I actually felt bad for the Beetles...they were a revolution in design that, well, hasn't been matched. Ever. No other automobile in the history of automobiles has done what VW did with that design. Maybe the first car seen by the majority of the developing world was the Land Rover, but I'd be willing to bet that the VW is first car owned and driven by a majority of people in the developing world.
No that I wouldn't drive an older Land Rover with beaming pride for what it is, but if I had to equip a 1950s or -60's automobile to run the length of Baja California at speed, I'd pick the Beetle.
It's too bad that VW didn't produce a cheap, air-cooled, utilitarian 4x4 with the reliability, simplicity, and efficiency of the Beetle during that era. Imagine how that would have changed off-road culture.