Air Cooled Volkswagens Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dr. Ferdinand Porsche

In the early 1930s Ferdinand Porsche had a vision of a car that could be affordable to the masses. He founded a design company, the Porsche Büro, which designed a lightweight (for the time) independent front suspension. The motorcycle company Zündapp commissioned Porsche to design a car for them, but it never made it out of prototype. Porsche's vision appealed to a young Hitler, who was impressed with Porsche's design capability. Hitler presented a design to Porsche that bore little resemblance to the vehicle that was to come later.

The car was to cruise at 60mph, carry 2 adults and 3 children, get 33mpg and cost less than 1000 Reichsmarks. Porsche finally getting the opportunity to pursue his vision, accepted the challenge. Although he was unable to make deadlines for the first prototypes, he pushed forward and by 1938 production of the VW was underway. Hitler at the last moment changed the name of the VW38 to KdF Wagen ("Kraft durch Freude" or "strength through joy") which upset Porsche, who was not a member of the NAZI party and did not approve of the propaganda used in advertisement.

Answer: A split rear window

The original 1930s prototypes, the V1, V2 and V3, had louvers but no window in the rear. The first production models had a split ovular window. In 1953 VW switched to a singal oval shaped window. And finally in 1958 the Beetle got its larger, rectangular rear window.

Answer: The Inch Pincher

In 1964 the car could run a quarter mile in 14.9 seconds at 91.5 mph. The next year at the NHRA Winternationals, the Inch Pincher was given its name because it could win with fewer cubic inches.

Answer: an overly large engine lid

The Barndoor's engine lid extends from the bottom of the rear window down to the bumper and nearly from tail light to tail light.

Answer: 1956

In the early 1950s, Volkswagen was facing the prospect of selling a small line of "ugly" cars (the Beetle and the Bus) to a more demanding car buying public. VW executives felt it was necessary to introduce an "image" car to reach this new market. Several other car companies were in the same situation, most notably Chrysler. Chrysler contracted the Italian styling and coach-building firm Ghia to build a series of "dream cars".

While Chrysler produced some of these dream cars, one car they did not produce would eventually become the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.

While Chrysler worked with Ghia, Volkswagen contracted the German coach builder Karmann to build their "image" car. Karmann, in need of a design, approached Ghia and somehow the old Chrysler design surfaced and was modified to fit the Beetle floorpan.

The VW executives liked what they saw and by August of 1955, the first Volkswagen Karmann Ghias rolled off assembly line in Osnabrück, Germany, as 1956 models.

Answer: Käferwagen

The Kübelwagen was the German "Jeep", the Schwimmwagen was an amphibious wartime vehicle. The Kommanderwagen was a 4-wheel-drive KdF Wagen.

Answer: Squareback, Notchback, Fastback

Volkswagen also later produced the Type 4, which had a unibody design. It never became popular.

Answer: Wilt Chamberlain

One of my favorites was an ad that had a small photo of the Beetle alone and was captioned "Think Small".

Answer: Mexico, Brazil, USA

I admit, this is a bit of a trick question. VW built a plant in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania in the 1970s to manufacture the new Rabbit. They closed the plant in 1988.

Answer: Approx. 22 million

The Beetle enjoyed a longer run of production than any vehicle before it. Here is another interesting tidbit. On May 24, 2005 Volkswagen presented its 100,000,000th vehichle, a VW Touran, to Eva Louise Köhler, the wife of the German president.