The Volkswagen Classic Beetle is the most well known car in the world. It was in production for several decades, from 1938 to 2003, becoming the longest running car in production in automobile history! Over the course of 65 years, VW has manufactured around 21.5 million Bugs! The VW Beetle has appeared in several movies, films, shows, posters and more. How did the classic car come to be?
The Beetle was the concept of the notorious Adolf Hitler. He initially conceived the idea of producing a cheap and economical car to be afforded by everyone, even the most ordinary of people. He wanted a people's car in order to help with the unemployment problem that was rampant in post World War I Germany. After the Nazi party came to party, Hitler issued the building of roads, and the government constructed cars for the German people. The Volkswagen Beetle (which means people's car in German) was born.
The name Beetle was also conceived by Adolf Hitler. He said that he wanted a streamlined design that will look like a beetle, thus it was referred as ‘Beetle', and then later, ‘Bug'.
Hitler hired the talented Ferdinand Porsche to design the Beetle. He specified the following criteria for the car: top speed of 62 mph, able to accommodate at least two adults and 3 children (enough for the whole family), at least 42 miles in fuel consumption, and the price should remain around 86 pounds. Porsche delivered well and it showed promise in the automobile industry, creating the most successful car design of all time. Several years later he created his own car company, ‘Porsche'.
The main problem they had was an engine small and affordable enough for the Beetle. The solution came when an engineer came up with a flat four-engine concept. The engine was air cooled and cheap to build, and enough to run the car for several decades!
This car is so famous, that you can ask just about anyone if they have ever seen one, and you will rarely ever hear a "no".
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/classics-articles/history-of-the-20th-century-legend-the-vw-classic-beetle-4190194.html
About the Author
Ever since he was a young child, William has had a love affair with muscle cars and has been collecting and restoring them since the age of 17.
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