A brief history on the Volkswagen Beetle

The People's Car an advertisement from 1939

Did you know that Ferdinand Porshce is the designer of the Volkswagen Beetle, which was originally called Kafer. Kafer is the German word for Beetle. When the project was originally launched, Hitler referred to it as the KdF-Wagen. KdF stands for Kraft durch Freude, which means 'Strength Through Joy'. Then it became known as the Volkswagen Type 1. Finally it was known as the lovable Volkswagen Beetle.



Hitler was responsible for giving the order for the Volkswagen to be produced in 1933. He wanted a car to be available to the people for the average price of a motorcycle. This car was designed to transport two adults and three children.



Only with the financial backing of the Third Reich was the Volkswagen able to be mass produced for the public. However, before this began, war broke out and the order was given to produce the Volkswagen for military use. Later it went into public production, at the end of the war.

The Growth of the Beetle.



Between 1938 to 2003 there were 21,529,464 Beetles produced. 15,444,858 were built in Germany. In 1945 the Volkswagen factory was dismantled and shipped to Britain. No British car manufacturers showed interest in the production of the Beetle, but the factory was put to use manufacturing the car for the British military. By 1946 the factory was well on it's way to mass production once again. It surpassed it's one millionth car by 1955.



In Small Wonder, Walter Henry Nelson wrote about the Beetle;



"The engine fires up immediately without a choke. It has tolerable road handling and is economical to maintain. Although a small car, the engine has great elasticity and gave the feeling of better output than it's small nominal size."

1955, the one millionth Beetle

In the 1950's the rear window of Volkwagen Beetle went through two radical changes.  The small oval two piece rear window was first replaced by a single oval rear window, in 1953.  A larger full width rear window replaced the smaller single oval window in 1957.  



In the 1960's Volkswagen Beetle sales took off.  The witty ad campaigns and the reputation of the Beetle's reliability and sturdiness helped these sales boom.  Today the Beetle is know as the world's best selling car design.

This is the orginal rear window design.

 

 This is the final design of the rear window on the original Beetles.

The People's Car.

The Volkswagen Beetle was started by Hitler to be 'The People's Car'. Looking at the way it has changed over the years and the fondness people have for the cute car; would stand to prove Hitler's goal was actually reached.



The Beetle has been modified by it's owners so many ways, that there is not enough room to show them all. The colors of the Beetle are as the colors of the rainbow. This little car has a devoted following from all over the world. 

Beetle Mania