shot and posted at the Cohort by Constantine Hannaher
(first posted 9/9/2018) For lovers of classic VW beetles, the 1952 stands out as the most desirable, or at least it did back in the day when I was into VWs. I had such a hard on for a split window Beetle, but they were either in the hands of those that got them first, or they were too decrepit to bother with (someone would of course eventually). And what made the 1952 so especially desirable?
In the few short years from the first post war 1946 (above), the Beetle evolved from its original KdF pre-war configuration and technical details to a considerably more refined car, especially the deluxe “Export” version sold in the US. But it wasn’t just the chrome trim on the windows and nicer interior trim. Starting in 1950, when the VW’s future was secured, Heinz Nordoff embarked on a rigorous program of constant improvement, the most critical element in keeping the Beetle competitive for as long as it did.
This started with a number of small changes each year, as the details of its design and construction was now already some 15 years old.
And this culminated in 1952, when the VW reached maturity, at least for the time being. Every little detail that was considered to be sub-optimal had been changed. The transmission was now synchronized (except for first gear), the suspension revised, wheels were now 15″ instead of 16″, brakes improved, and the dashboard, steering wheel, heater controls and just about every other detail in the interior was new or different. Although the engine was still essentially the same 30/25hp 1131cc unit as had been first used on the Type 82 Kübelwagen, there were numerous refinements. The ’52 was the seminal VW with which it would conquer the world.
Of course there were things that weren’t changed, most importantly much of the body, although even there a number of changes had been made, including a different engine cover, license plate light and the brake lights. But the basic body dies were still the same, and that was most conspicuous in its split rear window, very much an artifact of the 1930s. So the 1952 was the best of the old and the new, which explains its special status.
And in 1953, it was gone, replaced by a single oval window. Of course oval window VWs were the second-most desirable, and I really wanted one too. I almost saved one that had been abandoned in the woods on someone’s farm, but thought the better of it. But after my accident in my ’63, I did go back and retrieve the hood and bumpers for it.
Needless to say, split window kits have been available for many decades now. So even if you see a “splittie”, look for the other signs of it being genuine.
And of course, much of the basic body shape would go on right to the end, although seemingly small but many changes altered more and more of the details. It is said that a running board of a KdF wagen will interchange with any Beetle, right up to the very last one made in Mexico in 2003, (above) but that’s the extent of it. Not bad for almost 70 years of production.
A small sampling of our VW CCs:
1946 VW: The Beetle Climbs Out of the Rubble PN
The early Beetles are the best, as they show their Tatra roots even more.
What strikes me is the timescale of the Beetle: like a normal car times ten. The 1st decade was like a pre-series run. This ’52 is a second-decade VW, so it’s still pretty unadulterated, yet many kinks were ironed out – like most cars by the their 2nd production year.
Speaking of kinks, when did they switch to hydraulic brakes?
1950, for deluxe/export models. Standards kept mechanical brakes into 1962.
The mechanical brakes were just as effective as the hydraulic ones (same size). They did need more pressure, and needed to be kept in adjustment.
re: hydraulic brakes. 1952 I believe.
That’s on Deluxe/Export models.
My dad’s 1954 Euro Sunroof still has non-hydraulic brakes in the back. It is a almost a deluxe in terms of trim, but the speedometer is in kilometers. He got it for a song back in the 70’s, the original motor had seized, and he put a 1200 in it. He did hold onto the original motor though, sitting in the back of the garage.
Yes, I just checked on a VW forum, and it seems the last Beetle (in “Standard” trim) with cable brakes was made in 1962. That’s probably the last cable brakes used on cars, at least in the Western Hemisphere.
When I had VWs the most valuable were the 1966-67 models. 12v electrics, bigger engines and few smog controls. You also got niceties like a fuel gauge that made them better drivers. We didn’t think they would ever be collectibles.
So many one-off parts on the 67’s if you want to restore; it became cheaper going with an earlier or later year.
’66 was still 6 volt. Gas gauge standard in ’62. ’66 had 1300 engine, ’67 got 1500 engine. They are both good years, many consider the ’67 the best of the early style cars, it also had improved swing axle rear suspension. This info applies to US models.
My GDM ’67 Deluxe Sunroof Sedan was a bit different than US models.
6v, but the starter (gear, bushing, flywheel, clutch) and generator where physically like the 12v parts, steering column lock instead of key in the dash.
The biggest difference was front disc brakes and four lug rims.
I thought I had a 66, but that was over 30 years ago so who knows. I know it was 12v and had a 1500cc motor so maybe it was a 67. I also had a early 60s model and used a stick to measure gas. It had the 40hp motor but I think that was a replacement by the previous owner.
And then you have the oddball Australian Beetles, which kept the small-window early sixties body until 1968, effectively continuing to make the ’64 through ’65, ’66 and ’67. Then we got all the rest of the world’s ’65-68 undates all at once, which seemed pretty much like a whole new car.
I had a ’63 Beetle as a kid and was interested in buying one as a retirement gift to myself. However, I’m utterly shocked by the price for a ’60 thru ’65 model (between $15K and $20k).
As a fall back, I have my eye on a used Fiat 500 (2012 thru 2016). Same fun as before, but with A/C and a CD player.
“Utterly shocked” would describe my reaction to the prices of 21-window buses these days. Six figures to the party or plan on a project vehicle.
“The more windows, the more expensive.”
I would settle for having my pristine ’66 Sundial Camper back. I paid $3200 in 1974, (about 17k in 2018 dollars) it was like new.
http://www.classicvws.com/sale/66velvet.htm
Asking 38k.
Split-windows are cool. German tuners ABT once offered a split-window kit for the New Beetle, complete with deck lid louvers (presumably fake).
Did anyone offer stand-up taillights like the old style? That would really complete the look.
I happened to be looking at the various pages of the full VW production timeline at the corporate site, and noticed a complete neglect of the early-1970s Super Beetle – not mentioned at all, although I saw a bit of the extra-large curved windshield of one example within one of the many photos there. I recall a big marketing effort when they came out in the U.S.; do Beetle fans disdain them?
I think people in the US like the curved-windshield Beetle convertibles. Champagne Edition or triple-white examples are probably sought after.
Somehow I always have trouble thinking of those as ‘real’ Beetles. The curved-screen ones were always a real rarity in Australia. From the glory days of the late fifties/early sixties when they were a perfectly rational small car choice, the Beetle had dwindled away to being theoretically available.
’71-’72 Supers are the least desired. They tend to have front suspension problems, bushings wear out quickly and have wobbling issues. And they still have the flatter windshield. Hardtop Super Beetles were only built from 1971 to 1975. Convertible beetles are all Super, 1971 to 1979. ’75-’77 hardtop Beetles were Standard only. ’78-’79 Beetles were Super Beetle convertible only. This info only applies to German built VW’s.
The Super Beetle did handle better than the Standard, the wider strut front suspension worked well, ’75 and later got rack and pinion steering, and Supers had a somewhat roomier trunk with the spare tire laying flat in a well.
Here’s a video showing the production of the last beetles in 2003. Fuel Injection, catalytic converter, front disc brakes, and swing axle suspension! It is the safer longer axle, decambered, overload bar style, but still surprising they never updated to IRS. Guess it was considered to costly.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DIvexnlHf6oc&ved=2ahUKEwih1sjD0q7dAhV7ITQIHXBYBgUQtwIwAHoECAUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0yI_plU1vt21lX3kvxA8BE
As a life long fan of air cooled VW’s (I’m 52 years young) cannot dispute anything in this article. Henry with his Model T put America on wheels, but this machine put the globe on wheels. And as having had a ’67, coobal is correct about the one year oddness. Just a part of evolution.
Last time I saw a splittie was in ’83, around Overland Park. None since then.
Euro cars, both British and German, had microscopic taillights way down low where the inside surface of the bumper could see them, but following drivers couldn’t. This was nearly universal from the late ’30s to the early ’50s. Obviously the stylists hated to interrupt the nice smooth surface with functional objects that would prevent the nice smooth surface from getting squashed. Dumb stylists.
Splits here would almost certainly be fakes VWs werent actually sold here till 54/55, I have quite a lot of wheel time in a 55 that had a 25hp engine, it made noise not power but enough to out drive the candles installed up front at night, but given a couple of miles room it could struggle to 60mph indicated, I can see why incremental improvements kept happening all the way untill the major restyle in 68.
I just checked an old ‘Measham used car price guide’ for April 1958 and it lists the Beetle as having being introduced into the UK market in July 1953 so any split ovals here would have to be either later classic imports or fakes.
According to vw.co.uk, there were some private imports in 1952 and I do remember seeing split ovals around when I was no’but a lad in, say the late 60s and early 70s.
I always thought the 68 (US) model was a good compromise; still a Beetle (flat windshield, torsion bars), windows big enough to see out of and wildly streamlined bumpers! A slightly modified taillight and front turn signal that rode the wild wave of 1960’s changes. Sedate colors still, high back seats, too? I’d drive one today if I good find one (baby blue I guess). I could find that in a parking lot!
As far as I can tell, the basic body was the same from that ’46 all the way to ’64, with the exception of the rear window. The ’65 had bigger glass all-around and, except for the Super, lasted to the end in 2003.
As a little kid, I rode around in a couple or 3 late 50’s-early 60’s Beetles (and later, a microbus). My dad owned a series of them back in the day.
My only Beetle driving experience was not a happy one. I had to borrow one for a job that required a car. It had one of those damned slick shift transmissions. The thing left me stuck in Continental, OH when it refused to shift into reverse.
My wife has fond memories of the Beetle she had at 19 or 20. But with all of the changes in cars since then, I wonder if she’d be happy driving one now as a daily driver?
Not only were the running boards the same throughout the years, I think the doors were too, even though later models had bigger windows. I’ve seen an early beetle with a replacement from a later one with the bigger window and slanted vent windows. Looked kind of funny, but at least it fit.
I heard that in the 60’s many a split and oval window beetle were converted to rectangular windows. If only they had known…
He’s not around anymore to ask, but I think my Father might have driven a ’52 while in Germany for the US Army from ’50-’53. He was originally in the National Guard but got federalized in ’50 when the police action started up, and I think was originally supposed to go to Korea but for an actual train wreck…he wasn’t in it himself, as he’d gone on ahead to Indiana from Pennsylvania to prepare for his regiment’s arrival at Camp Atterbury, but when the troop train ran into mechanical difficulties it was stopped on the tracks and got hit by another (freight) train….Sept 11 1950, there were many injuries and quite a few deaths including some who’d gotten through WWII and reenlisted. My Dad went back from Indiana to Ohio to accompany the bodies back home, and I think someone pulled some strings due to the accident such that instead of going to Korea, my Dad ended up doing iron curtain duty on the Czech border in Germany. He drove REO trucks, and was assigned VW Beetles for other duties, maybe all the Jeeps were over in Korea by then but he didn’t mention driving any while in Germany (maybe in the US though, not sure).
Sixteen years later, he’d gotten his degree in Chemistry on the GI bill and had been working on semiconductors since 1956 (his first job out of college), got married and had us, such that he wanted to buy his first “2nd” car…no doubt he was tired of shopping trips on the weekend since that and evenings were the only time my Mother had access to the primary (up to that time only) car, plus he was likely working substantial amounts of overtime so that 2 cars would be more convenient, so he bought a used ’59 Beetle in addition to the family station wagon. The ’59 didn’t last long, though by ’68 or so it was very rusty (the battery acid made a hole in the floor such that the battery fell right through…this was also up in Vermont, so much of the year had salt on the roads)…but the Beetle ended up being totalled parked in front of our house, it was hit by one of two teen boys who lived at the end of our road. I was friends with their youngest brother (who was about my age) but they had really nice cars, one had an XKE and the other a Mercedes Benz. Not sure which one hit my Dad’s car, but he had to replace it, he got a new ’68 Renault R10 in place of the Beetle (not sure but Dad was making several business trips every year to their sister plant in Corbeil-Essonnes France at this time so that likely influenced why he bought a Renault rather than another Beetle, plus of course Quebec was the nearest province to where we lived, Montreal was the closest large city.)
The Beetle (as well as the R10) were both rear engine RWD, which offered good traction which was important for much of the year up there. Dad bought several other 2nd cars (always new, after the used Beetle) which were always imports up to 1980, but never another VW….I took over buying them but all watercooled, starting in 1981, the only make I’ve bought in 43 years. Dad started buying domestic cars in 1980 and never owned another import after that.
I had new a 64,67,71 Super Bettle and 75 Rabbit 67 my favorite
Ken Deiss
Pittsburgh Pa
I drove one of these around town
I’m not a VW fanboy, by any means, but I can certainly understand those who are, especially with regard to the Type 1. It’s a study in incremental, but steady and consistant improvements to an existing model that effectively retained the original body style and drivetrain throughout a very long production run, eclipsing even the Model T. The last production Beetle might have a lot of different mechanical features from the first models, but the same, basic design and air-cooled, rear-drive, flat-four configuration is still there.
If not for the limitations of the engine to conform to tightening emissions, as well as an inability to compete with more modern and fuel efficient FWD competitors (of which VW would ultimately join with the Golf/Rabbit), I wonder if the Type 1 would have remained in production to this day.
Seems like everyone has a fond memory. Here’s mine. My dad had a farm in Ky.
and he also liked cars.He was always horse trading someone. Somehow he got a
64 bug. First gear was gone but the 2-3 shift was there. It wasn’t licensed so it acted as “dune buggy” on the ky hills/.fields. Lot of fun. I enlisted in early 69 and it was a goner by the time I returned from VN.
My scoutmaster had an older model back in the 1960s and I rode in it a few times. I liked cars a lot back then, but wasn’t much into VWs. If he ever mentioned the year of his VW, I’ve long forgotten it. The few rides I had in his car left me with 3 lasting impressions.
1) The heater wasn’t up to Wisconsin winters.
2) Turn signals were a little arm that popped out of the B-pillar
3) The car had no gas gauge.
Today I’d consider his car neat. Back then I just considered it weird.
I don’t think we ever officially got the Splits in Australia. The oldest one I’ve seen is a ’53 (?) a schoolteacher had – ’52-style taillights with the top lens, single exhaust, but the oval window.
I didn’t know that. Looking online, it seems that the first official sales began in March ’54. I’d swear I’ve seen splitties as a kid, but then, it’s so far ago I’d swear Santa had a job then too.
The car displayed is called a “Zwitter” (hermaphrodite in German and were produced for about three months and released as 1953 Models .
I too loved them and never should have let mine go .
Old Beetles may indeed be “Hair Shirts” but for some of us they’re still the preferred method of transport .
Oddly, the early Beetles easily got 30 + MPG, my 2001 Ford Ranger with fuel injection struggles to attain 24 MPG .
Back in the 50’s & 60’s one or two cents off a gallon of gasoline was a big deal ~ now I see $1 / gallon differences in price on the same block .
-Nate
This , or a “53” would have been the car my dad wanted to bring back from his “GM”, military assignment.
They came back to states in late “53”.
My mom was not on board.
A # of people he was stationed with did get one.
From what he said, they could get really good prices and the “military” provided the shipping.
A confession.
In about ’76, my dad came home with a used ’64-ish, but decided against it, and I looked at and drove a ’59, many moons past. I also knew the things were well-made – it was just obvious, even on well-used ones – but I had always thought the Beetle an essentially stupid car. Smelly, slow, and wobbly, just mean-spirited in its basic-ness, suitable only for the self-flagellators. I mean, why would you?
Over many years, it is CC itself that’s changed my view.
In my defence, I encountered the things in the ’70’s, at their end, when an aunt had an orange Superbug I actually loved, but on being a potential buyer in the ’80’s, they seemed, and were, worn-out old trash. Plus, I’d grown up with a splittie van, and hated its lack of amenity (if only I’d known that word then!)
But this site has learned me that it’s in truth a really smart piece of engineering, with a superbly clever minimalism about the (very effective) whole from Dr Porsche (his doctorate being a granted honorific, I add a touch maliciously!)
No, it’s a great thing from Porsche – and, of course, other’s – thinking, and remains so, and I learnt all that here.
Nice to hear that.
My own journey over these past 18 years of blogging has essentially been one of either confirming feelings and prejudices about cars created early in life or drastically unlearning many of them. Undoubtedly more of the latter, but fortunately that did not include the VW. My appreciation for them has only increased as I’ve learned more and more about it.
Childhood context is powerful; who knows, if my father had owned VWs early on, I might well have hated them too.