Standard model Beetles were always produced for the German home market, offering a more basic, cheaper option for the customer. They are somewhat rarer in countries such as the UK, though, where the Export, or Deluxe, model was the regular offering through until 1967.
In Belgium, though, courtesy of the main VW importer, D’Ieteren, you could order one from your local dealer with special Belgian specification. Canada, incidentally, also had its own particular style of Standard model, with cloth interior and body trim but no window chrome trim.
Having been in the D’Ieteren collection for many years, this largely original ’55 Oval is a superb example of the Belgian type, hashed out with Volkswagen in 1948 by Pierre D’Ieteren (see box out on p81).
As a major importer / seller of Volkswagen products in his home country, D’Ieteren had enough clout to be able to make a list of specific
