Born: 1938 Died: 2003A car that is arguably the cult automobile of all time actually had its beginnings in the designs of one Hans Ledwinka of Czechoslovakia.
His pre-war Tatra T97 incorporated the streamlined look and rear-drive that was to be the basis for Ferdinand Porsche's subsequent proposition to Hitler for a "People's Car". Indeed, in a court ruling in 1961, Volkswagen was forced to pay major compensation to the Tatra heirs, which had the knock-on effect of keeping the Beetle running longer than it might have, because the payment left the German company short of cash for development of new cars.
The other thing about the Beetle was that the name actually came from the buying public, not from the company, which in a very sober fashion simply called the original Type 1.
Getting back to that original, Ferdinand Porsche and Hitler came to an agreement on the specification of the Volkswagen as far back as 1933. And even then, Hitler had already sketched for himself a "people's car" eight years before. When it went into production just before the second World War, the Volkswagen used mechanical details and the chassis of a number of existing military vehicles, including a simple and reliable 985cc air-cooled engine, in flat-four or 'boxer' configuration. The civilian version's production was halted with the outbreak of war, but the shape and architecture continued in cars for military use, such as the Kdf-Wagen and the unique Kommandeurwagen, the only 4WD "Beetle" ever, built on the military Kubelwagen chassis. The bombing of the factory in 1945 stopped production, but essential equipment hadn't been destroyed.
A British army major, Ivan Hirst, put in charge of clearing the factory, persuaded his superiors to order 20,000 Type 1s for use as military vehicles in occupied Germany and got production up to 1,000 units a month within a year of getting the green light.
In 1954, the millionth Type 1 rolled off the line. The engine was the same flat-four, but bored out to 1,200cc and outputting 34hp. If the 0-100 km/h of more than 27 seconds doesn't rate much by today's standards, that performance was more than competitive with its rivals of the time, as was its 31mpg fuel consumption. VW made much of the air-cooled engine concept, even if it was noisy with its own particular chug-chug note.
In 1967 Volkswagen finally gave in and officially began using the Beetle name in its marketing and advertising. But though that is the nameplate which has most global recognition, there are at least 43 other pet names in various local markets, all related to beetles, bugs, bubbles, and even turtles and frogs. Henry Ford's reputed description, "little shit box", was not generally used ...
The engine never changed its basic design, but over the years was increased in capacity to 1300cc in Europe and 1500cc and 1600cc in South America. A 'Super' Beetle produced through the 1970s was longer, had a more sophisticated front suspension, and a curved windscreen. Marketed as the 1302 and 1303, it was snickeringly called the 'Pregnant Beetle' by some, because of its extended bonnet.
More than 15 million Beetles had been produced by early 1972. Twenty years later more than 21 million had been built, in Germany, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico and Nigeria. But sales had been falling since the mid-70s, and when the new Golf was introduced in 1974 the little air-cooled wonder's place was relegated to developing countries in Africa and the lower Americas.
The last 3,000 were produced in Mexico in 2003 and sold with a high spec as the Ultima Edicion in that country, where its popular use as a taxi had been outlawed because too many passengers had been mugged by bogus taxi-drivers, unable to escape from the two-door cars.
The value of the Beetle name was acknowledged by Volkswagen when it was revived as the New Beetle in 1998, a modernised version of the shape on the floorpan and drivetrain of a Golf. But this "Golf in drag" just isn't the same.