After having passed the driving test in 1982, I really hated to drive my mum’s old Beetle.
For some reason I always managed to kill the engine and sometimes wasn’t even able to start the car again. Today I’d be more than happy to have a Bug.
Even though I was of the opinion that my mum’s Beetle hated me, the cars generally were pretty reliable and of course high build quality. And the sound of the engine was somehow unique.
They haven’t been the most sold German cars until 2002, for no reason, have they? More than 21.5 million units were sold from 1938 to 2003, 330,000 of them were convertibles. 15.8 million cars were produced in Germany.
Before WW2 the idea was to produce a car that is affordable for most people. The idea of manufacturing a Volkswagen (the people’s car) is much older though. More or less responsible for the design of the Beetle was Ferdinand Porsche. This is why the Beetle often was called Kugelporsche in Germany. Kugel is a German word for ball or sphere.
The production of civilian Volkswagen cars did not start until after WW2. The official name at that time was KdF-Wagen and refers to Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy), the leisure organization during the Third Reich. Later it was Type 1 before it was named Beetle after WW2. During the war, the Beetle was produced for military use only. Mechanically it was to be as simple as possible.
After WW2 the Volkswagen factory at Wolfsburg was under British control and was to be dismantled and shipped to Britain. Luckily no British car manufacturer was interested in the factory. Thanks to the British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst, who was able to convince the British Army to order 20,000 cars, the factory survived.
After Heinz Nordhoff was appointed director of the Volkswagen Factory the production increased. The one-millionth car came off the assembly line in 1955.
The first Beetle was sold in the UK in June 1953.
Specifications:
- Production 1938-2003 – 21,529,464 units
- Body styles – 2-door sedan, 2-door convertible
- Length – 4070-4140 mm
- Width – 1540-1585 mm
- Height – 1500 mm
- Wheel track – 2400-2420 mm
- Kerb weight – 730-930 kg
- Layout – rear engine, rear-wheel drive
- Engines – 1.1 L, 1.2 L, 1.3 L, 1.5 L, 1.6 L H4
- Transmissions – 4-speed manual transaxle, 3-speed clutchless manual (Autostick)
