In the history of more than 100 years, many classic models have been born. These classic cars are not just means of transportation, but also witnesses of an era. With the passage of time, they have also slowly faded out of the public view for various reasons.
The Volkswagen Beetle is arguably the world's most classic and longest-lived small sedan, dating back to the German engineer Ferdinand Porsche, who was commissioned by the German Führer "Mustache" to develop a family model.
The Führer's requirements for the national car were both simple and demanding, he wanted the car to be able to seat two adults and three children at the same time, and at the same time to be able to carry their luggage, with a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour to meet the demands of highway driving, and an average fuel consumption of no more than 7 liters per 100 kilometers.
The most important thing is to keep the price below 1,000 marks. (At that time, the per capita income in Germany was 32 marks per week).
On January 17, 1934, Porsche Design provided the Führer with a detailed proposal, but it seems that the Führer himself was not satisfied with the appearance of the national car, and with a stroke of his artistic skills, he drew a hand-drawn sketch with his own hand, which laid the foundation for the future exterior design of the Volkswagen Beetle.
In 1938, the first Beetle was officially born in Wolfsburg, Germany, under the name of the Volkswagen "Volkswagen Type 1". Compared to the initial prototype, it has 0The four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 986 liters has a maximum power of 24 hp and weighs only 750 kilograms.
On April 20 of the same year, Ferdinand Porsche brought a small scale model of the "Beetle" to the German Automobile Association.
In 1938, ordinary families would never expect to own a four-wheeled vehicle, but Ferdinand's "civilian car" made all Germans go crazy, and in order to finance production, German **gauge began to implement a special savings plan called "Kraft Durch Freude" (KDF).
Raising funds for the production of the whole people: Each participant is required to purchase at least one 5 mark stamp per week, affix it to the "KDF-Wagen passbook", and receive the car with the passbook after it is full. This initiative eventually helped Germany at the time to raise funds26.7 billion marks.
While everyone in Germany was busy celebrating the birth of the national car, the car brand Tatra, which was far away in Czechoslovakia, could not sit still. Because they found that the Führer's "improvisational" manuscript was very similar to their own product, and that the production model also infringed on their own patent for "air-cooled heat dissipation design", they sued Volkswagen in a fit of anger.
The ensuing development was dramatic, and in 1939, World War II broke out, and the army fought all the way to quickly occupy Czechoslovakia. Not to mention the patents, even the production plant of TATRA has been transferred to Germany.
In 1939, the Berlin Motor Exposition opened, and the car was commented by the American ** as "a cute little Beetle", and it received the nickname "Beetle". In 1946, the first post-war Beetle rolled off the assembly line. Germany** chose to export the car to boost the German economy. In 1949 the Beetle factory was handed over to Germany**. Under the Marshall Plan, assembly line production was introduced, and in 1950 100,000 Beetles were produced, which became an important part of Germany's post-war economic recovery. In 1955, it reached 1 million units.
By 2003, that is, 65 years of production, the total global production of the Volkswagen Beetle reached a staggering 20 million units, and as of 2019, the Beetle has undergone three generations and sold a total of 24 million units, which is also the record holder for the largest single model sold so far.
On July 10, 2019, the eyes of the global automotive community converged on the remote Volkswagen plant in Puebla, Mexico. With the last Beetle car rolling off the assembly line, this 81-year-old Volkswagen "elf" has officially become a memory in the long river of history.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Beetle is not only a car product for Volkswagen, but also a spiritual totem for Volkswagen. Although the Beetle has had many highlight moments in its "life", in the process of continuous development of the automobile market, it still has to choose to stop production due to reasons such as substandard emissions, insufficient product strength, old technology, and sharp decline in sales.
I still remember that after the "farewell ceremony", the then CEO of Volkswagen North America, Cottcchio, once said, "It's hard to imagine a Volkswagen brand without the Beetle, but the day has finally come." ”
The Volkswagen Beetle introduced today is not a seemingly mediocre little guy, it is a real Volkswagen Beetle police car, and it has been in service with the German polizei for several years.
The 1979 Volkswagen Beetle was produced at the Mexican plant and rolled off the assembly line before being delivered to the police station in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, where it joined the police force as a streifenwagen (patrol car).
The doors are adorned with classic green and white German police livery, as well as the Bavarian police badge, with the "polizei" logo running across the hood.
The roof is equipped with classic blue warning lights, flanked by loudspeakers for the alarm system (there are also four Bosch Bosch sirens hidden under the front bumper). Overall, the exterior of the vehicle is in good condition with few blemishes, and the fly in the ointment is that there are slight signs of corrosion in the front bumper position.
The 15-inch wheels and hubcaps have modified drum brakes and four Vredestein Sprint Classic tires installed in November 2023.
The 1979 Volkswagen Beetle was decommissioned and mothballed in 1986, followed by a refurbishment and export to the United States in 2014, according to the data.
Since then, the Volkswagen Beetle has been in the spotlight frequently. American talk show host Jay Leno and many other celebrities have driven this car to appear on screen. In addition, it appeared as an actor in talk comedian Jerry Seinfeld's "Cars Getting Coffee."
Today, the car is no longer able to keep the streets safe in Germany at all times, but many of the original police equipment as a police car are still preserved. The glove box was replaced with a control panel for the German Telefunken police radio and police lights and sirens, and it is worth noting that these functions are still in normal use.
On top of that, you'll find all the classic design elements of the '70s Beetle, and the interior is in great condition, with brown fabric seats and lots of vinyl on the doors.
It is worth noting that there are many obvious signs of use on the seats of this car, such as some holes and folds caused by smoking on the main driver.
In terms of power, this car is equipped with 1The 2-liter four-cylinder engine, in fact, the power parameters don't need to be seen, obviously this Beetle does not have the ability to hunt down criminals.
But as a patrol car, its small and compact body size makes it more suitable for street patrols for hours on end.
When faced with tricky tasks, Germany** can also mobilize the BMW 5 Series or Porsche 911.
At present, the Volkswagen Beetle police car is being auctioned, and there are still 3 days before the auction ends, and the highest bid is now 23,000 US dollars (about 160,000 yuan).
By the way, the sale also includes a green jacket with the polizei logo to facilitate the owner to get into the role faster when driving.