Car and Driver: Volkswagen Beetle Dethroned As America’s Geekiest Car

The Volkswagen Beetle, tricked out in a squad-car-like black-and-white livery, has been a roving billboard for the Geek Squad since 2004. But the tech-savvy nerds have a new cruiser, the Toyota Prius C.

The humblest of all Prius variants, the C musters a total of 99 horsepower from its 1.5-liter four-cylinder and electric motor, but its greater bragging point is its fuel economy: The EPA estimates are 53 mpg city and 46 on the highway. That city number beat all comers when the C was introduced in 2012, but the standard Prius now eclipses it. Still, in announcing the new Geekmobile, parent company Best Buy notes that its fuel economy rating is more than double that of the outgoing Beetle.

Besides their modernized livery (with a redesigned logo!), the Prius C Geekmobiles are tricked out with plastic bins in the back full of geeky supplies, such as cables, routers, and keyboards.

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The company notes that its original Geekmobiles—various classics including a ’53 Morris Minor and a 1960 Ford Falcon preceded the Beetle fleet—cruised around “always 5 mph under the speed limit, to maximize free publicity.” The Prius C ought to excel at that task. But when faced with a computer emergency that requires a faster response, presumably the Squad switches to their special, Ford Fusion–based squad car.

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