VW Beetle History

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CLASSIC CAR CLUB CLUJ-NAPOCA / File de istorie / VW Beetle History

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VW Beetle History

The history of the Beetle started in 1934 when in the Hall of Berlin Adolf Hitler announced that the car had not to be an exclusive privilege of the rich. To Ferdinand Porsche, defined by him as "the most famous designer of all time", he entrusted the assignment to construct the Volkswagen (the people's car); and he did not limit himself just to the definition of the name, but dictated also terms about the peculiarities thet it had to have (speed, consumption, price, etc...). In '36 the first 3 prototypes were ready (two sedans and one cabriolet) so that, a little bit later, Hitler entrusted the task to find out the suitable place to build up the factory of the future Beetle. The place was located in a vaste zone of the Low Sassonia, in the surroundings of the castle of Wolfsburg of Earl Von Schulenberg, who was dispossessed of his land. In '38 it took place the ceremony of the laying of the foundation stone of that factory which became (and it is still) the biggest car factory of automobiles in the world. The name chosen for the future Beetle was KDF Wagen (Kraft Durch Freude Wagen), that is "Car of the force by means of joy". It is no use saying that Porsche tried to set himself against such name, but the choice came from Hitler personally, and there was nothing to do.

In '39 the KDF-Wagen officially appeared at the Hall of Berlin and it was such a modern and revolutionary car to make the competitors look like nothing (see Technique). In September '39 the Second World War began and the civil production of the Beetle was converted in military production; that had much importance for the future of the Beetle because on account of the war it had to sustain the hardest test which no other car had ever been submitted before (and today). And it got off very well: in any climatic condition (from torrid Africa to icy Russia) and in any sort of ground (in the mud, in the sand and the snow) the Beetle never stopped indeed. In this period the KÜBELWAGEN (car "made like a bucket", built in many versions), and the SCHWIMMWAGEN (car "which could swim", be able to achieve the speed of 10 Km/h in the water), and many other military models were built.

In May '45 the war was over and it remained up only the third part of the factory of Wolfsburg, seriously damaged by the bombardment. They thought to demolish it, but thanks, above all, to the Major Ivan Hirst (who it had been trusted to) the English changed their mind and, some years later, gave it back to the Germans, entrusting the task to manage it to Heinz Nordhoff. In the meantime the workers, with the last materials saved from the bombardment, had laboriously started building the Beetle again, but the production had very low levels. And it was just Nordhoff to do the "miracle": from a few hundred cars produced in '46 the productions went to 19.000 in the '48 and 46.000 in the '49 in a continuous and exponential growth which slowed down only in the middle seventies. In that period of time, many technical improvements were continuously introduced, however without never touching the original look and formulation of Porsche's project. And with regard to Porsche: where was he? Porsche was prisoner in France even accused by Pierre Peugeot of war crimes (while it seems that Porsche himself had helped him, preventing that he was arrested by the Gestapo). In '47 he was declared innocent and was set free, but he could go back to Germany only in '49. It seems that during his homecoming, seeing many Beetles along the motorways, he was moved nearly to tears. He died on 30 January 1951 without being able to know what "incredible career" his Beetle would have made in future.

In those years the exports began in other countries : Holland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland and United States. In '53 the Brazilian production started with the affiliated firm "Volkswagen of Brasil" and the "Volkswagen of America" was built too; in '64 another overseas branch was built, the "Volkswagen de Mexico", and in '66 a factory opened in South Africa too. In '55 the millionth Beetle was built and, for that occasion, it was made in gold metalized colour, with brocade seats and embellishments in little glass pearls on the chromizings. In the meantime in all the Countries where the Beetle was constructed or exported the sales grew constantly: in Italy in '63, 42.000 Beetles were registered and in America who wished to buy it, had to wait up to 5 months.

In '67 the look of the Beetle was remarkably modified: the headlight became round and vertical, the bumpers squared and increased , the tail lights magnified and the electrical system was strengthened (from 6 to 12 Volt). Even in '70 there was an important newness: in fact, the Super Beetle (1302 and 1302/S) was born. Substantial differences regarded the appearance (a front hood more "plumper"

and the mechanics (McPherson front chassis and rear axle with double flexible shafts) that were further modified in '73 with the Super Beetle mod.1303 (curved anterior glass and new dash-board stuffing). As it was already said, in the course of the years improvements never gave up, and it is interesting to notice that they were almost always ahead of their time and, therefore, destined to set a fashion; like the water resistant sun roof cover in PVC (1955), the tubeless tyres (1957) or the acrylic painting rather than the nitro painting (1949). Besides, in confirmation of the reached reliability and of the high qualitative standards as about the used material as the assembly lines, it is important to notice that already in '54 the running in time was eliminated.

Since '74, periodically, special series were built in a limited number, which had very particular inner fittings and colourations. The Jeans, the City, the Big, the Special Bug, the Fioriserie, the Winter, the Samtrot, the Silver Bug were built, and in '87, in order to celebrate the 50th year since its birth, the last one of the series was born, considered the best by the most: the Beetle of the Jubilee (Jubiläums-käfer). It was metalized grey and it had athermic, blue-tinted windshield, printed steel sports rims, the steering wheel of the Golf GTI and greys inners with strip of several tonalities. In the middle seventies sales began to decrease and in '74 they decided to move the Beetle production from Wolfsburg to Emden in order to make place to the new car: the Golf. In the '78 the European production definitively stopped and the Beetle continued being built only in Mexico, from where it was imported in Europe. In '76 the Super Beetle sedan building stopped, and it will be built only in the cabriolet version, but only until 1980. Althoug the production in Mexico has been stopped in 2003, the Beetle is not likely to disappear from the roads of our planet: great part of the 22 million of models built cover Km and Km every day along the roads all over the world, asking in exchange only a little bit of oil and petrol. And their owners are sure of one thing: if they love it and they treat it well, "he" will never betray them.

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History of the Beetle

The VW Beetle was originally designed as low-cost transportation for the working class, and after 50 years is still driven daily all over the world. Just passing its 50th birthday the Beetle is still being produced in Mexico and Brazil. With over 21 million produced, in 1972 it took over the title of “most produced single car model” in history. Born during the dark days of Nazi Germany it was the dream of Hitler to produce a car for the masses. A Volkswagen or “peoples car”. Ferdinand Porsche designed the Beetle. Porsche, who at the age of 21 years had designed his first automobile, opened his own design bureau in 1930. And in 1931 started work on a vehicle that used a radical three cylinder engine. The price was to be kept low to make it affordable for the masses. He tried to sell his idea to Zundapp, a motorcycle manufacturer but was unsuccessful. NSU, another motorcycle manufacturer that was trying to expand into automobiles tried three prototypes with Porsche before the project was abandoned. The design used by NSU was similar to today's Beetle with a four cylinder, air cooled, horizontally opposed engine with a torsion bar suspension. Both patented by Porsche.

With his plans crushed twice Porsche learned that Hitler had announced he planed to build a small car in 1933. Hitler gave Porsche a contract to produce three prototypes within ten months for testing. After many modifications to keep the car at the target price of RM 990, the three cars were delivered in October of 1936. The engine chosen was the four cylinder, four stroke, air cooled, horizontally opposed engine designed by Porsche engineer Franz Reimspiess.Public support was growing for the Volkswagen with people signing up to purchase the yet to be built cars. By paying RM 5 per week they could take delivery once the car was paid for. With the outbreak of war none of the cars was ever delivered. Volkswagen settled in 1961 by giving the customers a DM 100 settlement or DM 600 off the purchase of a new VW

Hitler canceled all projects not finished by 1939. So the KdF wagen (strength through joy) was suspended and the factory made army stoves to keep it in operation. 630 sedans were produced during the war for government use. And Porsche adapted his design to make a jeep type two wheel drive vehicle. This car was known as the Kubelwagen or "bucket car”. After the war the factory fell within the British operation and was used to repair vehicles. Major Ivan Hirst, the officer in charge of the plant made some Kubelwagens with spare parts found in the factory and that was the new beginning for Volkswagen. The town in which the factory was located was called Wolfsburg after Count Werner Von Scholemberg who was forced to give up his land for the factory.

By the end of 1945 fifty-eight VW’s were produced. And in 1946 the factory was ordered to produce 1,000 cars monthly or close. 1946/1947 saw the first exports of the Beetle. With five of them being shipped to Holland for sale. Still the factory had to increase production to keep it viable. In 1948 the German currency was reformed and this started a spending spree adding to the sales of the Beetle at home. Volkswagen shipped its first knocked down cars to Ireland and Brazil to begin assembly overseas.

Until 1953 Volkswagens in the USA were being brought in by an import agency and the numbers were very small. 100 VW personnel were sent to the US and the numbers began to grow. In 1953 VW was on top of the import sales charts with 28,097 Beetles in American homes. Their success was based on factory trained mechanics and an ample supply of parts.In 1959 Carl Hahn took over VW of America. And remained as chairman from 1982 until 1993. He selected Doyle, Dayne, Bernbach Inc. as the advertising agency for VW They based the ads on an honest style, dependability, quality and non-obsolesence. By 1960 VW had sold 500,000 Beetles in the USA. In 1963 US sales even surpassed sales at home in Germany. Sales peaked in 1968 with 423,000 cars sold that year. Although the Beetle had steady improvements the shape always remained the same. The split rear window disappeared in 1953 and was replaced by a small oval glass, and eventually a square one in 1957.

1960 marked the end of the semaphore turn signal arms and modern flashing taillights were installed. In 1961 the luxury of a fuel gauge replaced a wooden dipstick for the fuel tank. 1965 had a 1300 cc engine with 40 bhp. And in 1966 a 1500 cc engine was added to the lineup with a top speed of 78 mph. 1967 saw the addition of square bumpers, vertical headlights, larger taillights, a 12v electrical system and double jointed axles with the new semiautomatic transmission. Two convertible models had been available by Karmann and Hebmuller. The Hebmuller was a sporty two-seater model. Of which only 695 were produced in 1948-49 until the factory was bankrupted by fire. There are only about 50 Hebmullers in the world and this VW is very rare. The Karmann convertible was produced up until 1979 when it was replaced by the Golf Cabriolet.Volkswagen produced its own coach built car, the Karmann Ghia. This VW was built on a Beetle chassis and was introduced in 1955. Theconvertible was started two years later in 1957. The car was styled by Ghia of Italy and built by Karmann at the factory in Osnabruck.

In 1970 the first major change from Porsches original design happened when the 1302 model was introduced. It had MacPherson strut suspension and double-jointed axles, it was available with 1200, 1300 and 1600 cc engine sizes. And had an enlarged engine lid to fit the new motor. February 17, 1972 marked the 15,007,034 Beetle being produced, passing the mark set by the Model T Ford as most produced single model car. The 1303 model was also introduced that year. This “Super Beetle” was the same as the 1302 but had a sharply curved windshield, a shorter hood and a full width sculpted dashboard. In 1974 the last Beetle left Wolfsburg although production continued at Hanover, Emden and Brussels for Europe, with the 18 millionth beingproduced October 1974. 1975 marked the end for the Beetle, although the 1303 convertible continued until 1978 when the last one left the German factory.

Production of the Beetle continued at the plants in Mexico and Brazil. Some of these cars were still exported to Germany. And on May 15 1981 the 20 millionth Beetle was made. On the Beetles 50th birthday in 1985 a special edition called the “Jubilee Beetle” was made. It was finished in pewter gray had green tinted windows and GTi-style seats. This was the last Beetle exported to Germany, the Beetle was officially unavailable in Europe. Still being produced in Mexico the Beetle underwent some modifications. No more rear heater outlets, halogen headlights were added and the rear heated glass was replaced with a non heated type. 1986 added intermittent wipers and in 1988 the fresh air vents were done away with, small hubcaps were added as well as electronic ignition. 1990 added a standard alarm system and in 1991 the front and rear windshield chrome was removed and a new dash was introduced.

In 1986 production at the plant in Brazil was halted. In Mexico the Beetle sales were on a bit of a slide when the government announced a road tax exemption for cars under a certain price. Sales rose from 33,000 in 1989 to 86,000 in 1991 and have been at 450 units produced everyday since. June 23 1992 the 21 millionth Beetle was produced. And in 1993 production started again in Brazil with two models powered by a 1500 cc engine with Solex carbs and 58.7 bhp but ended shortly after in 1996. July 31st, 2003 production of the Beetle in Mexico (and for the world) ended. Gray imports still make their way into the USA and it is whispered that the Beetle may be reintroduced to Europe and an alternative to the high cost of developing a new modern small car. Which reflects the growing desire for an individualistic transport in a world of automotive conformity.

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History of the Super Beetle (1302 & 1303)

Such is the enduring appeal and ingenious simplicity of the VolkswagenBeetle that the vehicle which was originally designed to provide low-cost working-class mobility in prewar Germany can be found, over 50 years later, all over the world and decorated in colours and driven at speeds undreamed of by the car's designers. This site is dedicated to that car and to all Air-cooled Volkswagens.

The Super Beetle was the delayed result of a certain amount of uncertainty. In 1968, Heinz Nordoff was ill, and he had neither chosen a successor for himself nor for the Beetle. The type 3s were not the answer, as the public had learned. The 411-412 series was a still-more-serious failure, and both had floundered at a time when VW simply had no time to lose. In short, Wolfsburg was a caught unprepared for the Japanese onslaught of the seventies, not to mention the success of US products such as the Pinto and the Vega.

Until the production of the new Rabbit was well underway, VW decided to lower the price of the standard Beetle and introduce an updatedmodel as well. The new Super Beetle first arrived in North America in 1971. After 1973 when the windshield became wraparound, it came off looking like a Beetle after a few rounds with an un-gloved Mike Tyson. Swollen, bulging, bulbous, almost preposterous, it hit an increasingly selective market-and, almost beyond anyone's expectations, was very successful.

The new cars were Type 111s in 1971, 112s in 1972, 133s in 1973, 134s in 1974 and 135s in 1975. Their chassis numbers ran 20000001 andup. An improved front suspension in the form of a MacPherson strut-coil spring provides twice the luggage space as that of the standard Beetle and a far better turning radius. Despite thirty years of constant production and improvements, Super Beetles tend to rust in the same areas as do the 1946 models: sills, the battery area, floors, jacking points, and suspension points. The only smart buy is a rust free example, so shop around!

The 1303 was originally due to the requirements of a bill in the USA. A requirement is provided for a minimum distance of the forward inflected body in a certain seat position on windshield. The previously displaced Beetle models could not fulfill this policy, and because the U.S. market, the main export market for Volkswagen, was a far-reaching transformation of the current beetle form inevitable. The panoramic disc in the Beetle was born, with some friends beetles at previous models represent a slight bulge. When the 1,303 in August 1972 was the strict directive was already history. The development was ultimately in vain. Since the tools for 1303 already had decided to Volkswagen in the 1302 after two years through the 1303 separable.

The 1303 VW is easy at the far vaulted to the front windshield and the big three-chamber tail lamps (elephant feet) to recognize the slightly modified fenders mounted. The front hood is through the roof shifted to the front shorter than its predecessor, the VW 1302, although both on the long front, the advantage of a perfectly usable trunk space brings with it. He had also to the VW emblem on the bonnet refrain, even if this at the official VW photos still exist. The interior is the first padded dashboard. The seat base now consists of three legs, the seat adjustment was made on the central tunnel. The chassis is already VW 1302, partly by various Automatikkäfern already known. There are certainly the Schräglenkerhinterachse and the McPherson front axle. The Panorama beetles are available at its launch with two engine versions: with a 1.3 liter engine and 32 KW/44 PS and the 1.6 liter engine with 37 KW/50 HP. Later there was also a savings version with the 1.2 liter engine and 25 KW/34 HP.

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Elijah
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un link spre un articol recent:

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cristobob
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sper sa nu se supere autorul:

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cristobob
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din nou, sper sa nu se supere autorul:

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cristobob
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cristobob a scris:

din nou, sper sa nu se supere autorul:

este cam ceea ce zicea Misi la inceput in dulcele grai inglezesc.

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R16
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am dat de o carte ce nu ar trebui sa lipseasca niciunui pasionat de marca Volkswagen. Prezinta istoria completa a marcii, incepand cu Beetle si prezentand toate modelele produse, cu rezultate in raliuri, cu tehnica vw etc. A aparut in 2006 parca si este in limba ROMANA.
Daca o gasiti undeva merita cumparata

beetle history dat carte trebui lipseasca niciunui pasionat marca prezinta istoria completa marcii,

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Misu de Cluj
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R16 a scris:

am dat de o carte ce nu ar trebui sa lipseasca niciunui pasionat de marca Volkswagen. Prezinta istoria completa a marcii, incepand cu Beetle si prezentand toate modelele produse, cu rezultate in raliuri, cu tehnica vw etc. A aparut in 2006 parca si este in limba ROMANA.
Daca o gasiti undeva merita cumparata

Tu, unde ai vazut cartea?

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sergiup
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teoretic la orice dilar VW ar trebui sa o poti gasi. ce e drept cartea a fost editata de vreo 2 ani daca nu ma insel. la un moment dat exista si o varianta electronica intr-o revista top gear daca nu ma insel. oricum versiunea pe hartie e altceva

.

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1961 Hell Orange VW 1200 ragtop & 1983 Carmin Red VW Golf MK1
Oldie But Goldie

... and thanks Ferdinand

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R16
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Misi din Cluj a scris:

Tu, unde ai vazut cartea?

Cartea o am eu si a aparut in 2006

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Misu de Cluj
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Cate pagini are?
Nu-l poti scana?

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R16
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sorry, nu am cum sa o scanez
pagini o sa ma uit si o sa spun data viitoare

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R16
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are 288 pagini si este editata de revista SUPERCAR
o sa arat cateva selectii din ea

beetle history are 288 pagini este editata revista supercaro arat cateva selectii din

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asta da economie

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