I was just thinking a few days ago..
after school children look in amazement at My Beetle...

to them - its the only car they see that was designed in 1938 still on the road...
even the running boards are still there... lol

All other Cars with running boards were made up until the 2nd world war... approx..

so the beetle was really a very OLD looking car when it arrived in the US & Australia etc....

and many people cannot tell the difference between old and new ones.... lol

LEE

Most cars had running boards in the 20s and 30's
and before that.... like the model T ford..

I wonder why they kept the running boards all those years

because they were unique..??

Heinz Nordoff hated to change anything on the beetle...
the US government made laws to change things on Cars

and He had to follow the laws...

LEE

Plenty of cars still had running boards up to the early fifties. Only when new models started to come on line after the war did running boards get phased out.

Remember that most manufacturers still had their 1940's models in production after WW2 as they hadnt had any chance to design fresh models. I think running boards started to vanish when cars with seperate chassis were stopped being made.

nice pic there of a 56 oval

Lee I'd have to agree that the VW Beetle is the oldest car that kids today would see on a regular basis. You just don't see 1950s and 1960s cars from other makes on the road now. This was mostly due to VW's revolutionary full body dip paint process and baked enamel finish, which gave VWs much better protection than other Australian-made cars. GMH and Ford didn't update to VW-style paint and body technology until the 1990s.

But I don't think VWs were regarded as old-looking when they first appeared. Road tests of the time described the VW as aerodynamic and modern in appearance. It was only after it had been on market here for 10 years that it started to be regarded as old-fashioned, and certainly by the 1970s they were. But in the 1950s, the VW looked much sleeker and more modern than the existing British competition, such as:

And which looks more modern - a 1954 VW or a 1954 Austin A70?

And which one looks more old fashioned and funnier, the Volkswagen or the Standard Vanguard?

i think i agree with phil here the beetle was very modern in its day. but i also think its silly to compare cars with running boards. can a car from the '20s be compared with a brand new car simply beacuse it has red stop lights? the new beetle has a little running board but it doesnt look like a 1938 beetle. nice paper clippings too they bring back memories!

What were the english thinking? Naming a car "Hereford". Why didn't they just call it a "Liverpool"? The english are great at food but awful when it comes to mass produced cars.

I heard one of the Car restoration experts in the US say
that overhauling a 1968 car {USA] and adding a late model engine , You have a fast car that doesn't handle and can't stop... so the brakes and the suspension has to be upgraded too...

Well, My 1968 1500 beetle [semi auto] with IRS rear suspension
and front disc brakes and ball joint front end drives like a new car... only noisier....

cheers

LEE

well all that too....

LEE

PS: I forgot about all those good things..lol LEE

OK so we agree that Volkswagens were much more modern-looking in the 1950s than the existing British cars of the day.

But here's one thing that VWs never had - the Gay Look of the Hillman Minx.

So the Mini wasnt a good car? Austin had a range of cars named after counties in the 1950's. At least they had a name, VW called theres Type1, Type2 etc hardly imaginative !

British cars only went bad in the 1970's due to many reasons.

Quote:

Originally posted by pete wood What were the english thinking? Naming a car "Hereford". Why didn't they just call it a "Liverpool"? The english are great at food but awful when it comes to mass produced cars.

A few loose ends here. In Australia the VW was called 'the Volkswagen' by the press for many years, as there was only one model. VW sold them as the 'VW 1200' and 'VW 1300', which is also how they were categorised by the FCAI. 'Type 1' was an internal designation that was never used as the vehicle's name. Same with Type 2 - it was sold as the 'VW Commercial' and 'VW Transporter'. The Type 3 was originally called the 'VW 1500' but came to be known colloquially as the 'Type 3' later - and officially by that name in Australia, uniquely in the world. VW has not used 'Types' since 1979. Modern VWs have a two-letter Vehicle Descriptor code in the VIN, such as 1G or 1H for Golfs. Modern VWs are categorised by platform.

Somed recent VW press releases and articles have said that Volkswagen never called the Beetle the 'Beetle' officially - wrong. The 1976 Beetle WAS officially sold as the 'VW Beetle' in Australia.

I guess Austin also went with unimaginitive names with the 'Austin 1800'. And the Mini was originally called the Morris 850 in Australia. And yes it was a very good, even legendary car, but of course you know it was the exception rather than the rule.

Lee that's not surprising as the Volkswagenwerk parent company, in Germany, speaks German. They were never going to use the English word 'Beetle'. They DID, however, use the German equivalent, 'Käfer'. The Beetles sold in Germany in the last few years of their life WERE called 'Käfers'. Today's VW ETKA parts catalog lists all Type 1 parts under the 'Käfer' heading.

In Australia the Type 3 wagons and sedans (Squarebacks and Notchbacks/Halfbacks) were called VW 1500s when they were released. The twin-carb 1500 Notch was called the VW 1500 Twin-S. This was later replaced by the VW 1600TS Fastback. The wagon was originally called the VW 1500 Station Wagon, but later the US-style 'Squareback' name was used. The Notchback was called the Halfback in Australia for a while - I have a 1971 brochure using that name.

Yes the confusion between Type 1s and Type 3s in Australia BOTH being called 'VW 1500' and 'VW 1600' makes it impossible to say how many of each were sold, as the FCAI only kept totals for 'VW 1500' and 'VW 1600'.

You are also right that 1976 Beetles were sold in Australia by LNC Industries (owners of the 'VW Australia' company then), not the Volkswagenwerk. However, they were assembled in Clayton from German CKD parts by Motor Producers Ltd, a company 100% owned by the Volkswagenwerk. This company was sold to Nissan in March 1976, and Beetle assembly ended in July 1976.

1976-77-78 US Beetles were also known as 'Beetles' officially. They were sold in the US by Volkswagen of America Inc, an independent company, but they were built by the Volkswagenwerk in Germany (in Emden actually, not Wolfsburg).