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The Complete Beetle: A Photo History of the Volkswagen Beetle

Megan Green
by Megan Green
March 13, 2014
4 min. Reading Time
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The Volkswagen Beetle was designed at the onset of World War II. With an eye on compact Tatra cars, Ferdinand Porsche was commissioned to design “The People’s Car” that could transport a family of five, be built with parts that could be replaced cheaply and easily by the owner, be powerful enough to hold its own on the Autobahn, and get around 22 miles per gallon.

 

Photo: Megan Green

The Compleet Beetle: A Photo History of the Volkswagen Beetle

What Porsche and team designed ultimately transcended its rather unfortunate origins to not only found one of the preeminent car manufacturing companies but also grow into one of the most recognizable cars in history.

Photo: Megan Green

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The Compleet Beetle: A Photo History of the Volkswagen Beetle

During World War II, not many Type 1’s were actually manufactured. The factory in what would become Wolfsburg manufactured vehicles for the war, and barely survived Allied bombing. Manufacturing began in earnest in 1945-1946 in post-war occupied Germany. Exports to the United States began in 1949.

Photo: Megan Green

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The Compleet Beetle: A Photo History of the Volkswagen Beetle

The Beetle was designed with a rear air-cooled engine which emitted a distinctive rapid tinny engine patter. Room for cargo was in the front nose of the car, or in a small space behind the back seats. The 1949 Type 1 featured an oval split-back window, and could reach speeds of up to 70 mph.

Photo: Megan Green

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The Compleet Beetle: A Photo History of the Volkswagen Beetle

The upright front windshield of the Beetle was practically flush with the dash. In the dash were two compartments and a simple speedometer to the right of the Wolfsburg-badged steering wheel. One additional Beetle quirk is that it is air-tight enough to float - for a limited time, at least.

Photo: Megan Green

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The Compleet Beetle: A Photo History of the Volkswagen Beetle

In the early 50’s, the split back window was replace by a single rear window, and some tweaks to the engine upped the power to 40 bhp. Chrome molding was added to the windshield, the transmission gained 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears, nicer fabric seats were added inside. The 100,000th Beetle was sold in 1950.

Photo: Megan Green

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The Compleet Beetle: A Photo History of the Volkswagen Beetle

A Wolfsburg emblem was added to the front of the hood. This badge with a castle and blue background was used on the 1950-1959 models.

Photo: Megan Green

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The Compleet Beetle: A Photo History of the Volkswagen Beetle

In 1955, Volkswagen celebrated the manufacturing the millionth Beetle.

Photo: Volkswagen of America

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The Compleet Beetle: A Photo History of the Volkswagen Beetle

The instrument panel was reconfigured for the 1958 Beetle, and while the windshield was larger than previous years, it was still very flat with no dashboard to speak of.

Photo: Megan Green

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The Compleet Beetle: A Photo History of the Volkswagen Beetle

This more abstract Wolfsberg crest adorned the front of the Beetle from 1960 - 1962, when it was permanently discontinued.

Photo: Megan Green

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The Compleet Beetle: A Photo History of the Volkswagen Beetle

Production of the Beetle Cabriolet began in 1949, designed by Wilhelm Karmann. It was ultimately discontinued in 1980. Door handles were changed over to push-button for the 1960 Beetle models, and sported a safer recessed steering wheel.

Photo: Megan Green

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