael Petzold.

Petzold lives in Wolfsburg, the city in Lower Saxony where VW has its international headquarters. He's a machinist who's been working for 25 years at the VW factory.

Growing up with the Beetle

His father, and his father's father, worked there as well.

"I grew up with the Beetle," the 42-year-old says. "My parents had an ancient "pretzel" Beetle, and we grew up with that," he says, referring to the series of VW Beetles whose rear windows were divided like a pretzel.

Every two weeks, Petzold meets with other Beetle enthusiasts to work on their cars, exchange parts, or take test drives.

"There are bus drivers, dentists, department heads, production-line workers … it doesn't matter what you do. We have people who work in hospitals or are students. We all share an interest in driving these cars."

Clubs for car afficionados

More than 20 years ago, they founded the "First Beetle Club of Wolfsburg." Since then, more than 100 such clubs have been founded across Germany. Every June, the Wolfsburg club even organizes an international meeting.

In 1938, Ferdinand Porsche built the first Volkswagen car, which the National Socialists immediately adopted as the car of "strength through joy."

In 1983, Michael Petzold bought his own Beetle, a turquoise convertible. He completely overhauled it, finding a new chassis, leather seat covers, pepped-up motor, wider tires, and new hubcaps.

Free shares for babies born in VWs

"The good thing is that I can do everything myself. I have all the parts," Petzold says with a smile.

Petzold's wife, Meybritt, says she would not want to sell the Beetle. When she was pregnant, she says, her friends warned her not to ride in the car: "Think of all the bumps!" But she didn't mind. Today, their daughter is 15 years old, and the mother still thinks back to the good old times.

She recalls that in the 1960s, Volkswagen of America even offered free VW shares to families whose children had been born in a VW Beetle.

The Petzold's Beetle convertible is now well over 35 years old, and is considered historically valuable. The Petzolds say the thing they like best about driving their car is that Beetle owners greet one another, even if they don't know each other. They say it's a great feeling.