He was attempting to start his small VW. After about the 4th crank, she started.
The first Volkswagen Beetle was introduced to Mexico in 1954. The car obviously caught on and by 1967, it was being produced in Puebla, Mexico. In 1968, the 100,000th Beetle rolled off the assembly line in Mexico.
In 2004, Mexico was still producing the VW Beetle and while the engine was different, the car itself looked nearly identical to the 1954 model.
By 2006, the VW Beetle was highly utilized by taxi companies. In Mexico City where this photo was taken, there were 50,000 Beetles on the streets that were painted green and used as taxis. In 2017, there are only about 3,500 Beetle taxis still taking passengers from point A to point B.
In all, 21 million Volkswagen Beetles were manufactured in Mexico, all looking much like the first one from 1954.