2009 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen, Part One

The affluent neighborhood of Glencoe, Illinois is home to a curving street of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed houses reached by a single-access bridge also designed by Wright. The black 2009 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen parked on said bridge couldn't be more incongruous to the surrounding Prairie School architecture, which is recognizable by the strong horizontal lines, flat roofs, horizontal bands of windows and lack of excess ornamentation. But whereas the previous generation of Volkswagen Jetta is a faithful execution of those principles, this latest version eschews those concepts for curvaceous "me too" styling that's more Toyota Corolla than Francis C. Sullivan and an unmistakable chrome grille that's more Paul Wall than Alfred Caldwell. And not for the better. More »