Volkswagen Beetle: a Glimpse Into the History of the People’s Classic Car

The Volkswagen Beetle is one of the most popular classic cars that both collectors and the common people have. It is no wonder, since not only is it cheap and cute, it also carries with it a great deal of history. Here we will take a trip down memory lane and look at the Beetle's great past.

The Birth of the People's Car

It may not be known to many, but little Herbie started out as a Porsche. In the 1930s, Ferdinand Porsche was already designing economy cars, but could not find the proper funding fro research and production.

Then Adolf Hitler came, with several sketches of what he called as the "Volks-Wagen," which literally means "the people's car."(Yes, you read that right: Adolf Hitler provided the concept for the Volkswagen.) The Fuhrer asked Mr. Porsche to make a car that could carry two adults and three children at a speed of 62mph. And so, the Volkswagen Beetle was born.

It was initially named as the Porsche 60, and was available at the very low price of 990 Reichsmark (less than $200 at that time). The Porsche 60 is very similar to what the Beetle looks like now. Perhaps the only difference is with the engine and the windows. It was the most popular car for the Kraft durch Freude (Strength through Joy), the leisure organization of the Nazi party.

Rejections and Success

After the war, Volkswagen has been completely stripped off of Germany's hands. Companies in the UK, however, would not dare produce the Beetle, saying that it was 'unattractive to the average buyer.' (How unlucky for them.) And so Volkswagen survived by making its signature cars for the British army instead.

A few changes were made here and there, and by 1950s it was the top selling foreign car in the United States. It was so popular, that by 1970s, Beetle production rose up to 16 million.

The Volkswagen Beetle's success was mostly due to its simple and simplistic nature. It is a plain, no-nonsense family car, which has a very original look. The Beetle was so original that it was considered as the world's best selling car design. It has been changed a few times, but only with very minor changes, such as the windows. The engine remained almost the same: the 'flat four' engine was so economic and yet still powerful that it was even considered as the engine of a mini-aircraft.

The Beetle as a Classic

Even though the production of the Beetle reached up to a million, it did not bring down its capacity to be a classic car for collectors. The reason for this is simple: the Volkswagen Beetle carries with it a vast amount of culture and history. It started as a dictator's dream car, then became a world-famous family car, and then became the car for the hippie generation. Add to that its capacity to win races (and even have a racing class of its own).

The Volkswagen Beetle is no muscle car. It is not even an elegant sedan. But what it has is an unmistakable simple design--a design that defined the Beetle itself. And with its rich history, the Volkswagen Beetle is undeniably, and truly, a classic car.