Volkswagen Celebrates a Very Special 75th Anniversary, Care to Guess Which One?

After the Second World War, Volkswagen could begin its success story thanks to British oversight, and the company even particularly remembers “the strategic vision of Major Ivan Hirst.” That’s a nice recognition following decades of incredible success and therefore the German automaker is officially celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Beetle starting from the 1945 inflexion point, instead of the actual start of manufacturing (which occurred earlier, in 1938).

Back in 1945, Volkswagenwerk GmbH had been under the tutelage of the British Military Government since June and the series production of the civilian Volkswagen, referred to internally as “Type 1,” was started because of transportation needs within the occupied region.

Apparently, the renowned British pragmatism safeguarded the Wolfsburg manufacturing facility from destruction, and in particular it was “Senior Resident Officer Major Ivan Hirst’s... farsightedness and talent for improvisation that made it possible to start automobile production in the years of rationing under conditions dominated by shortages. With his enthusiasm... he succeeded in transforming a former armaments plant into a civilian industrial company in an impressively short space of time.”

Although the British Military Government already issued an order for 20,000 vehicles in August 1945, by the end of the year, the Wolfsburg factory only managed to produce a total of 55 vehicles. Still, from 1946 onwards, up to 1,000 examples were assembled per month, with the first exports already starting in 1947.

Today, in light of Beetle’s success story, it’s easy to understand that the decisions to make Wolfsburg a civilian production unit and begin manufacturing the Type 1 laid the foundation for the company’s rise to its current fortunes. The original Beetle was produced until 2003, and its total run amounted to an incredible count of 21,529,464 units.