Contents. Volkswagen Beetle - The Car of the 20th Century

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1 Volkswagen Beetle - The Car of the 20th Century Contents Key: The location of separate text/data panels within the chapters is shown by blue type. The location of featured cars is shown by italic type. Introduction...6 Acknowledgements...7 Bibliography... 8 Section One: History - The People and the Policy...9 An unlikely duo creates a masterpiece Hooray for the British!...14 A golden age...18 The challenge from within...22 A long and happy exile in South America, but hardly a retirement...25 The official pretender to the throne...27 Section Two: Evolution - The Creation of 'Der Weltmeister'...28 By way of an explanation, for those who haven't yet caught 'The Bug'!...29 The Split-Window Beetle, The KdF-Wagen The early post-war Beetles Another cog in the VW wheel Pon my word - The Beetle goes Dutch Here comes Baber in his Beetle Feature: Standard Feature: Deluxe The Beetle attempts another American landing Feature: Deluxe Paint colours Landmarks of the Split era The Oval-Window Beetle, The Beetle invades Britain If at first you don't succeed... try another Beetle onslaught Feature: Deluxe 'Eine millionen' (January July 1955) Feature: Deluxe American Specification (August July 1956) (August July 1957) Paint colours Feature: 1957 Deluxe American Specification The Latin connection Landmarks of the Oval era The Classic Link-Pin Beetles,

2 1958 (August July 1958) Feature: Deluxe The marketing men belittle the Beetle: most successfully! (August July 1959) (August July 1960) Feature: Deluxe Feature: Deluxe Whatever became of the KdF Savers? Just who did own Volkswagen? (August July 1961) Feature: 1962 Deluxe (August July 1962) (August July 1963) (August July 1964) Landmarks of the years Paint colours Setting the standard - The tale of the Base-Model Beetle, July December Feature: Raising the Standard once more The last years of the 'Sloping Headlamps', (August July 1965) Feature: Sun-roof Something of a challenge erupts in the United States (August July 1966) (August July 1967) A tale of mixed fortunes in Australia Feature: American Specification Feature: European Specifications Paint colours From assembly to manufacture in Mexico Landmarks of the years The era of the 'Vertical Headlamp' Models, (August July 1968) Farewell to Heinz Nordhoff (August July 1969) Feature: (August July 1970) Der Weltmeister (August July 1971) Feature: S (August July 1972) 'Hot property' - The GT Beetle Supplementing sales requires something a bit special Feature: S 'Big Beetle' (August July 1973) (August July 1974) Feature: Something a bit special for the States The South African satellite (August July 1975) The time has come to say adieu... - The Last Edition Beetle Four and a half million owners can t all be wrong So, you thought the Beetle was German? Paint colours (August 1975) to the end of German Production (January 1978) Landmarks of the years 1968 to 'Hecho en Mexico', 1978 Onwards A veritable deluge of limited edition Beetles Feature: L 'Velvet Red' Limited Edition The quirks of the Brazilian connection Feature: '50 Jahre Käfer' The company that produced the 20 millionth Beetle to the End of the Century Car of cars Feature: The Beetle of Today The Beetle in Europe in the 21st century Paint colours (to the end of exports to Germany) Landmarks of the years 1978 onwards Section Three: A Beetle for the Elite The Evolution of the Cabriolet The dark days of the Strength Through Joy car A period of British ingenuity The seeds of a 30-year life-span The all-too-brief Hebmüller Experience Promoting the Convertible The Karmann Connection The evolution of the Karmann Cabriolet Cabriolet production figures Index

3 An unlikely duo create a masterpiece his own consultancy, 'Dr-Ing. h.c. Ferdinand Porsche, G.m.b.H.', was a crucial step forward in the history of the development of the Beetle. Finally free from restrictions, Porsche could pursue both technical projects and his ideas for a small car unhindered, providing the prospects for the latter's adoption by a manufacturer somewhere looked optimistic. The passing of the years had seen the introduction of a number of small cars, including Fiat's diminutive Topolino and models by Standard, Morris and Jowett. To Porsche, however, many of the cars seemed not only impractical, but also intrinsically flawed. His notebooks and accompanying sketches, dating from 1930, indicate that he favoured a car of unitary construction. The body should fulfil the task of stiffening the chassis, whose weight might in turn be reduced. As it seemed highly unlikely that road surfaces would be improved in the foreseeable future, an important criteria was the use of independent suspension for a more comfortable ride, and the notion of torsion bars, used in conjunction with trailing links, was conceived. By December 1931, the small-car idea had progressed sufficiently to either consider a prototype, or to find a manufacturer who would be interested in the design. However, what was on the drawing board was far from conventional. The design was beetleshaped in appearance, had two doors, four-wheel independent suspension, and a three-cylinder air-cooled radial engine at the rear. Overall, the length was 8ft 1in, and it had a nett weight of 1340lb, with an engine which produced 26.6bhp at 3500rpm. Dr Fritz Neumeyer, owner of the Zundapp motorcycle works was the first to show interest. Pursuing his aim to produce a 'Volksauto'; a cheap car the bike owner of today might aspire to tomorrow, his only objection to Porsche's design was the air-cooled engine, which he believed would be too noisy and, with only three cylinders, unable to guarantee smooth performance. So, on Neumeyer's suggestion, the prototype built in 1932 came complete with a watercooled five-cylinder radial engine. Unfortunately, this unit proved unreliable and, when coupled with suspension problems and economic conditions far from conducive to the financing of a production run, the two men parted, albeit still the best of friends. Porsche took his 'Volksauto' to Zundapp's main competitors of the day, namely NSU, rekindled his aircooled engine option and was given a contract to produce three prototypes. The result was a push rod In all probability, despite Ferdinand Porsche's acknowledged genius, the Beetle, or the KdF-Wagen as it was renamed at the factory foundation stone laying ceremony in 1938, wouldn't have become a reality if it hadn't been for the determination of Adolf Hitler. (Courtesy VW). operated, overhead valve, horizontally-opposed-fourcylinder engine, and a redesigned, but still unconventional and recognisably beetle-shaped body. The air-cooled engine proved rough and noisy but was capable of a maximum speed of just over 72mph, which could be maintained for long periods without overheating. Mystery still surrounds the project's demise. Officially, the cause was an agreement signed in 1930 with Fiat, whereby NSU's sale of its car department would lead to Italian production under the name of NSU-Fiat, while in turn the original company would concentrate entirely on motorcycles. However, it seems 11

4 The Split-Window Beetle, Beetle. (Courtesy: Gavin Doole). the car was brought to a halt with cable-operated drum brakes. All Beetles manufactured prior to August '67 had six-volt electrics, the battery being located under the rear seat on the right-hand side of the car. Unlike some cars designed in the Thirties, and virtually all vehicles in production at the end of the 20th century, the Beetle had a separate rolling chassis. Comprising a central tunnel, housing such items as the fuel line and the clutch and choke cables, and forked at the rear to support the gearbox, plus two floorpans ribbed for rigidity, the overall construction was incredibly sturdy. Suspension was fully independent; making full use of transverse torsion bars, and lever-arm shock absorbers. The cars ran on 16-inch wheels fixed by five bolts. Tyre sizes started at an incredibly narrow 4.50 x 16, which increased to a skinny 5.00 x 16 during the course of The body was made up of a number of individual panels, welded together and bolted to the chassis. Fortunately, and particularly as they were prone to accidental damage, the wings were separate from the main body and merely held in position by retaining bolts. With the exception of the few cars produced for the Pon brothers, the Beetle was totally devoid of any form of trim. Items like bumpers, door-handles and hubcaps were painted the same colour as the rest of the body. Only the driver's door was lockable with a key. In the early years the horn somewhat inelegantly protruded from the left bumper mounting bracket. At the rear, the single exhaust pipe was variously positioned, either to the right-hand side of the car, or centrally. Semaphore indicators were housed in the 'B' pillars, while some, but not all, running boards were rubber-covered. The 'W'-shaped engine compartment lid carried a separate pressing for the number-plate mounting, and the bumper 33

5 Volkswagen Beetle - The Car of the 20th Century Beetles built on or after October 1st 1952 looked visibly different to earlier models. Clearly visible in this picture are the new style bumpers, the bright-work inserts surrounding the rear side windows and the two panes of the split rear window. Heart- shaped taillights and quarter lights are also visible. (Author s Collection). PAINT COLOURS Khaki Green (military), Red (Reichpost) and others. 1946/7 Military colours - Service Green (GB), Brown (USSR), Grey (France), Dark Grey (USA), Flight Blue (RAF), Black L41, Grey L28, and others. 1948/9 Military colours. Pearl Grey L21, Dark Blue L32, Black L41. 7/49-5/50 Export Model: Pastel Green L11, Middle Brown L78, Bordeaux Red L51. Standard Model: Pearl Grey L21, Black L41. 5/50-4/51 Export Model: Pastel Green L11, Middle Brown L78, Bordeaux Red L51, Black L41. Standard Model: Pearl Grey L11, Dark Blue L32. 4/51-7/51 Export Model: Pastel Green L11, Chestnut Brown L73, Sand L90, Azure Blue L36, Black L41. Standard Model: Pearl Grey L21, Dark Blue L32. 7/51-9/52 Export Model: Pastel Green L11, Chestnut Brown L73, Sand L90, Azure Blue L36, Black L41. Standard Model: Pearl Grey L21, Middle Blue L37, Sand L90. 10/52-3/53 Export Model: Pastel Green L11, Chestnut Brown L73, Sand L90, Azure Blue L36, Black L41. Standard Model: Pearl Grey L21, Middle Blue L37, Middle Green L13. 50

6 Volkswagen Beetle - The Car of the 20th Century The appearance of the Beetle from the rear was greatly enhanced in its Hebmüller guise, with its unique engine cover. Most Hebmüllers were given a two-tone finish. (Author s Collection). 174