It’s the mid-50s and business for Volkswagen is booming. At the forefront of this success is the Type 1, better known as the Beetle. However, the aging car was due for an update. VW didn’t want to mess with the iconic looks of the beetle, but changes were needed.
In 1953, the new T1 was born. The looks were the same as before, apart from one feature, the oval-shaped rear window. This feature gave the car its nickname, Ovali. Other than that, the new car featured an improved air-cooled flat four engine, with 36 hp and improved pistons. The new car also featured a new cooling system to increase efficiency.
People loved it. The new car became an even more iconic car, as people had recovered from many recessions around the world and wanted a cool, quirky car. This resulted in sales increasing exponentially, with the 1 millionth Beetle being produced in 1955. The upgraded Beetle also featured one of the longest production runs of any cars, being produced until the late 1960s in Germany and until 1993 in
South America. It is also one of the bestselling cars ever with over 22 million produced in its lifetime.
Beetles are now extremely valuable, as they are old and require a lot of maintenance, but vintage Beetle ownership isn’t very difficult as there were around 22 million produced, so it isn’t difficult to find donor cars. This makes the Beetle one of the most desirable classic cars. That’s because it was something everyone could own and drive. It inspired low-cost production of vehicles, so every single hatchback today is inspired by the techniques implemented on the Beetle.
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