85 YEARS OF THE VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE – AND 85 FACTS

18 April 2023

VW Beetle

  1. In 1934 Adolf Hitler decreed at the Berlin Motor Show that Germany had to increase the number of cars on its roads from half a million to 12 million.
  2. Hitler further stated cars were “class-based, and, as a sad consequence, class-dividing character.”
  3. The ‘Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH’ (Company for the Preparation of the German Volkswagen Ltd.) was formally established on the 28th May 1937.
  4. On the 26th May 1938, Hitler presided over the foundation laying ceremony at the Wolfsburg factory. A saloon, a saloon with a sunroof and a convertible – were presented to the spectators.
  5. Hitler named the new Volkswagen the ‘KdF-Wagen – ‘Kraft durch Freude; ‘Strength through Joy’.
  6. In July 1938 a pilot production run of 30 vehicles undergone extensive tests and took part in a promotional tour.
  7. The Volkswagen is launched to the public at the 1939 International Automobile and Motorcycle Exhibition on the 17th of February.
  8. Potential buyers enrolled in a savings scheme, applying red stamps worth five Reichsmarks each in official books. 990 Reichsmarks bought you a Beetle.
  9. Just 630 Beetles found buyers before the Second World War.
  10. From Volkswagen’s own history site – “The productivity needs of the growing armaments operation were met from Summer 1940 onwards by the increasing use of forced labour. The first group of such slave labourers were Polish women deployed at the company’s main plant. Later, prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates were assigned to work there – an estimated 20,000 people in total. They came from European countries which had been occupied by, or were under the control of, the German Reich, and in 1944, accounted for two thirds of the company’s workforce. In Nazi Germany forced labourers had no rights and were subjected to varying levels of racial discrimination. Insufficient food, physical violence and exploitation undermined their health and endangered their lives.”
  11. On the 11th April 1945 the ‘Stadt des KdF-Wagens’ - City of the KdF-Wagen – is occupied by US Force. They liberate the forced workers and establish a maintenance works for their military vehicles.
  12. On 5th June 1945, Volkswagen became the responsibility of the British Miliary Government. A 29 year old REME Major named Ivan Hirst was ordered to take command of the plant.
  13. Hirst later recalled, “I was told to go to an ex-Nazi factory. On asking what I had to do there, I was merely told: 'Just take charge. Sit there.'"
  14. The role of Hirst was to establish and maintain a workshop for British army vehicles, while the production line was to be dismantled for reparations.
  15. Despite bomb damage, the Wolfsburg plant was the only German car factory that was able to function.
  16. Hirst discovered 70% of buildings and 90% of its machinery remained intact.
  17. The Major initially hoped to produce the Kubelwagens but the body moulds were missing. However, car parts were available. By May 1945 - two Beetles were assembled.
  18. The Rootes Group and the Nuffield Organisation were offered the Volkswagen - the former infamously responded with “The vehicle does not meet the fundamental technical requirement of a motorcar.”
  19. Henry Ford II was also told by his chairman “Mr. Ford, I don’t think what we are being offered here is worth a dam.”
  20. Hirst subsequently observed, “Lord Rootes he then was, he was a great entrepreneur, but he didn’t know a machine from his left foot.”
  21. To ensure the plant remained in use, Hirst found the Beetle in the best condition, had it painted in khaki and despatched it to the army headquarters in Bad Oeynhause.
  22. The need for transportation was immense - the British Zone of Germany comprised 22 million inhabitants with 61,000 motorcars, many of which were worn out while the railway network was in ruins.
  23. On the 22nd August 1945 the British army ordered 20,000 Beetles.
  24. By October 1946 the plant made its 10,000th
  25. Some British service personnel were allowed to take their Beetles back to the UK on de-mob.
  26. The 1947 Paris Motor Show was the Beetle’s first appearance to potential global customers.
  27. Five Beetles sent to The Netherlands in 1947 represented the first export VWs.
  28. Heinrich Nordhoff, become Volkswagen’s Managing Director on the 1st January 1948.
  29. Volkswagen patented its now-famous badge in 1948.
  30. By August 1948 Volkswagen had to temporarily halt sales as the factory could not keep pace with the high demand.
  31. The 22nd July 1949 also saw the start of production of the Beetle Cabriolet at the Karmanncoachbuilding firm in Osnabrück.
  32. On the 8th October 1949, the British military government transferred control of ‘Volkswagenwerk GmbH’ to the Federal Government.
  33. The 1949 ‘Export’ version - with extra chrome, a new steering wheel, and a removable dashboard plate for fitting a radio – reflected Volkswagen’s ambitions.
  34. US sales commenced in 1949, with just two cars.
  35. Karmann and Hebmüller, made a small number of doorless ‘Polizei Cabriolets’.
  36. Friedrich Rometsch of Berlin converted 38 long-wheelbase four-door Beetles for the taxi market.
  37. The Beetle became available with a sunroof and very welcome hydraulic brakes in 1950.
  38. Irish assembly began in 1950.
  39. The 4th March 1950 saw production exceed 100,000. VW employees received an annual bonus of up to DM 120.
  40. South African assembly began in October 1951.
  41. The ‘crash’ transmission was replaced by synchromesh second, third and fourth gears for the De Luxe in 1952.
  42. 1952 also saw the Kent businessman John Colborne-Baber import small numbers of Beetles. His main cu largely to satisfy demand from US Air Force personnel stationed in Kent.
  43. An oval rear screen replaced the split panes in March 1953.
  44. Japanese sales began in 1953.
  45. Volkswagen became the first German manufacture to exhibit at the London Motor Show in 1953.
  46. VolkswagenMotors Ltd became the officialUK importer in that year. The first batch of 200 cars arrived in July.
  47. The prices of the first British-market cars were £649 for the standard model and £739 for the De Luxe.
  48. Brazilian assembly commenced in 1953.
  49. The Motor of the 31st of March 1954 found the Beetle to have “considerable appeal to the enthusiast.”
  50. Across the Atlantic, Road & Track prophetically thought “perhaps the VW is like the model T Ford.”
  51. In 1954, Berlin’s Tempelhof airport commissioned a yellow Beetle ‘Follow Me’ safety vehicle with an extended rear window - to allow eye contact between the marshaller and the pilot - and a ‘Stop’ signal.
  52. Australian assembly commenced in 1954.
  53. Beetle production exceeded a million on the 5th August 1955.
  54. Car No. 1,000,000 was tastefully finished in gold, with a bumper encrusted with rhinestones.
  55. Assembly in Mexico began in 1955.
  56. US market cars gained flashing indicators in 1955 instead of trafficators.
  57. The Volkswagen became the best-selling imported car in the USA in that year.
  58. 1957 models boasted larger front and rear screens.
  59. In 1959 one in every three cars in Germany was a Beetle.
  60. By 1960 flashing indicators and windscreen washers were standard on all models.
  61. The more expensive 1962 models gained a fuel gauge although the ‘Standard’ retained a fuel tap into 1965.
  62. By 1963 Volkswagen held over 40% of the German car market.
  63. The 1964 models have a new look, with larger side windows.
  64. The first Beetles lefts the Puebla factory, outside of Mexico City, in late 1967.
  65. 1967 saw the last of the sloping headlights.
  66. The Love Bug went on release on the 24th December 1968. ‘Herbie’ might not have been a VW as Disney also considered, an MG, a TVR, a Toyota, a Fiat and a Volvo.
  67. Semi-automatic transmission became an optional extra in 1968.
  68. VW promoted this gearbox as “The most revolutionary Beetle ever.”
  69. 1968 models also featured a device that fascinated so many – windscreen washers pressurised from the spare tyre in the boot.
  70. In 1970, several British polices forces trialled a Beetle demonstrator, registration AYM 999 H.
  71. The 1302/1302S ‘Super Beetle’ with a modified nose was introduced in 1971.
  72. On the 17th February 1972, the 15,007,034th Beetle left the plant, exceeding the Ford Model T as the most successful single make of car in history.
  73. To celebrate this milestone, Volkswagen launched the ‘Commemorative Beetle’: a 1302 S finished in Marathon Blue Metallic paint.
  74. The familiar wing top front indicators ceased in the 1974 model year.
  75. The last of 16,255,500 German-built saloons left the factory on the 19th January 1978.
  76. Official British imports ended in that year with 300 metallic Diamond Silver ‘Last Edition Beetles'.
  77. By 1978 300,000 Beetles were believed to be in use in the UK.
  78. Cabriolet production ceased in 1980.
  79. September 1980 market the millionth Mexican-built Beetle.
  80. Global Beetle production reached 21 million in June 1994.
  81. In 1996 VW Mexico introduced the ‘Sedán City’ – a Beetle so Spartan it was even fitted with front drum brakes.
  82. By the early 21st century, the Beetle could not meet the new emissions standards for Mexico City and a government ruling stated all taxis needed to have four doors. The end of the Beetle was in sight.
  83. In 2003 Volkswagen introduced the Ultima Edición - Final Edition – with chromed bumpers, an AM/FM radio with CD player and a choice of Aquarius Blue or Harvest Moon Beige paint finishes.
  84. And on the 30th July 2003 car number 21,529,464 became the last example of the original design.
  85. Mexico City’s last Beetle ‘Vocho’ taxis retired as recently as 2012.