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The Volkswagen
"Beetle" as we know the car these days was designed and
developed by Ferdinand Porsche. In prewar Germany the government asked
Porsche to design a car which every German inhabitant could afford. The
concept was named "Kraft Durch Freude Wagen".
Ferdinand Porsche finished the design in the year 1934 and the first
limited production started in the year 1938.
The KDF car was a clever and simple design which should guarantee a reliable
car. And it was; the pressed steel bodywork was fitted to a platform
chassis equipped with all round torsion bar sprung suspension. The
engine was fitted at the rear of the car and the luggage compartment at
the front. The four cylinder engine was of the boxer type and it was air-cooled.
After world war two the production started again in Wolfsburg Germany
and soon the Volkswagen was sold world wide. The people nicknamed the
car "Beetle" because of it's looks. The car evolved over the
years, mechanically it was improved in little steps and the engines grew
from 1131 cc. up to 1600 cc. in the final European production run.
In the year 1948 a Volkswagen Beetle four passenger convertible was
introduced which was built by Karmann in Osnabrück Germany. This
convertible was built until the European production was ceased in the
year 1980.
Between the years 1949 and 1953 another Volkswagen Beetle convertible
was built by Hebmüller of Germany, this was a two seater convertible.
This scarce two seater convertible was built 696 times.
The Volkswagen Beetle would become a cult car in the sixties and
seventies of the ninetieth century (think back of the famous "Herbie"
movies in wich a VW Beetle named Herbie was playing the leading role.)
The Volkswagen Beetle is still being produced in Mexico. The cars are
only available on the south American market and are fitted with a modern
liquid cooled Volkswagen engine.
From 1938 on over 20 million Volkswagen Beetle's have been produced; a
world record in automobile production.
Technical
data
Four cylinder,
air-cooled boxer engine
cylinder capacity: 1493 cc.
capacity: 44 bhp. at 4000 rpm.
gearbox: 4-speed, manual
top-speed: 125 km/h. - 78 mph.
weight: 870 kg.
Information
Colour burgundy red with a black
interior and a black convertible top.
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