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Posts Tagged ‘Volkswagen’

Volkswagen SP2

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

From 1972 to 1976 the Volkswagen SP2 sports car was built by Volkswagen do Brasil.

In the 1970s the Brazilian market was closed for imports and the only officially made sports car was the ageing Karmann Ghia. As only independent car makers such as Puma, Santa Matilde and Miura were able to fill the gap the decision to build a new sports car was made by Rudolf Leiding. Leiding was at that time the CEO of the subsidiary and later of the entire company.

Volkswagen SP2 © wikipedia.org/Pudong

The prototype of the SP2, the so called ‘Project X’ was first presented on a fair in São Paulo in 1971.

The car was built on the frame of the Brazilian VW 1600 Variant, with a steel body built by Karmann do Brasil. The engine was a Volkswagen air cooled engine upgraded to 1700 cc developing 75 hp (56 kW) and a top speed of 160 km/h (100 mph). Of the also built SP1 only 162 units were produced due to its poor performance of only 65 hp (48 kW). But the SP2 wasn’t that powerful either and often named ‘Sem Potência’ (Brazilian for ‘without power’).

The Brazilian Puma was much lighter and also faster.

The car had front disc brakes and rear drum brakes and a quite impressive interior with many extra features and a superb finishing. The comfortable seats had head rests and three-point seat-belts. The Volkswagen SP2 also had a front and a rear boot.
The SP2 was never officially sold in Europe or the USA and after only 10,193 cars had been built production ended in 1976.

Of the successor the SP3 only a prototype was built.

Tags: car, Volkswagen, Volkswagen SP2
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Karmann Ghia

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

From 1949 on the Volkswagen Beetle cabriolet was built by the German coach-builder Karmann in Osnabrück. It was a quite popular vehicle and easy to maintain.

During this time the coachbuilder Karmann had the idea of building a really racy car and Luigi Sere of Carrozzeria Ghia SpA in Turin was asked to design it.

Karmann Ghia © Julia Höfer-von Seelen

The first concept car based on the platform of the Beetle was finished in 1953.

In July 1955 the new Volkswagen Karmann Ghia was introduced.

Against all expectations the presented car wasn’t a cabriolet but a coupé as it was easier to transform a coupé into a cabriolet than the other way round.

But thanks to the large windows you could already imagine what a cabriolet would look like.
The chassis was a modified Beetle chassis which had to be widened.
The Karman Ghia did not only look good, it also fulfilled people’s needs for luxury of that time and was affordable. It was also very popular in the USA.

In September 1957 the long expected cabriolet was presented in Frankfurt.

Of course neither the cabriolet nor the coupé were suitable as true sports cars but they were as reliable as the Beetle and very stylish.

Since the Karman Ghia used the same air cooled engine as the Beetle it also shared the engine development finally arriving at an engine displacement of 1584 cc.
And even though the Karmann Ghia outweighed the Beetle by 100 kilos the streamline shape compensated for this shortfall. And driving it was great fun.

All in all the Karmann Ghia was a typical Volkswagen which combined reliable technology and a stylish appearance. During the 20 years of production more than 440,000 cars were sold.

Tags: Beetle, Karmann Ghia, Volkswagen
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Ford Model T

Friday, November 13th, 2009

The first time I read about the Ford Model T was in my English book in school. It really impressed me, to read that the Tin Lizzy was able to pull a tractor out of a ditch.

In September 1908 the first Ford Model T was sold in Detroit. By that time it was still handmade. The car had a front mounted engine and rear wheel drive. It became the first mass produced car on assembly lines ever, with interchangeable parts.

With 15 million units it was the most sold car, until in 1972 the Volkswagen Beetle took over. It was a middle class car and even though most of the cars were black, different colours were produced from 1908 to 1914 and from 1926 to 1927 when production ended. The Tin Lizzy not only was the first car built on assembly lines, but the first car produced world wide.

From 1911 on the Ford Model T was assembled in Canada and Manchester, England and later in Germany, Argentina, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan. Due to the efficiencies of assembly lines the prices of the Tin Lizzy fell and even more people were able to afford one.
Specifications:

Class – Full-size Ford, economy car
Body styles – 2-door touring, 2-door roadster, 2-door roadster pickup, 2-door ton truck, 2-door closed cab ton truck, 2-door coupé, 2-door wagon, 4-door wagon, Center door wagon, 2-door convertible, 4-door sedan
Engine – 177 in3 (2.9 L) 20 hp I4
Transmissions – 2-speed planetary gear, 3-speed planetary gear
Wheelbase – 99.0 in (2515 mm)
Kerb weight – 1,200 pounds (540 kg)
Fuel capacity – 10 US gallons (38 L)

Tags: assembly line, Ford, Ford Model T, mass production, Tin Lizzy, Volkswagen, world wide production
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The Volkswagen Type 3

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

After the Type 1 (the Beetle) and the Type 2 (the Transporter) Volkswagen produced the Type 3.

The basics and the wheel base of the Volkswagen 1500/1600 were identical to the Beetle. The engine was an improved Beetle flat engine with also improved air cooling system. The models were the Variant, known as Squareback in the USA. It was the estate version. The saloon versions were the Notchback (Stufenheck) and the Fastback (Fliessheck). A convertible was announced but never built.

From 1961 to 1973 more than 2.5 million cars were produced. The Type 3 was much more a family car than the Type 1. There was more space for the passengers and for the luggage, as the engine was located under a panel in the rear boot.
The originally single- or dual-carburetted 1.5 L engine was upgraded to a 1.6 L engine in 1966. In 1968 the 1600 was the first car with electronic fuel injection pioneered by Bosch. This was the 1600E version. E stands for Einspritzung, the German word for injection.

Specifications

German production 1961-1973 – Notchback/Fastback: 1,339,124, Variant: 1,202,935
Class – compact car
Body styles – 2-door estate car, 2-door coupe, 3-door hatchback
Engines – 1.5 or 1.6 L H4
Transmissions – 4-speed manual, 3-speed automatic
Wheelbase – 2,400 mm (94.5 in)
Length – 4,225 mm (166.3 in)
Width – 1,605 mm (63.2 in)
Height – 1,475 mm (58.1 in)
Kerb weight – from 880 kg (1,940 lb)
Fuel capacity – 40 L

Tags: Fastback, flat engine, Notchback, Squareback, Variant, Volkswagen, Volkswagen 1500, Volkswagen 1600, Volkswagen Type 3
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The Volkswagen Beetle

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

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)

Tags: Beetle, Body style, Bug, engine, Volkswagen, Volkswagen Beetle, Wheel track, Wolfsburg
Posted in German Cars | 1 Comment »

The Volkswagen K 70

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

The K 70 was originally designed to be the new mid-size car of NSU, as the cars of the Prinz series were too small and the Ro 80 to outlandish for the NSU customers.

One year before the Ro 80 should be on the market the designer of the Ro 80 Claus Luthe was asked to design the pretty square-edged K 70. The bosses of NSU wanted a classical saloon car. And even though the car gave a pretty conservative impression, it had features most mid-size cars of its time didn’t have.

There was enough passenger space for a family, four doors, and a really big boot for several big suitcases. It had a front water-cooled 1.6 L piston engine with 70 PS (51 kW/ 69 hp) and front wheel drive. The K was by the way standing for the German word Kolben (piston), in contrast to the Ro standing for rotary engine.

The car was to be presented to the public on the Geneva Motor Show in 1969, but Volkswagen took over NSU. And at that time it wasn’t too sure whether the car would ever be presented because it was too close in size and to Volkswagen’s Audi 100. But as Volkswagen was in need of a new family car the K 70 was first sold in 1970, now under the name of Volkswagen. From 1970 to 1974 more than 210,000 cars were produced.

Tags: Family car, Front-wheel drive, NSU, Piston engine, Volkswagen, Volkswagen K 70, Water-cooled
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