The History of the VW Beetle

Sep 10, 2015

One of the most iconic and easily recognizable cars on the planet is the VW Beetle. It has also been one of the world’s best-selling automobiles for more than 70 years now. Looking at the car itself, you wouldn’t really think much of it other than the fact it looks like a bug. Part of the appeal of “the bug” is its big personality. For a small car, it has quite a look to it and it just feels like a fun car to cruise around town in.

Early on in the car’s production, so many critics said it would never last. Partly because it was made by a German manufacturer at the beginning of WWII. The first production-ready Beetle came off the line in 1939, but it wasn’t until after WWII ended in 1945 that things started moving in a good direction for VW. Finally, the Beetle was introduced to the US in 1949 and the popularity of “the bug” took off.

The 100,000^th Beetle came off the production line in 1950, a testament to the popularity of the car across the world, but especially with American drivers. From the first build of the car until around 1998, the style and build of the Beetle didn’t really change at all. Sure, there were some minor upgrades to the interior and all but the outward design and how the car was made hardly changed.

The Beetle took a much more modern look with that 1998 model, something that really helped propel the car back into the spotlight of the American auto market. Since VW has continued to refine the Beetle to better reflect the times and tastes of drivers, the auto maker has been able to lay claim to having one of the more popular cars on the road again.