Is there a more popular car than the VW Beetle at all? Probably not. Which can stand in the way of a car that completely rocked the automotive industry in America and successfully imposed itself as (then) almost the only European car on American roads. Considering that at that time American vehicles were mostly long, heavy and very impractical for city use, this is where the Beetle jumps in and takes it's place. Moreover, the Beetle was actually noticeably more popular in the American market in its young days than, for example, in its native Germany. As usual, we bring a few facts:

• The Beetle was produced from 1938 to 2003, making it the car with the longest production life of as much as 65 years.
• Exactly 21,529,464 pieces were produced, of which the last one was produced on July 31, 2003. in Mexico, after which it is stored in the Volkswagen Museum in Wolfsburg
• The beetle was designed and eventually produced on demand by, well ... let’s put it this way, not exactly the famous German dictator of the 1930s. Specifically, in 1934, Hitler issued a direct order to produce a car that could drive a family of five at speeds of up to 100 km / h, and which would not cost over 1000 marks at the time. Hence the name "people's vehicle" - with the production of Beetle being directly targeted at the wider masses and the sale of cars for households
• The specific and unique design of Beetle is not a coincidence. Namely, the Beetle was designed by Ferdinand Porsche, which explains the similarities of the Beetle with some Porsche models at the time.
• The Beetle is, by fact, the best-selling car of all time
• By 1955, more than a million Beetles had found their place on roads around the world
• After World War II, the VW factory in Wolfsburg was to be relocated to the UK. But none of the British manufacturers wanted to take responsibility for the production of the Beetle, justifying their decision by stating "the car does not meet the fundamental technical requirements and is therefore not attractive to the average customer." - ooops, quite a misjudgment by Brits
•  Appearing in popular culture (Herbie in the Disney movie series of the same name), Beetle was one of the trademarks of the hippie movement and an inexhaustible source of inspiration for many professional and amateur adaptations.

Some pictures from our restoration of this beauty: