The Volkswagen Beetle is a 2 door, four passenger car that was manufactured between 1938 and 2003, and has become an iconic piece of automobile history. Officially called the Volkswagen Type 1, commonly known in Germany as the Käfer (translated as “beetle” in english) was designed by Ferdinand Porsche between 1934 and 1938, but not mass produced until 1945. It is the longest running and most manufactured car of a single platform ever made.

Original specifications derived from a meeting in 1934 stated that Germany required a basic vehicle that could transport two adults and three children at 100 km/h while not exceeding seven litres of fuel for every 100 km travelled. Economy played a huge role in the Beetle's design which ensured that engine pieces and auto parts could be quickly and inexpensively changed. It was also stated that the engine had to be powerful enough for easy sustained cruising upon the new Autobahn systems in Germany. It was also designed to be as mechanically simple as possible, with an air cooled engine to reduce trips to the mechanic and compact torsion bars acting as suspension.

It was awarded fourth place in 1999 in a Car of the Century competition, the goal of which was to determine the most influential motor of the 20th Century.

The original design had 25 horsepower and could reach top speeds of roughly 100 km/h, however as speed limits were increased after the war, the demand for a higher output meant the horsepower was boosted to 36, and thereafter to 40. It was the most influential rear wheel drive car with a rear engine that began a trend of similar motors to be produced by Fiat and Renault, increasing production of this configuration from 2.6% in continental Europe in 1946 to 26.6% in 1956.

in 1998 Volkswagen released a newer version of the beetle which remained in production until 2010 before being replaced in 2011 by the Beetle A5. The Beetle undertook many revisions and updates between 1938 and 2003 when production of the classic style ceased in Mexico. Updates included a convertible version in 1948, the adding of hydraulic brakes and the option of a folding sunroof in 1950, window enlargements in 1965 and higher mounted C section bumpers in 1968.

The Beetle has also been modified for drag racing due to the weight distribution in the car allowing for maximum grip off the starting line. Because of the RR layout, wheelies are possible and wheelie bars have been added to models modified for drag racing.

The Beetle has also been entered into rallies in European contests in the 60s and 70, most notably between 1971 and 1973 when Volkswagen had their peak racing performance with the VW 1302S and 1303S, known as the Salzburg Rally Beetle and achieved some victories in 1973 on Elba for overall and class, Acropolis for class, and the Austrian championship in 1972.

The Beetle is a very influential vehicle which is recognized world wide and revolutionized the way that we drive in automotive history. It will not be easily forgotten with time.

The Autobahn is the federal controlled highway system in Germany, world famous for it's lack of speed limits for around 50% of the total network, although an estimated further 15% of the enforced speed limits are only temporary. These sections do come with advisory speed limit of 130km/h (80 mp/h). Quickly expanded by the Third Reich in the 20's and 30's for military benefits, these roads have become amongst the favourites of drivers all over the world.

Obviously, travelling above these speeds is not advised and increases the chance of an accident, the drivers liability, and the chances of a fatality or serious injury in the event of an accident, however these high speeds allow users of the Autobahn to travel between cities extremely quickly on smooth and direct roads. The official statement in The German Highway Code, when translated into English, states that “any person driving a vehicle may only drive so fast that the car is under control. Speeds must be adapted to the road, traffic, visibility and weather conditions as well as the personal skills and characteristics of the vehicle and load.” Speed limits are enforced in urban areas and around road works.

Getting a licence to drive in Germany is hard, and reckless driving is not tolerated on the Autobahn. There are 14 required theory lessons and required driving lessons also, and there are formal courses in high speed car control as a car behaves very differently when driven above 90mp/h. German drivers on the Autobahn are well schooled which keeps accidents to a minimum. German drivers also adhere to the left lane passing rules very strictly (bear in mind they drive on the right in Germany) so they will keep as far right as possible, making high speed driving a lot safer. German drivers are also required to take a first aid test to pass their license, and if they seem somebody in distress they are required by law to stop and to assist.

The roads are very well maintained to ensure smooth driving at high speeds, with 3.8 billion euros set to be spent annually on road maintenance.

There is actually a minimum speed limit of 60 km/h, and vehicles that cannot maintain this are prohibited. Slow driving can cause problems for people travelling at reasonable speeds on the road network, and to ensure that there are fewer accidents, this is controlled. It is also illegal to stop, unless in an absolute emergency. Even running out of fuel is held against you as there are fuel stations every 50-55 km along the network.

Despite the faster driving, accidents seem to be a lot less common than in the US. There were only 2.2 road user fatalities per a billion vehicle kilometres in 2008 compared to 4.5 road user fatalities in the US. It seems that, contrary to a multitude of information, fast driving can be conducted safely when users are properly schooled and enforcements are put in place for reckless driving.

For those looking to save a bit of money with their daily commute, there are a number of ride sharing possibilities. The idea is that when you have empty seats in your car, there will be people intending to go the same direction as you who can fill them up, and can offset the price of your fuel and potentially even bring in a profit by paying a minimal amount for those seats.

For the rider, this comes with a number of benefits. First and foremost is the cost - it is usually cheaper to pay for a journey through a ride sharing app than to pay for public transport or to buy a car for that matter. It also has the added benefit of social interaction, the possibility of making new connections, offsetting their carbon footprint by travelling effectively in a green way as the car would already be on the road anyway, and potentially door to door services.

The driver also benefits from this transaction. As well as receiving money for the seats in their car which would normally be empty, they also receive the social interaction and the possibility of making connections and they offset their carbon footprint to a certain degree. The benefit of the money makes the overall cost of travelling in the car cheaper, and if done on a daily basis can be incredibly effective.

This can be done for people who commute to work, although creating a car pool amongst people who live close to you who also work in your office might be a more effective and trustworthy method. It can also be used by people who travel home for the weekend, or for people who travel anywhere from anywhere. The apps effectively let you upload your intended travel trajectory, allowing passengers to search for trips that they intend to make and to find matches for that trip.

Users can not only take one passenger, but can fill up every empty seat in their car providing they have enough space for everybody another luggage.

One example of these apps is Poparide. Their mission is simple: to fill empty seats in cars and help people travel together. They do this by connecting drivers with people heading the same way. By sharing trips, they create a new type of travel that is more social, affordable and sustainable.

Poparide (app in photo) is now used by thousands of people across North America and is quickly becoming the preferred choice to travel between cities: it's faster, more affordable and social than other means of road transport. The Poparide platform is constantly improving thanks to member feedback. The team prides itself on building an evolving consumer product that helps people connect in the real world, and by increasing vehicle occupancy to reduce their impact on the environment.

There are a multitude of different apps on the market that all differ slightly. Some focus more on the daily commutes to and from work, and others like to home in on the environmental factors. Some even let you chose your ride based on factors like common interests and preferred choice of music.

For those looking to save a bit of money and to make a few new friends, this is a fantastic opportunity to turn your car journeys into something a little bit more.

As technology evolves, the humble automobile is become ever more developed to think for itself and the popularity of automatic cars are on the rise. In certain new world countries such as Australia and New Zealand, they have become standard where in other countries such as Great Britain, the majority of cars still tend to be of manual transmission.

There are a number of benefits to trading in your conventional manual transmission auto for an automatic. Perhaps the greatest advantage is for those times when you are sat in city rush hour traffic, stopping and starting at intolerable speeds through packed streets. When driving an automatic, you do not have constantly control the clutch and the gear stick to safely manoeuvre, which is tedious to say the least in a traffic jam, as all of the control is within the gas pedal, allowing you to relax a little and to move with ease, and to forget about the stress and frustration of always changing up and down to adapt to the situation.

Not only are automatic cars easier to drive in traffic, they are easier to drive in general. There are less controls to worry about as the car does most of the thinking for you. Controlling a clutch pedal is often the hardest thing for younger drivers, and to eliminate this factor makes driving less stressful, not to mention the ease of a hill start that has been the failing factor of many driving tests and, of course, without the need to synchronise a clutch pedal and a gear shift, it is extremely difficult to stall an automatic car, even if you are trying. Some countries even offer automatic driving licences, although this does restrict the user strictly to using automatic cars.

Also, with less driving technique to focus on, it is much easier to concentrate on your surroundings and the road before you. This is particularly effective for longer journeys that tend to become tiring and tedious, providing you don't find yourself bored from having so little to do to control your car. The simplicity and ease of mind of driving an automatic is hard to match in a manual transmission car.

Automatic cars tend to be easier to sell on the modern market as the appeal and demand for them is so much higher than that of a manual transmission car. This means they tend to hold more value over time.

Traditionally, manual cars have had better fuel economy as they tend to weigh less and, if driven by somebody with an economic conscious, where the driver has more control they are able to diminish the consumption by selecting higher gears where appropriate, however technology in automatic cars is quickly catching up to match this and these days there isn't too much difference between the two types of transmission. Some automatic cars even offer a fully manual or partially manual mode which can be selected when the driver wants more control of the vehicle, effectively creating the best of both worlds for the owner.