The popular Beetle became the benchmark for affordable, mass-produced cars after the Second World War and was one of the most recognisable cars on roads around the world.

Uitenhage's Volkswagen Auto Pavilion manager Johan Wagner said the 1979 Beetle had been destroyed in a carrier crash after a 2006 show in Cape Town.

The car, along with eight other historic cars from the Auto Pavilion collection, was crushed when the carrier they were being transported on overturned.

"Being such a special vehicle, the last Beetle was restored over a period of two years and returned to its former glory," Wagner said. "All the mechanical [parts] and most of the interior from the original car could be used and were transferred to another body of the same era."

The car has a range of features not available on standard models, such as Bilboa cloth upholstery, black fender spats, taper-tip exhaust pipes, a centre tunnel console and Rostyle wheel rims.

"[The car] was built with most of the luxury features of the higher specification and limited edition 1600s like the Fun Bug, Lux Bug, Jeans Bug and Snug Bug," Wagner said.

The historic Beetle features a plaque that reads "The legend lives on".