VW Beetle

VW BEETLE

The beetle has been in production for several years, and in fact it is one of the longest in the history of automobiles. The Beetle was born when Adolf Hitler announced that cars were not just for the rich, in 1934 in Berlin. This car is also a bit controversial as some historians claim that Hitler stole the idea from a Jewish designer but many view this as one of the few worthwhile decisions or ideas from Adolf Hitler. The idea and the design was that it should be practical, affordable and must be reliable.

The car featured a light weight all aluminium body and was driven by an air‑cooled engine, which drove the car to an optimistic 65 mph top speed. The Beetle had two doors and four seats later models featured luxuries such as Am and FM radio. This car was made even more famous when it was featured in the movie series Herby. The car that was introduced by the world’s most hated man now had a car under his name which played a major role in history. It was also seen as part of the hippy movement as it was practical economical and went well with all sorts of paint schemes.

The historian’s view and information:

Mr Ganz's the original designer showcased this design in 1923 and in 1933 Hitler saw the May Bug or the beetle and made sketches of the car before reaching out to Mr Porsche in 1935. What we don’t see is that Hitler and Mr Porsche had the funding that Mr Ganz lacked. VW also used many slaves during this period of time to produce parts.

Back to the car: in 1936 the first three prototypes rolled out of Wolfsburg after this there were many other models that either added luxury or more space practicality comfort or power. In 1973 they were ahead of their times with water proof PVC coated roof. Over the years it received other features such as tubeless tires. The car had a new series released periodically and the last one was the beetle of the jubilee, it was metalized grey, printed steel sports rims, and a steering wheel from a Golf GTI. During the late 70’s the production saw a decline in numbers and hence production was shifted from Wolfsburg to Edna, by 1980 the production had almost come to an end. By the end of its life there were totally 22 million Beetles on road. Some have become beach buggies some are still being kept as original as possible, at the end of the day this car has managed to live up to its name and prove its worth.