Volkswagen Beetle

Volkswagen Beetle

It's difficult to believe that one of the world's most popular cars can trace its origins back to 1930s Germany.

Since the design first surfaced in 1936 as Adolf Hitler's plan to create a car accessible to everyone - hence Volkswagen literally means "people's car" - the little Beetle's ageless appeal has helped it out-live such modern scientific miracles as DDT. The latter was also a creation of the Second World War, its insecticidal properties discovered in 1942. But DDT's 30-year life span, before a public outcry against its widespread use in 1972, falls far short of the fabled Beetle's '68-year run.

It's hard not to love the ugly little Bug, with its friendly face and big personality. Disney even made movies about the cute car-actor. Remember Herb the Love Bug and its sequels?

Although prototypes of the car appeared from 1936 onward, the war stalled production plans and it would have subsequently died had the British Army not assumed control of the Wolfsburg factory where the Bug was built. In 1948, control was handed back to Germany and home market sales accelerated.

Heinz Nordhoff, a former senior manager at Opel, was recruited to run the factory. Apart from the introduction of a commercial variant (the famous VW Camper of Flower Power fame) and the Karmann Ghia sports car, Nordhoff pursued a one-model policy until shortly before his death in 1968.

Production of the original Bug increased dramatically over the years, topping one million by 1954. Nordhoff also recognized that VW's and the Beetle's future lay in exports and he worked tirelessly to get his odd little car accepted in foreign markets. The first U.S. spec model arrived in 1949 and sales soon soared.

Volkswagen Beetle

Volkswagen Beetle

Small but significant improvements were made every year, although the Beetle's distinctive rounded shape and air-cooled, flat-4, rear-mounted engine were retained. For example, the rear window gradually grew larger with the passing years. The original design had no back window at all, but a split rear window was added when the Bug went into production. Then came an oval design, and finally a rectangular window.

A torsion-bar suspension was used right up to the '70s, when the Super Beetle became available with MacPherson struts at the front and front disc brakes replaced the old drum type. The size of the aluminum, flat-4, pushrod engine grew from 1131 cc to 1200 cc in the 1950s. But calls for a faster, more modern Volkswagen Beetle were answered in the mid '60s with the 1300 and 1500 models, which gained an all-synchromesh gearbox and even could be had with a semi-automatic transmission.

Volkswagen Beetle

Through the 1960s and early '70s, the Beetle gradually became outdated, though strong North American exports, innovative advertising and growing reputation for reliability helped production figures surpass the mark set by the previous record holder, Ford's Model T. By 1973, more than 16 million Beetles had scurried from Wolfsburg.

Like its competitors, the Mini and the Citroen 2CV, the original-shape Beetle long outlasted predictions of its life span. More so than those cars, it maintains a strong following worldwide, being regarded as something of a "cult" car since its 1960s association with the hippie movement. By 2002 there had been more than 21 million produced.

On July 21, 2003, the last old-style Volkswagen Beetle rolled off its production line in Puebla, Mexico. It was car number 21,529,464 of the model, and was immediately shipped off to the company's museum in Wolfsburg. In true Mexican fashion, a mariachi band serenaded the last car in the 68-year-old history. The last car was nicknamed El Rey, which is Spanish for "The King."

Volkswagen Beetle