Beetlemania
(BEE.tul.may.nee.uh)
n.
The high level of interest that people are exhibiting towards the latest incarnation of the Volkswagen Beetle.
Example Citation:
"Preliminary reviews are flattering. But bud vases aside, aren't most boomers a little too 'prosperous' for the cramped rigors of a Bug? Let's hope not: A new round of Beetlemania would give the Children of the Boom a shared moment with their parents, while validating the hours a generation invested in misspending its youth."
—"Re-bugged," USA Today, January 6, 1998
Earliest Citation:
Beetlemania. Volkswagen has begun the first road tests of the eagerly awaited Beetle replacement due in 1998.
—"World news this week," Autoweek, August 21, 1995
Notes:
This word — a play on the Beatlemania of the 60s — has been used for many years, usually to refer either to the heyday of the Volkswagen Beetle in the 1950s, or as a joshing reference to entomological gatherings and exhibits.
