A short history3

A single Beetle survived in the wreckage of the factory.The British Army personnel sent to the plant knew that the occupying forces were desperate for immediate and low cost motorised transport,and they painted it in military colours,demonstrated it to the military Government and were rewarded with an order for 20,000 vehicles.A production target of 1,000 cars a month was set-for a factory which did not even have a roof-and through a mixture of hard work,innovative use of military and other available resources,and suffering (the fist winter's product took place under a temporary tarpaulin roof),the 1,000th post-war Beetle was produced in March of 1946.

A short history2

Having been designed by Ferdinand porsche between 1934 and 1938,the "type 60'proved the ideal car to meet the requirements of Adolf Hotler,who had a vosion that every german would possess motorised transport,The Volkswagen (People'Car)Beetle was intended to enter production 1938 and,on 26th May of that year,the Volkswagen plant was officially opened.
Until 1946,the Volkswagen plant (called'Strength Through Joy Town')was owned by the Nazin and was not a commercial company,rather a political creation.During the Second World War the Volkswagen factory was used for the manufacture of a limited of Beetles (some authorites place war-time production at 1,500 cars)and aslo several types of military vehicle based on the Beetle platform and sharing its engine and running gear.The best known of these was the Kubelwagen.the German equivalent of the Allied jeep.The factory was bombed intensively and nearly destroyed by the Allies as the war neared its end.After the cessation of hostilities,a group of British Army personnel from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) were dispatched to the plant to salvage what they could and-if possible-re-establish car production.

A short history1

There have been tens of thousands of factory modifications to the Beetle throughout its 50-year-plus production lift,and the author includes no more than an abridged production history of the car,bothfor the interest of the newcomer to the Beetle,and as a guide to those readers who seek a particular year and model of the car.The following applies to UK imported cars:cars sold on other Volkswagen export markets may differ in many respects.

The Beetle

The Beetle of suburbia.Somewhat neglected,sans running boards and wheel covers,this 1 9 7 3 VW1 300 is untidy but sound.The Beetle is one of the easiest cassic cars to restore,Mexican production ensuring that replacement body panelseven complete body shells-are reasonably cheap,plentiful and available through VW dealers and independent specialists.