I seem to remember that the New Beetle crash-tested quite well...surprisingly so. I'd give the nod to the VW in this instance. A 123 has a quaint and substantial feel and charm to it, but I find them hard to spend any time in these days. The ponderous handling and lousy fuel mileage just don't make them suitable to daily driving in the 21st century. YMMV
Casey Olympia, WA Biodiesel: "I drive in a persistent vegetative state" '87 300TD intercooler #22 (217k) '84 300D (215k) Gashuffer: '89 Vanagon Wolfsburg Edition (187K) http://users.zhonka.net/zeitgeist/Misc/IMG_0171.JPG
