70 YEARS OF VOLKSWAGEN IN THE UK

The 1953 London Motor Show marked the first time a British motorist could buy a German car since the Second World War, but the Beetle had been a presence on the UK’s roads for a number of years. VW had sold them to British service personnel in Germany for £150 during the late 1940s, and on demob, they were allowed to take their Beetles home.

By 1952, the government granted John Colborne-Baber, a garage owner in Ripley, a licence to sell Volkswagens and spare parts to members of the US forces stationed in the UK. On the 25^th September of that year, one newspaper reported, “Increasing sales of the German Volkswagen is causing concern to the British motor industry”, not least the Canadian export market. By the following year, Dr. Heinz Nordoff, VW’s CEO, appointed Stephen O’Flaherty to head Volkswagen Motors Ltd., the first official UK importer.

On the 3^rd April 1953, three months before imports commenced, Autocar became the first British magazine to road test the Beetle. They found it a “roadworthy, robust small car, bred on the Autobahen and in the Alps”. The first batch of 200 cars arrived in July, at £649 19s 2d for the ‘Standard Saloon’, with mechanical brakes (!) and little in the way of creature comforts. £739 4s 2d for the De Luxe and £773 4s 2d for a De Luxe with a sunroof seemed to represent greater value for money.

Many prospective dealers approaching the Regent Street office of Volkswagen Motors were former Jowett agents; the famous Yorkshire firm ceased trading in September 1953. One challenge faced by the British distributor was cars found vandalised at Harwich Docks; WW2 was less than ten years in the past. Beetles were eventually shipped direct to London. As the Motor Show approached, The Daily Telegraph mused:

Since the number of German cars that can be admitted into Britain is not excessive, the presence of Volkswagen is unlikely to worry the British exhibitors, except in so far as it will tend to focus attention on the too conservative minds of designers in the British industry.

But the same writer noted how “many a British serviceman in Germany” admired the Beetle, and in October 1953, Motor Sport was positively enthusiastic

It is difficult to convey in words the sense of pleasure which the light steering, excellent controllability and ease of running combine to provide, but quite irrefutably this 65-m.p.h.-cruising, 36-m.p.g. four/five-seater saloon is an enthusiast’s car. Its specification is enthralling but it is the way it runs and handles that most set the seal to many VW sales. Before you condemn it as rather high-priced (£739 4s 2d with purchase tax) in comparison With British cars of similar size and capacity you should sample it on the road.

In other words – Canley, Cowley, and Dagenham beware. Meanwhile, The Guardian of the 6^th July 1953 believed, “We may well respect this sort of competition, but on current evidence there is still no reason to fear it”. But by 1956, Volkswagen Motors had sold 5,381 cars in the UK, compared with 945 in 1953.

And from a 2023 perspective, The Guardian’s comment appears to have all the foresight of Decca’s “Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr. Epstein” in 1962…