A superb and rare photo of a
magnificent sight of new, just-manufactured Volkswagen Beetle cars, stored at the Volkswagen factory in the town of Wolfsburg, Germany.
The Volkswagen
Beetle, officially known as the type 1, and originally called in German
‘Käfer’, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen (VW)
from 1938 until 2003. Although the names "Beetle" and "Bug"
were quickly adopted by the public, it was not until August 1967 that VW itself
began using the name Beetle in marketing materials in the US. In most
countries the Beetle is known as either the "Type I" or as the 1100,
1200, 1300, 1500, or 1600 which had been the names under which the vehicle was
marketed in Europe; the numbers denoted
the vehicle's approximate engine size in cubic centimetres. In 1998, many years
after the original model had been dropped from the lineup in most of the world
(production continued in Mexico until 2003),
VW introduced the "New Beetle" (built on a Volkswagen Golf Mk4
platform) which bore a cosmetic resemblance to the original. Starting in 1931, Ferdinand
Porsche and Zündapp developed the "Auto für Jedermann" (car for the
everyman). This was the first time the name "Volkswagen" was used.
Porsche already preferred the flat-4 cylinder engine, but Zündapp used a
watercooled 5-cylinder radial engine. In 1932, three prototypes were running.
All of those cars were lost during the war, the last in a bombing raid over Stuttgart in 1945.
In 1933, Adolf Hitler gave the order to Ferdinand
Porsche to develope a "Volks-Wagen" (the name means "people's
car" in German, in which it is pronounced, a basic vehicle that should be
capable of transporting two adults and three children at a speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). The
People's Car would be made available to citizens of the Third Reich through a
savings scheme at 990 Reichsmark, about the price of a small motorcycle at the
time (an average income being around 32RM/week). Erwin Komenda, Porsche's chief
designer, was responsible for the design and styling of the car. Production
only became financially viable, however, when it was backed by the Third Reich.
War broke out before the large-scale production of the "People's Car"
could commence, and manufacturing capacity was shifted to producing military
vehicles. Production of civilian VW automobiles did not start until after the
post-war occupation began. Initially called the Porsche 60 by Ferdinand
Porsche, it was officially named the KdF-Wagen when the project was launched.
The name refers to Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy), the official
leisure organization in the Third Reich. It was later known as the Type 1, but
became more commonly known as the Beetle after World War II. Prototypes
appeared from 1931 onwards. Much of the Beetle's design was inspired by the
advanced Tatra cars of Hans Ledwinka, particularly the T97. This car also had a
streamlined body and a rear-mounted 4 cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled
engine. The Tatra V570, a prototype for a smaller car, also shows quite a
resemblance to the later Volkswagens. Tatra launched a lawsuit, but this was stopped
when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. At the same
time, Tatra was forced to stop producing the T97. The matter was re-opened
after WW2 and in 1961 Volkswagen paid Tatra 3,000,000 Deutsche Marks in
compensation. These damages meant that Volkswagen had little money for the
development of new models and the Beetle's production life was necessarily
extended. In occupied Germany, the Allies
followed the Morgenthau plan to remove all German war potential by complete or
partial pastoralization. As part of this, in the Industrial plans for Germany, the rules
for which industry Germany was to be
allowed to retain were set out. German car production was set at a maximum of
10% of the 1936 car production numbers. The Volkswagen factory at Wolfsburg was handed
over by the Americans to British control in 1945; it was to be dismantled and
shipped to Britain. Thankfully
for Volkswagen, no British car manufacturer was interested in the factory;
"the vehicle does not meet the fundamental technical requirement of a motor-car
... it is quite unattractive to the average buyer ... To build the car
commercially would be a completely uneconomic enterprise." The factory
survived by producing cars for the British Army instead. The re-opening of the
factory is largely accredited to British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst
(1916–2000). Hirst was ordered to take control of the heavily bombed factory,
which the Americans had captured. His first task was to remove an unexploded
bomb which had fallen through the roof and lodged itself between some pieces of
irreplaceable production equipment; if the bomb had exploded, the Beetle's fate
would have been sealed. Hirst persuaded the British military to order 20,000 of
the cars, and by 1946 the factory was producing 1,000 cars a month. During this
period the car and its town changed their Nazi-era names to Volkswagen
(people's car) and Wolfsburg,
respectively. The first 1,785 Beetles were made in a factory near Wolfsburg in 1945.
Following the Army-led restart of production, Heinz Nordhoff was appointed
director of the Volkswagen factory, under whom production increased
dramatically over the following decade, with the one-millionth car coming off
the assembly line by 1955. During this Post-war period, the Beetle had superior
performance in its category with a top speed of 115 km/h (71 mph) and 0-100
km/h (0-60
mph) in 27.5 seconds on 7.6 l/100 km (31mpg) for
the standard 25 kilowatts (34 hp) engine. This was far superior to
the Citroën 2CV and Morris Minor, and even competitive with more modern small
cars like the Mini of the 1960s and later. The engine fired up immediately
without a choke. It had tolerable road-handling and was economical to maintain.
Although a small car, the engine has great elasticity and gave the feeling of
better output than its small nominal size. During the 1950s, the car was
modified progressively: the obvious visual changes mostly concerned the
windows. In March 1953, the small oval two piece rear window was replaced by a
slightly larger single piece oval rear window. More dramatically, in August 1957
a much larger full width rear window replaced the
oval one. 1964 saw the introduction of a widened cover for the light over the
rear license plate. Towards the end of 1964, the height of the side windows and
windscreen was slightly increased giving the cabin a less pinched look: this
coincided with the introduction of a very slightly curved windscreen, though
the curve was barely noticeable. The same body appeared during 1966, with a
1300 cc engine in place of the 1200 cc engine: it was only in the 1973 model
Super Beetle that the beetle acquired an obviously curved windscreen. The flat
windshield remained on the standard beetle. During the 1960s and early 1970s,
innovative advertising campaigns and a reputation for reliability and
sturdiness helped production figures to surpass the levels of the previous
record holder, the Ford Model T, when Beetle No. 15,007,034 was produced on 17 February 1972. By 1973,
total production was over 16 million, and by 23
June 1992, there had been over 21 million produced.
The photograph that the winner
of this auction will receive is a very nice and very rare non period photo that
reflects a wonderful era of Volkswagen ‘s automotive history in a wonderful
way. This is your rare chance to
own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca.
8" x 10" (ca. 20 x 26 cm). It
makes it perfectly suitable for framing.
Contact us for more Volkswagen
, Volkswagen Beetle and other automotive photos!
Shipping costs will only be $ 7.00 regardless of how many photos you
buy. For 5 or more photos, shipping is free!
(Note: A. Herl, Inc. does not appear on
photo, for ebay purposes only)
No copyright
expressed or implied. Sold as collectable item only. We are clearing out our
archives that we have gathered from various sources.
All items always sent well
protected in PVC clear files and board backed
envelopes.
We have
photographs that came from professional collections and/or were bought from the
original photographer or press studio! They are all of professional and
excellent quality.
After many decades
of professionally collecting photographs and posters we are clearing out our
archives. They make the perfect gift and are perfectly suited for framing. They
will look gorgeous unframed and will be a true asset nicely framed with a
border. They are a gorgeous and great asset in every home, workshop, workplace,
restaurant, bar or club!
First come -
first served. And you can always contact us for your requests. Please ask any
questions before the auction ends.