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N0KFQ > TODAY 30.07.14 16:58l 60 Lines 2865 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 32241_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Jul 30
Path: IZ3LSV<IR1UAW<IQ5KG<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 140730/1600Z 32241@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Jul 30, 2003:
Last classic VW Beetle rolls off the line
On this day in 2003, the last of 21,529,464 Volkswagen Beetles
built since World War II rolls off the production line at
Volkswagen's plant in Puebla, Mexico. One of a 3,000-unit final
edition, the baby-blue vehicle was sent to a museum in Wolfsburg,
Germany, where Volkswagen is headquartered.
The car produced in Puebla that day was the last so-called
"classic" VW Beetle, which is not to be confused with the
redesigned new Beetle that Volkswagen introduced in 1998. (The
new Beetle resembles the classic version but is based on the VW
Golf.) The roots of the classic Beetle stretch back to the
mid-1930s, when the famed Austrian automotive engineer Dr.
Ferdinand Porsche met German leader Adolf Hitler's request for a
small, affordable passenger car to satisfy the transportation
needs of the German people Hitler called the result the KdF
(Kraft-durch-Freude)-Wagen (or "Strength-Through-Joy" car) after
a Nazi-led movement ostensibly aimed at helping the working
people of Germany; it would later be known by the name Porsche
preferred: Volkswagen, or "people's car."
The first production-ready Kdf-Wagen debuted at the Berlin Motor
Show in 1939; the international press soon dubbed it the "Beetle"
for its distinctive rounded shape. During World War II, the
factory in Kdf-stat (later renamed Wolfsburg) continued to make
Beetles, though it was largely dedicated to production of war
vehicles. Production was halted under threat of Allied bombing in
August 1944 and did not resume until after the war, under British
control. Though VW sales were initially slower in the United
States compared with the rest of the world, by 1960 the Beetle
was the top-selling import in America, thanks to an iconic ad
campaign by the firm Doyle Dane Bernbach. In 1972, the Beetle
surpassed the longstanding worldwide production record of 15
million vehicles, set by Ford Motor Company's legendary Model T
between 1908 and 1927. It also became a worldwide cultural icon,
featuring prominently in the hit 1969 movie "The Love Bug" (which
starred a Beetle named Herbie) and on the cover of the Beatles
album "Abbey Road."
In 1977, however, the Beetle, with its rear-mounted,
air-cooled-engine, was banned in America for failing to meet
safety and emission standards. Worldwide sales of the car shrank
by the late 1970s and by 1988, the classic Beetle was sold only
in Mexico. Due to increased competition from other manufacturers
of inexpensive compact cars, and a Mexican decision to phase out
two-door taxis, Volkswagen decided to discontinue production of
the classic bug in 2003. The final count of 21,529,464,
incidentally, did not include the original 600 cars built by the
Nazis prior to World War II.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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