Born from
the KdF-Wagen, the Beetle would make Volkswagen
the worlds most popular car. The 5 millionth
Beetle was made in 1961, with over a million
being manufactured each year after that. Slowly
diversified, with the introduction of the Transporter
in 1950 and Karmann Cabriolet in 1949. Also
See: Volkswagen
Heritage
1940 - 1944
The Kübelwagen was an extremely austere, rugged automobile
built simply for war-use. About 50,000 were made, and
surviving examples are scarce and very collectable. More>>
1945 - 1977
The car that needs little introduction, Adolf Hitler's
dream of building a low-cost car for the masses has proved
to be a huge hit for decades and now boasts over 21 million
sales, and production continues today in South America.
More>>
1950 - 1967
Top of the range was the Deluxe Microbus. Here, the number
of windows and the variations available were immense.
You could get the three windows down each side, four windows
down each side, or even five with a curved plexiglass
corner window. More>>
1961 - 1973
In 1961 Volkswagen announced that they would be producing
a new car, the VW 1500. Sharing very little with the
Beetle, the engine would be a rear-engined, air-cooled
1498cc unit which would be configured to take up less
space. More>>
1968 - 1974
the Type 4 should be remembered for the innovations it
brought to the marque. For the first time, a Volkswagen
had 4 doors, featured unibody construction, MacPherson
strut front suspension, rear suspension with coil springs
and trailing wishbones, a hydraulic clutch and, uniquely,
it was one of the very first Volkswagen’s to feature
a fully automatic transmission.
More>>
1970 - 1973
While the Karmann-Ghia represented the sporty, elegant
side of the Beetle family, another member, the Type 181
diametrically opposed it. More>>
1973 - 1988
Many felt the Volkswagen Passat LS to be simply a badge-engineered Audi. True, Volkswagen had their own ideas about gear linkage, body styling and suspension rates, but broadly speaking the Passat LS was an Audi 80 with a VW badge on it, and a rather poor indented Wolfsburg castle symmbol on the cross-spoke of the steering wheel. More>>
1974 - 1983
Some criticism was leveled at the Golf for its rather
spartan interior and hard ride, but these were both
typical attributes of German cars and reflected the
German philosophy of car building. Overall the Golf was an energy-efficient and
space-efficient design that won the hearts of countless thousands of happy owners
throughout the world, and set the way for the Golf to continue as Volkswagens
best seller to this day.More>>
1976 - 1983
Although it was considerably more expensive than its
petrol-engined brother, the Golf GLD was not only the
cheapest diesel on the Australian market at the time,
but also proved one of the most economical cars to
run, backing this claim up with several wins in subsequent
Total Oil Economy runs. More>>
1980 - 1984
Like the model it superseded the GOL was a three-door hatchback with an overall length of 12.43 ft (3.79 metres) on a wheelbase of 7.74 ft (2.36 metres), comparable to the German Golf. The chassis and running gear were also similar: MacPherson coil spring stuts at the front, and an independent rear layout of torsional beam trailing arm axle and telescopic dampers. More>>
1981 - 1984
The Golf GTi was more an evolution than a revolution.
Its mechanics were that of the ordinary Golf, however
the power was to come from a more sporty Audi-designed
1.6 litre engine. More>>
