Under the threat of Allied bombing during World War II, the German car manufacturer Volkswagen halted the production of the “Beetle”


Monday 7th August 1944

Under the threat of Allied bombing during World War II, the German car manufacturer Volkswagen halted the production of the “Beetle”. Ten years earlier, the renowned automotive engineer Ferdinand Porsche had signed a contract with Germany’s Third Reich to develop a prototype of a small, affordable “people’s car.” During the war years, the German army’s need for a lightweight utility vehicle took precedence over the production of affordable passenger cars. The result was the Type 62 Kubelwagen, a convertible vehicle with a modified Beetle chassis, four doors and 18-inch wheels (compared with the Beetle’s 16-inch ones) to give it better ground clearance. Volkswagen (under British control) began turning out Beetles again in December 1945. By 1949, the company (now called Volkswagen GmbH) was back in German hands, and in 1972 the Beetle passed the iconic Ford Model T as the top-selling car in history.


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