1963 Volkswagen Beetle

After World War II, the British were offered the Volkswagen factory as part of reparations, but declined, stating that the cars were too slow and noisy. Decca Records would later turn away the Beetles stating they 'saw no future in guitar bands.' With nearly 21,530,000 examples of the Beetle produced, it is the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single platform ever made. The heritage of the Beetle dates to the pre-war KdF-Wagen, whose name stood for Kraft durch Freude and translates loosely to 'strength through joy'. What started as a 'people's car' for Germany, with design and engineering influence of Ferdinand Porsche, would remain in production for sixty-five years. They were simple, properly-engineered automobiles that were inexpensive enough to bring motoring to the masses.

Porsche Design's Project 12, the precursor of the Beetle, used a revolutionary rear-mounted motor with aluminum and magnesium castings installed in a simple platform chassis. The later Series 38 design would embody the Beetle that followed. The basic mechanical specification would remain unchanged through 1966 though engine output gradually increased over the years, in efforts to keep pace with increasing motorway speeds. Karmann and Hebmuller built convertible Beetles from 1949, with Hebmuller's production reaching 606 units before they went out of business in 1953. The last 14 were actually made by Karmann, which would go on to build 331,847 by 1980.

The 1963 Volkswagen Beetle rested on a 94.5-inch wheelbase and was equipped with a rear-located, air-cooled four-cylinder, boxer engine powering the rear wheels. The 1,192cc unit produced 40 horsepower and 64 ft-lbs of torque (in the U.S.). The single-barrel Solex carburetor had an electric automatic choke and the transmission had synchromesh on all forward gears. A mechanical fuel lever gauge had been added in 1960 and the semaphore turn signals were replaced (worldwide) in 1961 by conventional flashing directional indicators. The turn signals remained red in the United States market until 1973, while larger rear taillights with separate amber turn signal sections were fitted to European versions.

by Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2022