Herbie the Toxic Bug? How the fun went out of the VW Beetle | Stephen Moss

For a car that was in large part the brainchild of Adolf Hitler, who wanted a “people’s car” for Aryan families, the Volkswagen Beetle has done remarkably well to last for 80 years. Hitler commissioned it, laid the cornerstone for its famous factory in Wolfsburg and was presented with the first convertible version. The design of the new car, which bore an uncanny resemblance to a stormtrooper’s helmet, was then adapted for military use and produced using slave labour. Quite a beginning.

You would not have thought the car the Führer named the Kraft-durch-Freude-Wagen (“Strength Through Joy Car”) would have survived the collapse of the Reich, but survive it did – until last week, when VW. In fact the Beetle did more than merely survive its unfortunate birth. It became the world’s most popular car, and still has claims to be the best-selling vehicle based on a single platform. The Toyota Corolla has sold more units, but the Corolla is really a brand name attached to a variety of different model types. From 1938 until 2003 the shape of the Beetle barely changed; 21.5m were sold.