Volkswagen Beetle
The air-cooled, rear-engined Volkswagen whose distinctive form became familiar across the world.
Overview
The car later known internationally as the Beetle began as the Volkswagen Type 1. Although its design originated before the Second World War, civilian series production did not begin at Wolfsburg until 27 December 1945, when the factory was operating under British military trusteeship.
Its characteristic layout placed an air-cooled, four-cylinder boxer engine longitudinally behind the passenger compartment, driving the rear wheels. A largely load-bearing platform could be separated from the rounded body, allowing the basic structure to support saloons, cabriolets and specialist bodies while the engine and details evolved over time.
Export sales helped turn the Beetle into a symbol of post-war German motoring. In 1972 its cumulative production passed that of the Ford Model T. German saloon production ended in 1978 and Karmann built the final German cabriolet in 1980, but manufacture continued elsewhere.
Generation
Type 1 (1945–2003)
The classic Beetle remained a single long-running generation, progressing through versions including the 1100, 1200, 1300, 1500, 1302, 1303 and Mexican-built 1600i. Changes brought larger engines, bigger windows, revised suspension, improved brakes and updated electrical equipment without abandoning its core rear-engined layout.
The final Beetle left Volkswagen’s Puebla plant in Mexico on 30 July 2003. Total production reached 21,529,464 vehicles, bringing nearly 58 years of post-war series production to an end.