THE BEETLE AND DR. PORSCHE

The Volkswagen Beetle is world renowned as one of the most remarkable and best engineered cars of the century. The car has its origins in the 1930s as it was designed mainly by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche during that decade. Porsche had had dreams of creating an economical car for the masses in Germany since he was a young man.

DR. Porsche was born in Maffersdorf, Austria Hungary in 1875. His first car design was an electric car designed in 1900 for Ludwig Lohner, called the Porsche-Lohner Chaise. After this, he moved on to work for Daimler-Benz where he first struck upon the idea of a small car for the masses. The first "peoples' car" was a prototype called the Type 130. Unfortunately, Daimler-Benz was not enthusiastic about the design and the project was scrapped. After working there, he moved on to a a company called Steyr. They too, were not enthusiastic about the project as Germany was in the middle of a depression. Then a company called Zündapp, which primarily built motorcycles became interested in a small automobile for the lower and middle classes of Germany. They built the next prototype, a rear engined automobile called the Type 12. Again, the project was ruined when Zuendapp entered into a deal with NSU to only produce motorcycles. Ironically, the next company to approach Porsche about his dreams was the same NSU. They built a prototype called the NSU Type 32. The car had many features of the early Beetles, but once again the project came to a stop as NSU didn't have the funding to put the car into production.

In January of 1933, Porsche met with Adolf Hitler to discuss the matter of a peoples' car. They set guidelines for how large, how expensive, and what type of engine the car should have. Hitler had relatively little to do with the car's actual design and development, and nothing to do with the production of the car in its first post-prototype form. Unfortunately, Porsche was made to work under the RDA (Reichsverband der Deutschen Automobilindustrie, or German motor industry association. The RDA gave him only 10 months to build three prototypes for under RM900, whereas Porsche thought he could build a car to the other specifications in about a year for under RM1,550. He began to wonder if his dream would ever come true. Two prototypes were completed in no less than two years, the V1 sedan and V2 convertible a third variation being the VW3 sedan with a steel instead of aluminum body.

Rigorous testing by the RDA revealed flaws in front wheel bearings, valves, brakes, and camshafts. A series of 30 prototypes, called the VW30's were given the go-ahead and tested for over 50,000 miles each by merciless SS officers. Another 44 cars VW38's were build in 1937 and shared most of the characteristics of the first production Beetles. The worst flaws had been worked out by this point. The factory cornerstone in Wolfsburg was laid on 26 May 1938. Most Beetle production, however would have to wait as World War II got in the way.

Major Ivan Hirst was responsible for re-starting the heavily bombed VW factory after the war. The earliest Beetles built from 1938-39, 43-45 were called "KdF Wagens," or Kraft durch Freude Wagens, which means strength through joy cars, a movement meant to give the German people a sense of purpose. A plan was set up to pay for your new KdF-Wagen by purchasing RM5 stamps every week. After four books of 50 stamps were filled, you could get your new car. The problem is, this never happened. Only a very limited amount of KdF Wagens were built, and they all went to government officials. Not one person from the 336,638 that signed up for the stamp program ever received one.

1948 was the year in which a most influencial man named Heinz Nordhoff acquired a job at Volkswagen. Nordhoff was the genius who took it's lowly position and transformed it to the most popular car of the twentieth century. From 1948 onwards, things at Volkswagen got more productive and positive. In 1948, a couch building company called Hebmüller began producing a beautiful converted 2 seat convertible Beetle. Unfortunately, the Hebmüller factory burned severly in 1950 and only about 750 of these cars were built through 1953. Today, about 200 are known to exist, and are very desirable and expensive.

There were many other companies who tried to use their custom designed bodies on a VW chassis. These include Rometsch, Drews, and Dannenhauer & Stauss. The best had only modest success. The first regular, 4 seat cabriolet version of the Beetle appeared in 1950. A completed Beetle would be sent to the Karmann factory in Osnabrueck, and essentially, the top would be chopped off and a convertible made. These cars proved very popular, as the model was produced in Germany up until 1979.

On 8 March, 1953, the well knowm "split" rear window was enlarged and changed to an oval. The dashboard was rearranged the same year and the engine capacity grew to 1192cc from 1131cc. The oval window cars would remain until 1957, after which the rear window would be again enlarged to a rectangular shape. Minor changes were made to the Beetle every year for better operation and more safety. By 1955, 30,928 registered Beetles were in the US alone. That number grew to 191,372 by just 1960. The car gained so much favor in the UK because of its endearing attributes. the Beetle was very economical and cheap to maintain. Instead of radically redesigning the car every year for newness appeal, it stayed very similar and only minor refinements were made. The Beetle performed wonderfully in the snow because of the rear engine. They were reliable and trusty little cars.

1965 marked the year in which one million or more VW's were manufactured in Wolfsburg. One was coming off the line every three second, and yet the world called for more. It seemed like everyone had one during the 1960s. The hippies adopted the VW as their unofficial icon, and "beetle stuffing" hit college campuses in the US and the UK. The point was to cram as many people as you could inside the car. Disney only emphasized the charisma in 1969 when it released "The Love Bug," an adorable movie who's main character is a '63 Beetle, Herbie, who has a mind of his own.

1968 marked an important year for the Beetle evolution. Many, many changes were made that year including upright sealed beam headlights, new taillights, new bumpers, new seats, and much more. New emission laws caused anti-emission systems and catalytic converters to be added. Many people believe the car lost a lot of its character that endeared it to the millions of people. During the late 70s the Beetle's popularity ebbed severely. VW attempted to issue several special edition Beetles, but the reign of the German-built Beetles was nearly over. The last German-built one was a 1980 covertible which rolled off the line in Osnabrück on January 10th.

The Beetle now holds the world record for production; nearing 23 million units produced. It is a car which had its humble beginnings in turmoiled Europe, and evolved into the most lovable and popular car of the century.

Worldwide Post-War Production Figures for the Beetle during German dominated period (through 1980)

1945-- 1,785
1946-- 10,020
1947-- 8,987
1948-- 19,244
1949-- 46,146
1950-- 81,979
1951-- 93,709
1952-- 114,348
1953-- 151,323
1954-- 202,174
1955-- 279,986
1956-- 333,190
1957-- 380,561
1958-- 451,526
1959-- 575,407
1960-- 739,443
1961-- 827,850
1962-- 876,255
1963-- 838,488
1964-- 948,370
1965-- 1,090,863
1966-- 1,080,165
1967-- 925,787
1968-- 1,136,134
1969-- 1,219,314
1970-- 1,196,099
1971-- 1,291,612
1972-- 1,220,686
1973-- 1,206,018
1974-- 791,053
1975-- 441,116
1976-- 383,277
1977-- 258,634
1978-- 271,673
1979-- 253,340
1980-- 236,177

Worldwide Production Figures for Beetle after Production Halted in Germany

1981-- 157,505
1982-- 138,091
1983-- 119,745
1984-- 118,138
1985-- 86,189
1986-- 46,633
1987-- 17,166
1988-- 19,008
1989-- 32,421
1990-- 84,716
1991-- 85,681
1992-- 86,613
1993-- 104,710
1994-- 95,600
1995-- 33,361
1996-- 39,722
1997-- 35,678
1998-- 36,498


VW Beetle Locations and Years of Production