The swan song for the Beetle was long overdue because while the world changed, Beetle stayed the same - and this ushered its end.
It is unlikely any other car could have maintained such interest and enthusiasm, or be with many features that gave it an advantage over the competition.
? Since its birth the Beetle has been a revolutionary car with very refined contrivances and solutions for its time, and some of them are still not very common in utility cars even nowadays.
? The light rear engine, for example, provided traction that would get a Volkswagen through sand, mud, or snow; conditions where conventional? and much heavier? cars would bog down.
? The crankcase engine, transmission, synchromesh and cylinders heads are all in light alloy. This makes the Beetle engine more akin to an airplane rather than the one of a car.
? The quality of production was so high there was no need to do the running in of new cars after’54.
? Because it is air-cooled, the Beetle’s engine needs no water and is in a way immune to overheating. Without a radiator or liquid cooling system it never needed anti-freeze. There was no driveshaft tunnel to eat up the interior floor space.
? The Beetle rides on a flat metal platform instead of a conventional chassis: suspension parts, engine, and body were attached to the platform in such a way as to make the car almost watertight.
? Together with the precision fit of doors and panels it could actually float for up to half an hour.
? Someone added additional sealing, fitting of a driveshaft running from the engine, and a propeller, and the Beetle could be turned into a powerboat of sorts.
? In 1960 the sight of a VW Beetle traversing New York harbour with upturned exhaust pipe and water lapping a foot or so below the windows had people gaping.
? These stunts merely added to the Volkswagen’s reputation for durability. It really was true that the Beetle’s doors fit so tightly that closing them would be easier if a window was first opened.
? Acrylic paint introduced from’49. Thus the resistance of the Beetle to the corrosion(another legend) is due not only to the quality of steels used, but also to the high quality of paint and to the methods of painting.
? Reliability was such that Volkswagen gave a gold watch to every owner whose car reached 60, 000 miles without repair. That particular promotion didn’t last long, because soon gold watches were being awarded almost daily! It proved a point and added to the Beetle’s reputation for longevity.
? The Beetle engine has been used many times in aviation. Suitably modified for small tourist aircraft a 1600 Beetle engine and weighing 295 Kg, can do a speed of 200 km/h!
? A famed Italian auto designer Pininfarina was asked to suggest improvements to the Beetle’s shape. After careful study he said’It’s so beautiful as it is: why do you want to change it?’. The only modification suggested by him and later put into practice was the enlargement of the rear window by a few centimetres.
? Way back in 1934 when there was no talk of aerodynamics, the Cx of the Beetle measured just 0, 385. you have to realise that the aerodynamic Lancia Aprilia hardly reached the 0, 47(0, 44 for Fiat127 and 0, 41 the first model of the Golf).
? So far the car that has covered the maximum mileage and is still running, is a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle that belongs to Albert Klein of Pasadena, California, U.S.A. Until 25TH January 1994 it had covered 2, 434, 575 kilometres’.
? The hydraulic damper steering was fitted to eliminate vibrations to the steering on bumpy roads, making the driving more smooth and pleasant. And at the end of a curve, the damper gently brings back the steering to the central position.
? The air sucked into the carburettor passes through a metallic hairnet first and dust is entrapped in the oil and settled on the bottom. The engine oil strainer uses a similar system and therefore is never replaced, but only cleaned up, making the Beetle a really low maintenance car.
? There is an automatic choke made up of a heating electrical element placed next to a bimetal coil springs. The result is that whatever the external temperature be, not only the Beetle starts immediately, but it also retains on the right idling speed.
? In 1932 they conceived and installed an oil cooler to ensure optimal maintenance of the engine oil temperature, therefore keeping the temperature of the engine low.(At present this feature available only in the most refined sport cars.)
? Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Zaire, South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Australia have used the Beetles as Police-cars.
? In’51 the Porsche Company produced a diesel engine for the Beetle. This engine had a consumption of 18-20 km/ per litre and a speed of 100-110 km per hour. They decided to drop the idea because vibrated a lot and it was exceptionally noisy.(25 years later this is what we take for granted in the diesel engines!).