21,529,464 and out; VW ends Beetle production: This week on Drive, June 2003

First published 15 June, 2003

The last remaining factory in the world to have prolonged the life of the original Volkswagen Beetle is in Puebla , Mexico , where the New Beetle is also built. But Volkswagen management says production is to finish soon.

"We don't know the exact date, but it will be this [northern] summer," VW spokesman Fred Baerbock said.

The output from the Puebla production line (pictured below), the sole source of original Beetles since 1978, is now about 30,000 a year, which is a mere shadow of its former glory when annual production peaked at 1.3 million.

"It was an economical wonder, not just for Germany, but internationally. It was very important for giving people mobility," Baerbock said.

The retail price in Mexico is the equivalent of about $11,500, where it is only slightly cheaper than the modern, front-wheel-drive VW Lupo model. VW decided to pull the plug on the Beetle because it says demand was too low to make it financially worthwhile.

"The number of people wanting a Beetle is getting smaller and smaller," Baerbock said.

It is certainly the longest-running model in motor vehicle history, but the Beetle is not the biggest seller. Its Golf stablemate eclipsed the 21 million tally last year.

Beetle history began 69 years ago on June 22, 1934 when the Automobile Manufacturers Association of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich commissioned Ferdinand Porsche to design a "people's car".

The first prototype, produced in 1935, was powered by an air-cooled, 700cc flat-four engine developing 16kW. Two further examples were also built.

The following year, sedan and convertible versions were demonstrated in Berlin and the three cars underwent a 50,000-kilometre "practicality" test and assessment of their ability to withstand "autobahn speeds".

Thirty cars built for further testing covered a total of 2.4 million kilometres.

Design revisions included running boards and bumpers and the engine displacement increased to 986cc and power to a heady 18kW.

At the 1939 Berlin Motor Show, exhibits included 16 of the cars, for which Hitler created the name "KdF-Wagen" (Strength-through-Joy Car). However, soon afterwards joy was put on the back burner as Hitler sent his army into Poland in an action that triggered the outbreak of World War II.

The Volkswagenwerk plant was converted to military production and the Beetle platform formed the basis for the rugged Kubelwagen. By the war's end, there were about 630 civilian VWs on the road.

In 1945, under the supervision of the Allied forces and the inspired leadership of the British Army's Major Ivan Hirst, VW production began in earnest. The British military government in Germany commissioned 20,000 vehicles from the Volkswagenwerk and 55 of them were assembled by the end of that year.

VW didn't use the name "Beetle" in its advertising until 1968 after more than 10 million had been built in plants around the world, including in Australia.

Ten years later, and with production having reached more than 16.2 million, the last Beetle to be built in its home country rolled down the production line of the Emden plant.

Sole production of the Beetle then moved to Mexico, where the car was used as a mainstay of the taxi fleet.

Mexico continued with the heritage, when the VW factory there was chosen by VW as the sole production site for the New Beetle, where manufacture began in 1998 and continues.

On 30, July 2003, the 21,529,464th and last Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the Puebla production line. Finished in Aquarius Blue, the ultimate Beetle was one of 3000 Final Edition Beetles produced to celebrate the end of an era.

Powered by VW's air-cooled 1.6-litre four-cylinder, Final Edition Beetles featured retro design cues such as chromed door handles and wing mirrors. Steel wheels were fitted with body-coloured hub cabs and shod in whitewall tyres. The bonnet latch featured a Wolfsburg emblem while inside a special plaque engraved with the Final Edition's serial number.

The 1584cc air-cooled, fuel-injected, flat-four out back was good for 34kW and 98Nm. Drive was sent to the rear wheels via a four-speed manual gearbox.

Priced at 84,000 pesos (around $AU12,000 in 2003 money) when new in Mexico, 2999 of the 3000 were immediately snapped up. Number 3000 of 3000 however, the very last original Beetle off the production line was flown straight to Germany where it now lives in Volkswagen's museum in Wolfsburg.