"1941 Volkswagen Beetle : The Most Popular Car in The World"

1941 Volkswagen Beetle Herb

The Volkswagen Beetle, of which 21 million was built since 1941, was the most popular car in the world. Designed by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche with the full financial backing from German dictator Adolf Hitler, the Beetle was originally planned to become a “people’s car” for all German. However, though 30 prototypes were built and being tested in 1936 and 37, the second world war led to its transformation to military vehicles to serve the army.

1941 Volkswagen Beetle

After the war, under the control of the British government, production of Beetle resumed in Wolfsburg and at a rate of more than 1 million annually. Not only in Europe, it also enjoyed great success in the US and all over the world.

1941 Volkswagen Beetle Engine

Why could it be so successful ? There were many reasons. First of all, it was well developed. With the huge investment from the pre-war German government and the works of perfectionist Ferdinand Porsche, in additional to the long development time, Beetle was designed to be very good in all respect, plus high reliability and economical to run. Secondly, it was benefited from the exceptional quality control of German industry. Thirdly, as the design was simple and with large scale of production, the price could be set at a reasonable level without downgrading quality. Finally, its cute design arouse a love affair all over the world, especially was USA.

1941 Volkswagen Beetle Interior

Until 1974, the Beetle was the core model in VW’s line-up. For a long time, even until now, it was regarded as the symbol of VW. As it got older and older, times and times the company developed another car to replace it, but none succeeded. Therefore when its sales started to decline in the early 70s, Volkswagen found itself making a loss! Beetle was too important to VW.

1941 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible

Beetle was dead in 1985 when the last plant in Brazil closed. However, because the Brazilian complained that they no longer had a budget car to buy, the government reopened the factory in 1993 and the Beetle is producing there until today. Although using many new components including fuel-injection, it had the same heart and bones as the one born in 1941.

1941 Volkswagen Beetle Green

Specifications :

Model	Beetle 1300
Years of production started	1941 (pilot production)
Layout, gearbox	Rear-engined, Rwd, 4M
Chassis	Steel monocoque
Engine	Flat-4, ohv, 2v/cyl
Capacity	1285 c.c.
Power	44 hp
Torque	N/A
Weight	787 kg
Top speed	81 mph
0-60 mph	21.9 sec