The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is an economy car that was manufactured and marketed by the German company Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003. It has a rear-engine design with a two-door body style and is intended for five occupants (later, Beetles were restricted to four people in some countries).

The need for a people's car ( in German), its concept and its functional objectives were formulated by the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, who wanted a cheap, simple car to be mass-produced for his country's new road network (Reichsautobahn). Members of the National Socialist party, with an additional dues surcharge, were promised the first production, but the Spanish Civil War shifted most production resources to military vehicles to support the Nationalists under Francisco Franco.

Lead engineer Ferdinand Porsche and his team took until 1938 to finalise the design. Béla Barényi is credited with conceiving the original basic design for this car in 1925, notably by Mercedes-Benz, on their website, including his original technical drawing, five years before Porsche claimed to have done his initial version. The influence on Porsche's design of other contemporary cars, such as the Tatra V570, and the work of Josef Ganz remains a subject of dispute. The result was the first Volkswagen, and one of the first rear-engined cars since the Brass Era. With 21,529,464 produced, the Beetle is the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single platform ever made.

Although designed in the 1930s, due to World War II, civilian Beetles only began to be produced in significant numbers by the end of the 1940s. The car was then internally designated the Volkswagen Type 1, and marketed simply as the Volkswagen. Later models were designated Volkswagen 1200, 1300, 1500, 1302, or 1303, the first three indicating engine displacement, the last two derived from the model number.

The car became widely known in its home country as the Käfer (German for "beetle", cognate with English chafer) and was later marketed under that name in Germany, and as the Volkswagen in other countries. For example, in France it was known as the  (French for ladybug).

The original 25 hp (18.6 kW) Beetle was designed for a top speed around 100 km/h (62 mph), which would be a viable cruising speed on the Reichsautobahn system. As Autobahn speeds increased in the postwar years, its output was boosted to 36, then 40 hp (26.8, then 29.8 kW), the configuration that lasted through 1966 and became the "classic" Volkswagen motor. The Beetle gave rise to multiple variants: mainly the 1950 Type 2 'Bus', the 1955 Karmann Ghia, as well as the 1961 Type 3 'Ponton' and the 1968 Type 4 (411/412) family cars, ultimately forming the basis of an entirely rear-engined VW product range.

The Beetle marked a significant trend, led by Volkswagen, and then by Fiat and Renault, whereby the rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout increased from 2.6 percent of continental Western Europe's car production in 1946 to 26.6 percent in 1956. In 1959 even General Motors launched an air-cooled, rear-engined car, the Chevrolet Corvair—which also shared the Beetle's flat engine and swing axle architecture.

Over time, front-wheel drive, and frequently hatchback-bodied cars would come to dominate the European small-car market. In 1974, Volkswagen's own front-wheel drive Golf hatchback succeeded the Beetle. In 1994, Volkswagen unveiled the Concept One, a "retro"-themed concept car with a resemblance to the original Beetle, and in 1998 introduced the "New Beetle", built on the contemporary Golf platform with styling recalling the original Type 1. It remained in production through 2010, and was succeeded in 2011 by the Beetle (A5), the last variant of the Beetle, which was also more reminiscent of the original Beetle. Production ceased altogether by 2019.

In the 1999 Car of the Century competition, to determine the world's most influential car in the 20th century, the Type 1 came fourth, after the Ford Model T, the Mini, and the Citroën DS.

History

"The People's Car"

The original concept behind the first Volkswagen, the company, and its name is the notion of a people's car – a car affordable and practical enough for common people to own. Hence the name, which is literally "people's car" in German, pronounced ). Although the Volkswagen Beetle was mainly the brainchild of Ferdinand Porsche and Adolf Hitler, the idea of a "people's car" is much older than Nazism and has existed since the mass-production of cars was introduced. In fact, Béla Barényi was able to prove in court in 1953 that Porsche's patents infringed on Barényi's ideas, and therefore Barényi has since been credited with first conceiving the original basic design for this car in 1925. This was noted on the Mercedes-Benz website, including Barényi's original technical drawing, dated five years before Ferdinand Porsche claimed to have made his initial version. Barényi also successfully sued Volkswagen for copyright infringement in 1955, whereby his contribution to the creation of the VW Type 1 was legally acknowledged.

Contrary to the situation in the United States, where the Ford Model T had become the first car to motorize the masses, contributing to household car ownership of about 33% in 1920 and some 46% in 1930, in the early 1930s, the German auto industry was still mostly limited to luxury models, and few Germans could afford anything more than a motorcycle: one German out of 50 owned a car.

In April 1934, Hitler gave the order to Porsche to develop a Volkswagen. The epithet Volks-, literally "people's-", had been applied to other Nazi-sponsored consumer goods as well, such as the Volksempfänger ("people's radio").

In May 1934, at a meeting at Berlin's Kaiserhof Hotel, Hitler insisted on a basic vehicle that could transport two adults and three children at  while not using more than 7 litres of fuel per 100 km (32 mpg US/39 mpg UK). The engine had to be powerful enough for sustained cruising on Germany's Autobahnen. Everything had to be designed to ensure parts could be quickly and inexpensively exchanged. The engine had to be air-cooled because, as Hitler explained, not every country doctor had his own garage. (Ethylene glycol antifreeze was only just beginning to be used in high-performance liquid-cooled aircraft engines. In general, water in radiators would freeze unless the vehicle was kept in a heated building overnight or drained and refilled each morning.)

The "People's Car" was to be made available to citizens of Germany through a savings scheme, or Sparkarte (savings booklet), at , about the price of a small motorcycle. (The average weekly income was then around .) Due to the outbreak of war in 1939, none of the participants in the savings scheme ever received a car.  In 1950 a lawsuit was issued that, after 12 years of trial, ultimately provided a credit of 12% off the list price of a new VW base model or less than five times the money paid into the saving scheme.

Development
Ferdinand Porsche developed the Type 12, or "Auto für Jedermann" (car for everybody) for Zündapp in 1931. Porsche already preferred the flat-four engine, and selected a swing axle rear suspension (invented by Edmund Rumpler), while Zündapp insisted on a water-cooled five-cylinder radial engine. In 1932 three prototypes were running; all were lost during World War II, the last in a bombing raid in Stuttgart in 1945.

The Zündapp prototypes were followed by the Porsche Type 32, designed in 1933 for NSU Motorenwerke AG, another motorcycle company.  The Type 32 was similar in design to the Type 12, but it had a flat-four engine. NSU discontinued car manufacturing, and the Type 32 was abandoned at the prototype stage.

Initially designated Type 60 by Porsche, the design team included Erwin Komenda and Karl Rabe. In October 1935, the first two Type-60 prototypes, known as cars V1, a sedan, and V2 , a convertible (V for Versuchswagen, or "test car"), were ready. In 1936 testing began of three further V3 prototypes, built in Porsche's Stuttgart shop. A batch of thirty W30 development models, produced for Porsche by Daimler-Benz, underwent  of further testing in 1937. All cars had the distinctive round shape and the air-cooled, rear-mounted engine. Included in this batch was a rollback soft top called the Cabrio Limousine. A further batch of 44 VW38 pre-production cars produced in 1938 introduced split rear windows; both the split window and the dash were retained on production Type 1s until 1953. The VW38 cars were followed by another batch of 50 VW39 cars, completed in July 1939.

The car was designed to be as simple as possible mechanically. The air-cooled   motor's built-in oil cooler, and the flat-four engine configuration's superior performance was also effective for the German Afrika Korps in Africa's desert heat. The suspension design used compact torsion bars instead of coil or leaf springs. According to a 1972 commercial, the Beetle was nearly airtight and would briefly float.

Factory
On 26 May 1938, Hitler laid the cornerstone for the Volkswagen factory in Fallersleben. He gave a speech, in which he named the car Kraft-durch-Freude-Wagen ("Strength Through Joy Car", usually abbreviated to KdF-Wagen). The name refers to Kraft durch Freude ('Strength Through Joy'), the official leisure organization of Nazi Germany. The model village of Stadt des KdF-Wagens was created near Fallersleben in Lower Saxony in 1938 for the benefit of the workers at the newly built factory.

Volkswagen had only just started small scale production, building about 210 Beetles, when civilian production was halted at the start of the war. Except for two military prototype units, these KdF sedans were allocated to military officers as personal cars. Hitler was given the very first convertible Beetle built in 1938. Both 704cc and 984cc air-cooled engines were fitted in these early units.

The first volume-produced versions of the car's running-gear and chassis were military vehicles, the Type 82 Kübelwagen (approximately 52,000 built) and the amphibious Type 128 and 166 Schwimmwagen (about 14,000 built).

Wartime production

A handful of KdF-Wagen were produced, primarily for the Nazi elite, from 1941 to 1944, as the Typ 60. During World War II, the factory primarily built the Kübelwagen (Typ 82), the Schwimmwagen (Typ 166), and a handful of other light wheeled vehicles, all mechanically derived from the Typ 1, for the Wehrmacht. These included several hundred Kommandeurswagen (Typ 87), with a Typ 1 Beetle body mounted on the rugged chassis of the four-wheel drive Typ 86 Kübelwagen prototype, and fitted with portal axle and a Schwimmwagen drive train, with wider fenders., to accommodate oversize Kronprinz all-terrain tires (reminiscent of the later Baja Bugs). Kommandeurswagen were produced up to 1944, when all production was halted because of heavy damage to the factory from Allied air raids. Much of the essential equipment had already been moved to underground bunkers for protection, which let production resume quickly after hostilities ended. Due to gasoline shortages late in the war, a few "Holzbrenner" Beetles were built, which were fueled with logs of wood. The logs were converted into combustible gases using pyrolysis gas producers located under the front hood, so the car could retain its carbureted Otto engine.

Post-war production and boom

In occupied Germany, the Allies followed the Morgenthau plan to remove all German war potential by complete or partial pastoralization. As part of this, in the Industrial plans for Germany, the rules for which industry Germany was to be allowed to retain were set out. German car production was set at a maximum of 10 percent of the 1936 car production numbers.

Mass production of civilian VW cars did not start until post-war occupation. The Volkswagen factory was handed over by the Americans to British control in 1945; it was to be dismantled and shipped to Britain. However, no British car manufacturer was interested in the factory; an official report included the phrases "the vehicle does not meet the fundamental technical requirement of a motor-car… it is quite unattractive to the average buyer…  To build the car commercially would be a completely uneconomic enterprise." The factory survived by producing cars for the British Army instead. Allied dismantling policy changed in late 1946 to mid-1947, although heavy industry continued to be dismantled until 1951. In March 1947, Herbert Hoover helped change policy by stating

The re-opening of the factory is largely accredited to British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst. Hirst was ordered to take control of the heavily bombed factory, which the Americans had captured. His first task was to remove an unexploded bomb that had fallen through the roof and lodged itself between some pieces of irreplaceable production equipment; if the bomb had exploded, the Beetle's fate would have been sealed. Knowing Germany needed jobs and the British Army needed vehicles, Hirst persuaded the British military to order 20,000 cars, and by March 1946 the factory was producing 1,000 cars a month (in Army khaki, under the name Volkswagen Type 1), which Hirst said "was the limit set by the availability of materials". During this period, the car reverted to its original name of Volkswagen and the town was renamed Wolfsburg.  The first 1,785 Type 1s were made in 1945.

After initially building mostly Beetles for the British military, in 1947 production transitioned to purely civilian Beetles, for the first time featuring chromed bumpers, hubcaps, and body and running board trim. Aside from some remaining military production, civilian output reached almost 9,000 units in 1947, and for 1948 total production increased to 19,244 cars. The late 1940s Beetles still had an understressed 1131 cc engine with just 25 horsepower, but it could effortlessly maintain cruising at the car's  top speed. This was already an enlarged engine, compared to the finalized pre-war design, and in some export markets, these early civilian models were therefore labeled the Type 11.

Following the British Army-led restart of production and Hirst's establishment of sales network and exports to Netherlands, former Opel manager (and formerly a detractor of the Volkswagen) Heinz Nordhoff was appointed director of the Volkswagen factory in 1949. Under Nordhoff, production increased dramatically over the following decade, with the one-millionth car coming off the assembly line by 1955. During this post-war period, the Beetle had superior performance in its category with a top speed of  and  in 27.5 seconds with fuel consumption of  for the standard  engine. This was far superior to the Citroën 2CV, which was aimed at a low speed/poor road rural peasant market, and Morris Minor, designed for a market with no motorways or freeways; it was even competitive with more advanced small city cars like the Austin Mini upon its introduction in 1959.

In Small Wonder, Walter Henry Nelson wrote:

There were other, less-numerous models, as well. A total of 696 convertible Hebmüller Cabriolets were built between 1949 and 1953, and 203 Type 18As, a canvas-doored cabriolet, were produced by Austro-Tatra as a police and fire unit between January 1950 and March 1953.

The chassis became a technological and parts donor to the original VW Bus, officially the Volkswagen Type 2, (also known as Bulli) and external coachbuilders such as Rometsch, Dannenhauer & Stauss, Wilhelm Karmann, Enzmann, Beutler, Ghia-Aigle, Hebmüller & Söhne, Drews, Wendler.

On 17 February 1972 Beetle No. 15,007,034 was produced, surpassing total production of the previous record holder, the Ford Model T. By 1973, total production was over 16 million, and by 23 June 1992, over 21 million had been produced.

Decline

Though extremely successful in the 1960s, experiencing its greatest sales growth in North America between 1960 and 1965, the Beetle was increasingly faced with stiff competition from more modern designs globally. The Japanese had refined rear-wheel-drive, water-cooled, front-engine, small cars including the Datsun 510 and Toyota Corolla, whose sales in the North American market grew rapidly at the expense of Volkswagen in the late 1960s. Honda introduced the N600, based on the space-efficient transverse-engine, front-wheel-drive layout of the original Austin Mini, to the North American market in late 1969, and upgraded the model to the Honda Civic in 1972.  The Japanese "big three" would soon dominate compact auto sales in North America.  In 1971 Ford introduced its Pinto, which had some market impact as a low cost alternative in the wake of the drop of the US Dollar against the Deutsche Mark that same year.  As the 1960s came to a close, Volkswagen faced increasingly stiff competition from European cars as well.  The Beetle was faced with competition from new designs like the Fiat 127 and Renault 5, and more robust designs based on the Austin Mini layout such as the Superminis. German competitors, Ford and Opel also enjoyed strong sales of modern smaller cars like the Ford Escort and Opel Kadett.  Volkswagen's attempts to boost the power of their air-cooled motor to meet the demands of higher highway speeds in the late 1960s, then comply with new pollution control regulations, caused problems for reliability and fuel efficiency that impaired the reputation of the aging design.  Safety issues with the Beetle came under increasing scrutiny, culminating in the 1972 release of a rather scathing report. During the early 1970s, sales of the Beetle in Europe and North America plummeted.

VW introduced other models to supplement the Beetle throughout the 1960s; the Type 3, Type 4, and the NSU-based and larger K70.  None of these models, aimed at more upscale markets, achieved the level of success of the Beetle. The over-reliance on a single model, now in decline, meant that Volkswagen was in financial crisis by 1974. It needed German government funding to produce the Beetle's replacement.

Production lines at Wolfsburg switched to the new water-cooled, front-engined, front-wheel-drive Golf designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1974, sold in North America at the time as the "Rabbit".  The Golf eventually became Volkswagen's most successful model since the Beetle. It was periodically redesigned over its lifetime, with only a few components carried over between generations, entering its eighth generation in 2019; the Beetle had only minor refinements of its original design.

The Golf did not kill Beetle production, nor did the smaller Polo which was launched a year later. Production of the Beetle continued in smaller numbers at other German factories until 19 January 1978, when mainstream production shifted to Brazil and Mexico: markets where low operating cost was an important factor. After this shift in production, sales in Europe did not stop, but became very low. Beetle sedans were produced for U.S. markets until July 1977 and for European markets until 1985, with other companies continuing to import cars produced in Mexico after 1985. The Beetle convertible/Cabriolet ended production (as 1979 models) on 31 January 1980.

The last Beetle was produced in Puebla, Mexico, in July 2003. The final batch of 3,000 Beetles were sold as 2004 models and badged as the Última Edición, with whitewall tires, a host of previously discontinued chrome trim, and the choice of two special paint colors taken from the New Beetle. Production in Brazil ended in 1986, then started again in 1993 and continued until 1996.

The Beetle outlasted most other cars which had adopted the rear-engine, air-cooled layout such as those by Subaru, Fiat, and General Motors. Porsche's 356 series, which originally used some Volkswagen-sourced parts, continued to use the classic rear-engine layout, as did its successor, the 911 series (which switched to water cooling in the 996 generation of the 911 onwards).

Worldwide end of production

By 2002, over 21 million Type 1s had been produced, but by 2003, annual production had dropped to 30,000 from a peak of 1.3 million in 1971. VW announced the end of production in June 2003, citing decreasing demand, and the final original Type 1 VW Beetle (No. 21,529,464) rolled off the production line at Puebla, Mexico, on 30 July 2003, 65 years after its original launch. This last Beetle, nicknamed El Rey (Spanish for "The King" after a legendary Mexican song by José Alfredo Jiménez) was delivered to the company's museum in Wolfsburg, Germany.

To celebrate the occasion, Volkswagen marketed a final, special series of 3,000 Beetles marketed as "Última Edición" (Final Edition) in light blue (Aquarius Blue) or beige (Harvest Moon Beige). Each car included the 1.6 engine, whitewall tires, a CD player with four speakers, chrome bumpers, trim, hub caps and exterior mirrors, a Wolfsburg emblem above the front trunk's handle, an all-cloth interior, chrome glove box badge, body coloured wheels, tinted glass, a rear parcel shelf, and VW Última Edición plaque.

A mariachi group serenaded production of the last car. In Mexico, there was an advertising campaign as a goodbye for the Beetle. In one of the ads was a very small parking space on the street, and many big cars tried to use it, but could not. After a while, a sign appears in that parking space saying: "Es increíble que un auto tan pequeño deje un vacío tan grande" (It is incredible that a car so small can leave such a large void). Another depicted the rear end of a 1954 Beetle (the year Volkswagen was established in Mexico) in the left side of the ad, reading "Erase una vez..." (Once upon a time...) and the last 2003 Beetle in the right side, reading "Fin" (The end). Other ads also had the same nostalgic tone.

 Engine: Fuel-injected (Bosch Digifant) four-cylinder horizontally opposed, 1,584 cc, ,  @ 2,200 rpm, three-way catalytic converter
 Rated fuel mileage:
 Max cruising speed:
 Brakes: front disc, rear drum
 Passengers: Five
 Tank:
 Colours: Aquarius blue, Harvest Moon beige.

Prototypes

Diesel

In 1951, Volkswagen prototyped a 1.3 L diesel engine. Volkswagen made only two of these naturally aspirated, air-cooled boxer diesel engines, and installed one engine in a Type 1 and another in a Type 2. The diesel Beetle was time tested on the Nürburgring and achieved 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 60 seconds.

Design

The Beetle featured a rear-located, air-cooled four-cylinder, boxer engine and rear-wheel drive in a two-door bodywork featuring a flat front windscreen, accommodating four passengers and providing luggage storage under the front bonnet and behind the rear seat—and offering a coefficient of drag of 0.48; to this – for a 1930s car – relatively good Cd, the also streamlined rear of the car was of help. The bodywork attached with eighteen bolts to the Beetle's nearly flat platform chassis which featured a central structural tunnel. Front and rear suspension featured torsion bars along with a front stabilizer bar—providing independent suspension at all wheels, albeit that the front axle was designed with double longitudinal trailing arms, whereas the rear axle was a simple swing axle. Certain initial features were subsequently revised, including mechanical drum brakes, split-window rear windows, mechanical direction-indicators, and the non-synchronized gearbox. Other features, including its distinctive overall shape, endured. In fact, the Beetle was prized for its seemingly unchanged appearance and "marketed to American consumers as the anti-GM and Ford: 'We do not believe in planned obsolescence. We don't change a car for the sake of change.'"

The Beetle's engine, transmission, and cylinder heads were constructed of light alloy. An engine oil cooler (located in the engine fan's shroud) ensured optimal engine operating temperature and long engine life, optimized by a thermostat that bypassed the oil cooler when the engine was cold. Later models featured an automatic choke. Engine intake air passed through a metallic filter, while heavier particles were captured by an oil bath. After 1960, steering featured a hydraulic damper that absorbed steering irregularities.

Indicative of the car's utilitarian design, the interior featured painted metal surfaces, a metal dash consolidating instruments in a single, circular binnacle, adjustable front seats, a fold-down rear seat, optional swing-out rear windows, front windows with pivoting vent windows, heating via air-to-air exchange manifolds operating off the engine's heat, and a windshield washer system that eschewed the complexity and cost of an additional electric pump and instead received its pressurization from the car's spare tire (located in the front luggage compartment) which was accordingly overinflated to accommodate the washer function.

Throughout its production, VW marketed the Beetle with a four-speed manual transmission. From 1961 (and almost exclusively in Europe), VW offered an optional version of the Saxomat semi-automatic transmission: a regular 4-speed manual gearbox coupled to an electromagnetic clutch with a centrifugal clutch used for idle. Subsequently, (beginning in 1967 in Europe and 1968 in the United States), VW offered an optional semi-automatic transmission (marketed as Automatic Stick Shift and also called AutoStick,) which was a 3-speed manual coupled to an electro-pneumatic clutch and torque converter.

While the overall appearance of the Beetle changed little over its life span, it received over 78,000 incremental changes during its production.

Evolution and design changes

Beetle cabriolet

It was in 1948 that Wilhelm Karmann first bought a VW Beetle sedan and converted it into a four-seated convertible.  After successfully presenting it at VW in Wolfsburg the Beetle Cabriolet began production in 1949 by Karmann in Osnabrück.

The convertible was more than a Beetle with a folding top. To compensate for the strength lost in removing the roof, the sills were reinforced with welded U-channel rails, a transverse beam was fitted below the front edge of the rear seat cushion, and the side cowl-panels below the instrument panel were double-wall. In addition, the lower corners of the door apertures had welded-in curved gussets, and the doors had secondary alignment wedges at the B-pillar.

The top was cabriolet-style with a full inner headliner hiding the folding mechanism and crossbars. In between the two top layers was  of insulation. The rear window was tempered safety glass, and after 1968, heated. Due to the thickness of the top, it remained quite tall when folded. To enable the driver to see over the lowered top, the inside rearview was mounted on an offset pivot. By twisting the mirror 180 degrees on a longitudinal axis, the mirror glass would raise approximately .

The convertible was generally more lavishly equipped than the sedan with dual rear ashtrays, twin map pockets, a visor vanity mirror on the passenger side, rear stone shields, and through 1969, wheel trim rings. Many of these items did not become available on other Beetles until the advent of the optional "L" (Luxus) Package of 1970.

After a number of stylistic and technical alterations made to the Karmann cabriolet, (corresponding to the many changes VW made to the Beetle throughout its history), the last of 331,847 cabriolets came off the production line on 10 January 1980.

1950–1959 models

During this period, myriad changes were made throughout the vehicle beginning with the availability of hydraulic brakes and a folding fabric sunroof in 1950.  The rear window of the VW Beetle evolved from a divided or "split" oval, to a singular oval. The change occurred between October 1952 and March 1953. Beetles built during this time were known as a "Zwitter", or "hybrid", as they used the split-window body shell with oval-model chrome trim, vent windows and dashboard.

1953 models received a redesigned instrument panel.  The one-piece "Pope's Nose" combination license plate/brake light was replaced by a smaller flat-bottomed license plate light. The brake light function was transferred to new heart-shaped lamps located in the top of the taillight housings.

In 1954, Volkswagen added  to the cylinder bore, increasing the displacement from 1,131 (1100) cc to 1,192 (1200) cc. This coincided with upgrades to various key components including a redesign of the crankshaft. This increased power from  to  and improved the engine's free revving abilities without compromising torque at lower engine speeds. At the same time, compression ratios were progressively raised as, little by little, the octane ratings of available fuel was raised in major markets during the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1955, the separate brake lights were discontinued and were combined into a new larger taillight housing.  The traditional VW semaphore turn signals were replaced by conventional flashing directional indicator lamps for North America.

For 1956, the Beetle received what would become one of its more distinctive features, a set of twin chrome tailpipes. Models for North America gained taller bumper guards and tubular overrider bars.

For 1958, the Beetle received a revised instrument panel, and a larger rectangular rear window replaced the previous oval design.

1960–1969 models

1960 models received a front anti roll bar along with hydraulic steering damper.

For the 1961 model year (from August 1960 onwards), significant technical advances occurred in the form of a new engine (engine code D) and transmission. The engine displacement remained at  but the power was increased to  at 3600 rpm, and the maximum torque output was slightly raised to  at 2000 rpm (all figures according to the DIN 70020 standard). Volkswagen achieved this by increasing the engine's compression (ε) from 6.6 to 7.0. This also resulted in the engine now requiring fuel with a higher octane rating of 87 RON.

The single-barrel Solex carburetor received an electric automatic choke and the transmission was now synchronized on all forward gears. The traditional semaphore turn signals were replaced by conventional flashing directional indicators worldwide. The standard model called the TYPE 111–112, continued to use the 30 PS 1200 engine of the old architecture that dates back to Franz Reimspiess original design of 1937 all the way until the end of the 1965 model year.

For 1962, the Beetle received a mechanical fuel level gauge in place of the former fuel tap. The Standard model continued without a gas gauge until the end of the 1965 model year. At the rear, larger tail lights were introduced incorporating a separate amber turn signal section to meet new European standards (these turn signals remained red in the US market until 1973). The former hand-pump style windscreen washer was replaced by a new design using compressed air. A Schrader valve located on the washer fluid tank allowed the system to be charged at a filling station to the recommended .

1964 models could be identified by a widened light housing on the engine lid over the rear license plate, however the standard model continued to use the old teardrop style to the end of the 1965 model run.

The largest change to date for the Beetle was in 1965: the majority of the body stampings were revised, which allowed for significantly larger windows. The windshield increased in area by 11% and was now slightly curved, rather than flat. Door windows increased accordingly by 6% (and door vent window edges were canted slightly back), rear side windows 17.5%, and the rear window 19.5%. The result was a more open, airy, modern look.

For 1966, the big news was an optional new 1300cc  engine in lieu of the previous 1200cc engine that had been the sole engine since 1954. Models so equipped carried a "1300" badge on the engine lid. The 1300cc engine was standard for North America.

For 1967, a yet-again larger-displacement engine was made available: 1500cc,  at 4,200 rpm. The 1200 and 1300 engines continued to be available, as many markets based their taxation on engine size. The 1500cc Beetles were equipped with front disc brakes and were identified with a "VW 1500" badge on the engine lid. North America received the 1500 engine as standard equipment, but did not receive front disc brakes. These models were identified by a "Volkswagen" badge on the engine lid.

The rear suspension was significantly revised and included a widened track, softer torsion bars and the addition of a unique Z-configuration equalizing torsion spring. On US, UK, and Ireland models, the generator output was increased from 180 to 360 watts, and the entire electrical system was upgraded from 6 to 12 volts. The clutch disc also increased in size and changes were made to the flywheel. New equipment included a driver's armrest on the door and locking buttons on both doors. Safety improvements included two-speed windscreen wipers, reversing lights (in some markets), and a driver's side mirror. In accord with the newly enacted US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108, North American models received a dual-circuit brake system, the clear glass headlamp covers were deleted; the headlamps were brought forward to the leading edge of the front fenders, and the sealed-beam units were exposed and surrounded by chrome bezels. In the rest of the world markets, the 1967 model retained the older headlights. For 1967 North American market Beetles the engine lid was shortened, and reshaped to accommodate the optional 1500 engine. Midway through the '67 model year, the North American market rear bumper overrider tubes were redesigned to taper downwards inboard of the bumper guards. The Brazilian market model (Volkswagen Fusca) retained the pre-1967 headlamps until 1972.

1968 was a year of major change. The most noticeable of which were the new larger, higher mounted C-section bumpers. At the rear, new larger taillamps were adopted and were able to accommodate reversing lamps, which were previously separate bumper-mounted units. Beetles worldwide received the '67 North American style vertical headlamp placement, but with replaceable-bulb headlamps compliant with ECE regulations rather than the US sealed beams. Other improvements were a new outside gas filler with spring-loaded flap, eliminating the need to open the trunk to refuel. The fuel gauge was integrated with the speedometer and was now electrically actuated rather than cable-operated. The windscreen washer was now pressured by the spare tire, which was to be maintained at a pressure of . A pressure valve in the connecting hose closed airflow to the fluid reservoir if spare tire pressure fell below , which was above the recommended pressures for the road tires. A ventilation system was introduced, which drew fresh air into the cabin from louvres on the front decklid.  For improved shifting, the shift lever was shortened, stiffened and moved rearward by .

A number of safety improvements were made in order to comply with new American safety regulations: these included trigger-operated outside door handles, a secondary front hood latch, collapsing steering column, soft vent window latches, rotary glove compartment latch and instrument panel knobs labeled with pictographs. US models received a padded instrument panel that was optional in other markets. To meet North American head restraint requirements, VW developed the industry's first high-back bucket seat. The Standard model 111–112, called the 1200 "A" still used the 1200 engine but for the first time for Europe it came with a 12 volt system.

A new 3-speed semi-automatic transmission with torque converter and vacuum-operated clutch became available mid-production year. The semi-automatic models received a vastly improved semi-trailing-arm rear suspension (also known as "independent rear suspension" although the earlier swing axle Beetles were also independent) and eliminated the need for the equalizing torsion spring. This new rear suspension layout would eventually become an option on later models. Beetles equipped with the automatic were identified with a "VW Automatic" badge on the engine lid and a matching decal in the rear window. In North America, the badging and decal were later revised to read, "Automatic Stick Shift".

For 1969, the only exterior change was the fuel filler flap no longer had a finger indentation due to a new interior-mounted fuel door release. For North America, the Beetle received a heated rear window, day/night mirror and the semi-trailing, independent suspension with double jointed swing axles as standard equipment. In other markets, manual transmission models retained a swing axle independent suspension which would continue until the end of German Beetle production.

1970–1979 models

In 1970, a new "L" (Luxus) Package was introduced including, among other items, twin map pockets, dual rear ashtrays, full carpeting, a passenger-side visor vanity mirror, and rubber bumper moldings. The optional 1500 cc engine now came with an engine lid having two rows of cooling louvers, while the convertible's engine lid gained two additional sets for a total of four. For North America, the 1500 cc engine was enlarged to 1600 cc engine and produced

There were two Beetles for the first time in 1971, the familiar standard Beetle and a new, larger version, different from the windscreen forward. All Beetles received an engine upgrade: the optional 1500 cc engine was replaced by a 1600 cc with twin-port cylinder heads and a larger, relocated oil cooler. The new engine produced . The ventilation system was improved with the original dash-top vents augmented by a second pair aimed directly at the driver and passenger. For the first time the system was a flow-through design with crescent-shaped air exits fitted behind the rear quarter windows. Airflow could be increased via an optional 2-speed fan. The standard Beetle was now badged as the VW 1300; when equipped with the 1600 engine, it was badged 1300 S, to avoid confusion with the Type 3, which wore VW 1600 badges.

The new, larger Beetle was sold as the 1302/1302 S, offering nearly 43% more luggage capacity, up from  in front to  (remaining at 140 in back) A new MacPherson strut front suspension was incorporated, similar to what was used in the Type 4, and the front track was widened. The new suspension layout allowed the spare tire to be positioned flat under the trunk floor. Although the car had to be lengthened slightly to accomplish this, it allowed a reduction in turning radius. To gain additional trunk volume, the under-dash panel was lowered, allowing the fuel tank to be shifted rearward. From the windscreen back the big Beetle was identical to its smaller progenitor, except for having the also new semi-trailing arm rear suspension as standard equipment. Overall, the bigger Beetle was  longer,  wider, and rode on a -longer wheelbase. Both Beetles were available with or without the L Package. The convertible was now based on the 1302 body. In North America, the 1302 was marketed as the Super Beetle and came only with the L Package and 1600 cc engine. While it lacked the front disc brakes that normally accompanied the larger motor, it was fitted with brake drums that were slightly larger than the standard Beetle. With the Super Beetle being sold as the premium model in North America, the standard Beetle, while retaining the same 1600 cc engine, was stripped of many of its earlier features in order to reduce the selling price. Bright window and running board moldings disappeared, along with the day/night mirror, horn ring, map pocket, locking glove box and miscellaneous other items.

1972 models had an 11% larger rear window ( taller), and the convertible engine lid with four rows of louvres was now used on all Beetles. Inside the vehicle, a four-spoke energy-absorbing steering wheel was introduced, the windshield wiper/washer knob was replaced in favor of a steering column stalk, and intermittent wipers were a new option available in selected markets. An engine compartment socket for the proprietary VW Diagnosis system was also introduced. The rear luggage area was fitted with a folding parcel shelf. A limited-edition Commemorative model was launched in celebration of the Beetle's passing the record of the Ford Model T as the world's most-produced automobile. The Commemorative Beetle was a 1302 S finished in a special Marathon Blue Metallic paint and unique 4.5 x 15 styled steel wheels. In the U.S., it was marketed as the Super Beetle Baja Champion SE.

1973 models featured significantly enlarged "elephant foot" taillamps mounted in reshaped rear fenders. In the engine bay, the oil-bath air cleaner gave way to a dry element filter, and the generator was replaced with an alternator. The 1302/Super became the 1303 with a new taller wrap-around windscreen. The changes to the cowl and windshield resulted in slight redesign of the front hood. The instrument panel, formerly shared with the standard Beetle, was all-new and incorporated a raised speedometer pod, rocker-style switches and side-window defrosters.  The limited-edition GSR (Gelb-Schwarzer Renner; German for "Yellow-Black Racer") was a 1303 S available only in Saturn Yellow paint equipped with special  wide sport wheels fitted with 175/70-15 Pirelli Cinturato CN36 high-performance radial tires. Front and rear deck lids were finished in matte black, as was all exterior trim with the exception of the chrome headlamp bezels. Inside were corduroy and leatherette high-bolstered sport seats and a small diameter three-spoke steering wheel with padded leather rim and a small red VW logo on the bottom spoke. In North America, the GSR was sold as the Super Beetle Sports Bug. The North American model had body-color deck lids and was available in Marathon Blue Metallic in addition to Saturn Yellow. In some markets, the sport wheels (in both 4.5-inch and 5.5-inch widths), sport steering wheel and sport seats became available as stand-alone options.

For 1974, North American models received newly required  impact bumpers mounted on self-restoring energy absorbers, which added approximately  to the car's overall length. On the Super Beetle, the steering knuckle, and consequently the lower attachment point of the strut, was redesigned to improve handling and stability in the event of a tire blowout. A limited-edition Big Beetle was introduced based on the 1303 LS. Available in unique metallic paint colors, the car featured styled-steel  wide sport wheels wrapped in 175/70-15 Pirelli Cinturato CN36 tires, corduroy seat inserts, upgraded loop-pile carpet, wood-look instrument panel trim and a padded steering wheel with bright accents. In the North American market, a limited-edition Sun Bug was introduced as a standard Beetle or Super Beetle. Both were finished in metallic gold and featured styled-steel -wide sport wheels. Inside were brown corduroy and leatherette seats, loop-pile carpet, and padded four-spoke deluxe steering wheel. The Super Beetle Sun Bug included a sliding-steel sunroof. Mid-year, the Love Bug was introduced for North America: based on the standard Beetle, it was available only in Phoenix Red or Ravenna Green (both colors shared with the VW-Porsche 914) with all exterior trim finished in matte black. A price leader, the Love Bug retailed for less than a standard Beetle.

In 1975, front turn indicators were moved from the top of the front fenders down into the bumper. At the rear, the license plate light housing was now molded of plastic with a ribbed top surface. To comply with tightening emission standards, the 1600 cc engine in Japanese and North American markets received Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection, rather than the D-Jetronic system formerly used in the VW Type 3 and Type 4. The injected engine received a new muffler and in California a catalytic converter. This necessitated a bulge in the rear apron under the rear bumper and replaced the distinctive twin "pea shooter" tailpipes with a single offset pipe, making injected models identifiable at a glance.  bumper-equipped North American models retained fender-top front indicators. The 1303 received rack and pinion steering. In North America, the 1303/Super Beetle sedan was moved upmarket and was now christened La Grande Bug. Similar to the Big Beetle of 1974, La Grande Bug was available in blue or green metallic paint in the U.S. and blue, green or gold metallic in Canada and was equipped with the same features as the 1974 Sun Bug. The "Volkswagen" script on the engine lid of all North American Beetles was replaced with a "Fuel Injection" badge.

In 1976, the 1303/La Grande Bug was discontinued, with the larger body continuing only in convertible form. To make up for the loss in North American markets, the standard Beetle was upgraded, regaining some of the features that were removed in 1971. In addition, the 2-speed ventilation fan was included, previously available in North America only on the larger Beetle. The automatic stickshift option was discontinued as well.

1977 models received new front seats with separate head restraints.  This was the final model year for the Beetle sedan in North America. The convertible was offered in a "triple white" Champagne Edition in Alpine White with white top and interior with the padded deluxe steering wheel, tiger maple wood-grain dash trim and  wide sport wheels. Approximately 1,000 Champagne Editions were produced.

For 1978, a new Champagne second edition convertible was launched, available in blue or red metallic paint with white leatherette interior. Features included the  wide styled steel sport wheels, AM/FM radio, analog quartz clock, padded deluxe steering wheel and rosewood-grain instrument panel trim. Approximately 1,100 were produced.

In 1979, VW offered an Epilogue Edition of the convertible in triple black with features similar to the 1978 Champagne Edition. This would be the last year of convertible production worldwide as well as the final year for the Beetle in the US and Canada.

Introduction to international markets

Ireland

Volkswagen began its involvement in Ireland when in 1949, Motor Distributors Limited, founded by Stephen O'Flaherty secured the franchise for the country at that year's Paris Motor Show. In 1950, Volkswagen Beetles started arriving into Dublin packed in crates in what was termed "completely knocked down" (CKD) form ready to be assembled. The vehicles were assembled in a former tram depot at 162 Shelbourne Road in Ballsbridge. As of 2021, this was the premises for Ballsbridge Motors, a Mercedes-Benz dealer. The first Volkswagen ever assembled outside Germany was built here. This vehicle is now on display at the Volkswagen Museum in Wolfsburg.

United Kingdom
In 1952, John Colborne-Baber began to import small numbers of Beetles largely to satisfy demand from US Air Force personnel stationed in Kent. Today, Colborne Garages still hold the Volkswagen franchises for Guildford and Walton-on-Thames. In 1953 J.Gilder & Co. Ltd. in Sheffield, began selling Beetles. Jack Gilder had been fascinated by both the design and engineering of the Beetle when he came across one in Belgium during the war. He applied for the franchise as soon as the opportunity presented itself and became Volkswagen's representative in the North of England. In 2013 the Gilder Group was acquired by JCT600.

Japan
The Type 1 was introduced to Japan in 1953, and was imported by Yanase dealerships in Japan. Its exterior dimensions and engine displacement were in compliance with Japanese Government regulations, which helped sales. Several Japanese vehicles were introduced after the Beetle was sold in Japan, using an air-cooled engine and rear mounting of the engine, such as the Subaru 360, or an engine installed in the front, like the Honda N360, the Suzuki Fronte, and the Mitsubishi Minica.

International production
German production of the Beetle took place initially at the parent Wolfsburg plant until the Golf's introduction in 1974, later expanding to the newer Emden and Hanover plants. Volkswagen's takeover of Auto Union in 1964 saw 60,000 cars per year being produced on the Audi assembly lines in Ingolstadt until 4 September 1969. The last German-made cars were assembled at Emden in 1978, after which the Puebla, Mexico, plant became the principal source of Beetle production. Other countries produced Beetles from CKD (complete knockdown kits): Ireland, Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, Yugoslavia (city of Sarajevo), and Nigeria have assembled Beetles under licence from VW.

Beetles produced in Mexico and Brazil had several differences:

Brazil

Brazilian assembly of the Beetle, where it is called "Fusca", started in 1953, with parts imported from Germany. By January 1959 the cars were built in the new São Bernardo do Campo plant, although they originally had 60% German parts content. By the mid-sixties, the cars had 99.93% Brazilian parts content, with four German parts of a combined value of about one US dollar still being imported. Production continued until 1986. In 1993 production resumed and continued to 1996. The Brazilian version retained the 1958–64 body style (Europe and U.S. version) with the thick door pillars and smaller side windows. This body style was also produced in Mexico until 1971. Around 1973, all Brazilian Beetles (1300 and 1500 series) were updated with the 1968-up sheet metal, bumpers, and four-lug rims; although the five-stud rims and "bugeye" headlights were produced as late as 1972 (the base VW 1200 and 1300 manufactured in Brazil was similar to the 1964 European/U.S. 1200 until the 1970 model year but came with vented wheels since the late-1960s). The 1971 and 1972 1300s had the 1964-era taillights and headlights, fuel tank, but fitted with the 1968-up raised bumpers. Brazilian CKD kits were shipped to Nigeria between 1975 and 1987 where Beetles were locally assembled. The Brazilian-produced versions have been sold in neighboring South American nations bordering Brazil, including Argentina, Uruguay, and Peru.

The Brazilian Type 1s have four different engines: 1,200 cc, 1,300 cc, 1,500 cc, and 1,600 cc. In the 1970s, Volkswagen made the SP-2 (derived from the Type 1 pan and the Type 3 powertrain) with a 1,700 cc engine (a bored-out 1,600 cc). In Brazil, the Type 1 never received electronic fuel injection, instead retaining carburetors (one or two one-barrels) throughout its entire life, although the carburetion differs from engines of different years and specification.

The production of the air-cooled engine finally ended in 2006, after more than 60 years.  It was last used in the Brazilian version of the VW Bus, called the "Kombi", and was replaced by a 1.4 L water-cooled engine with a front-mounted cooling system. Volkswagen do Brasil engaged in some string pulling in the early sixties when a law requiring taxis to have four doors and five seats was being considered. After proving that the average taxi fare only carried 1.8 passengers and an overall saving of twenty percent for a smaller two-door car, the Brazilian government relented and the law never entered the books. The Fusca proceeded to have a long career as a taxi in urban Brazil.

Southern Rhodesia
The Volkswagen Type 1 chassis was used as the basis for a mine-protected APC called the Leopard security vehicle and the Pookie de-mining vehicle, fielded by the Republic of Rhodesia during the Rhodesian Bush War.

Mexico

Mexican production began in 1955 because of agreements with companies such as Chrysler in Mexico and the Studebaker-Packard Corporation which assembled cars imported in CKD form. In 1964, they began to be locally produced.  These models have the larger windshield, rear window, door and quarter glass starting in 1972; and the rear window from 1965 to 1971 German built models was used on the Mexican models from 1972 to 1985, when it was replaced with the larger rear window used on 1972 and later German built Beetles. This version, after the mid-1970s, saw little change with the incorporation of electronic ignition in 1988, an anti-theft alarm system in 1990, a catalytic converter in 1991 (as required by law), as well as electronic Digifant fuel injection, hydraulic valve lifters, and a spin-on oil filter in 1993. The front turn signals were located in the bumper instead of the Beetle's traditional placement on top of the front fenders from the 1977 model year on, as they had been on German Beetles sold in Europe from 1975 onwards. Starting in 1995, the Mexican Beetle included front disc brakes, an alternator instead of a generator, and front automatic seat belts. During the 1995 model year, the chrome moldings disappeared leaving body colored bumpers and black moldings instead on some models. By the start of the 1996 model year, exterior chrome or matt moldings were dropped altogether and Volkswagen de Mexico (VWdM) dropped the Sedan's flow-through ventilation system with all its fittings, notably the exterior crescent-shaped vents behind the rear side windows the same year.

In mid-1996, front drum brakes and fixed front seat belts were re-launched in a new budget version called the "Volkswagen Sedán City", which was sold alongside the upscale version "Volkswagen Sedán Clásico" which had front disc brakes, automatic seat belts, right side mirror, velour upholstery, optional metallic colors and wheel covers in matte finish (also found on some 1980s Beetles and Buses). These two versions were sold until mid 1998. From mid 1998–2003, The Sedán Clásico was discontinued and the Sedán City lost its prefix and gained disc brakes, automatic seat belts and optional metallic colors. This last version was named the "Volkswagen Sedán Unificado" or simply the "Volkswagen Sedán".

Independent importers continued to supply several major countries, including Germany, France, and the UK until the end of production in 2003.  Devoted fans of the car even discovered a way to circumvent US safety regulations by placing more recently manufactured Mexican Beetles on the floorpans of earlier, US-registered cars. The Mexican Beetle (along with its Brazilian counterpart) was on the US DOT's (Department of Transportation) hot list of grey market imports after 1978 as the vehicle did not meet safety regulations.

In the Southwest US (Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas), Mexican Beetles (and some Brazilian T2c Transporters) are a fairly common sight since Mexican nationals can legally operate the vehicle in the United States, provided the cars remain registered in Mexico. Some of the Mexican Beetles have been registered in the United States since the 1998 NHTSA amendment granting the 25-year cutoff where it (and its Brazilian counterpart including the T2C) can be legally registered in any of the 50 states (this means a 1997 or earlier Mexican Beetle as of 2022 can be registered under the current NHTSA 25-year cutoff exemption).

The end of production in Mexico can be attributed primarily to Mexican political measures: the Beetles no longer met emission standards for Mexico City, in which the ubiquitous Beetles were used as taxicabs; and the government outlawed their use as taxicabs because of rising crime rates, requiring only four-door vehicles be used. The last Vocho taxis in Mexico City were retired at the end of 2012. In addition, Volkswagen (now Germany's largest automaker) has been attempting to cultivate a more upscale, premium brand image, and the humble Beetle clashed with this identity, as seen in the Touareg and Passat luxury vehicles. In the late 1990s consumers strongly preferred more modern cars such as the Mexican Chevy, the Nissan Tsuru, and the Volkswagen Pointer and Lupo.

However, demand for the Beetle was relatively high, especially in the 1990s, with the workforce increasing at the start of the decade. The price of the base model (without even a radio) was pegged with the official minimum wage, by an agreement between the company and the government. In 1990 it cost US$5,300.

Australia
Official importation of the Volkswagen Beetle into Australia began in 1953, with local assembly operations commencing the following year. Volkswagen Australia was formed in 1957, and by 1960 locally produced body panels were being used for the first time. When the European Type One body received the larger windows for the 1965 model year, Volkswagen Australia decided not to update, but continued to produce the smaller-windowed bodies, with unique features to the Australian versions. This was due to the limited size of the market and the costs involved in retooling. Australian content had reached almost 95% by this time. The Australian subsidiary continued to produce the earlier body style until 1967, when declining sales forced a switch to CKD assembly using imported components the following year. In 1968, Volkswagen Australia released its own locally designed utilitarian version of the Type 1, the Volkswagen Country Buggy or Type 197.

The last Australian-assembled Beetle was produced in July 1976 with assembly of other models ending in February 1977. All Volkswagens for the Australian market have been fully imported since then.

South Africa

The Beetle was also produced in South Africa at the Uitenhage plant from 31 August 1951 to 1979.  Several features from the Super Beetle were grafted onto the South African Beetle 1600S, such as curved windshield, new dashboard, and larger taillights, while retaining the Beetle chassis and mechanicals. The 1600 model was introduced to South Africa in 1972; it was marketed as the cheapest 1.6-liter car available there. In late 1976, the sporty SP 1600 Beetle arrived – this version received bright red, yellow, or silver paint with black stripes, a front spoiler, wide tyres, and a more powerful engine with twin carburettors and a freer flowing exhaust. The interior was also sporty, with red tartan upholstery, a small steering wheel, and much matte black. Power crept up to , from 50 PS. Also new for 1977 were rubber bumper strips for all 1600s, and the same taillights with backup lights were now fitted across the range.

The bigger-engined model was then phased out around August 1978, leaving only the 1300 model in production.

Influence claims
Various cars and designs have each claimed to have been the original influencers of Porsche's Volkswagen concept, or subsequently been influenced by the original design.

Béla Barényi

The Austro-Hungarian automotive engineer Béla Barényi is credited with designing a similarly shaped car in 1925, as early as five years before Porsche's People's car concept was unveiled.

Standard Superior

German engineer Josef Ganz designed a car called "Maybug", that is very similar to the Volkswagen Beetle. Hitler saw the car in 1933 at an auto show. There is a strong resemblance to the Standard Superior, an automobile produced from 1933 to 1935 by Standard Fahrzeugfabrik of Ludwigsburg, Germany, founded by motorcycle maker Wilhelm Gutbrod and unrelated to the Standard Motor Company of England. These small cars were designed according to the patents by Josef Ganz and featured transverse, two-stroke, two-cylinder engines mounted in front of the rear axle. However, Porsche, two years prior to the Standard Superior's introduction, had developed the Type 12 for Zündapp, already featuring many design similarities with the Volkswagen Beetle.

Tatra

The Austrian car designer Hans Ledwinka was a contemporary of Porsche working at the Czechoslovakian company Tatra. In 1931, Tatra built the V570 prototype, which had an air-cooled flat-twin engine mounted at the rear. This was followed in 1933 by a second V570 prototype with a streamlined body similar to that of the Porsche Type 32. The rear-engine, rear-wheel drive layout was a challenge for effective air cooling, and during development of the much larger V8 engined Tatra 77 in 1933 Tatra registered numerous patents related to air flow into the rear engine compartment. The use of Tatra's patented air cooling designs later became one of ten issues for which Tatra filed suit against VW.

Both Hitler and Porsche were influenced by the Tatras. Hitler was a keen automotive enthusiast, and had ridden in Tatras during political tours of Czechoslovakia. He had also dined numerous times with Ledwinka. After one of these dinners Hitler remarked to Porsche, "This is the car for my roads". From 1933 onwards, Ledwinka and Porsche met regularly to discuss their designs, and Porsche admitted "Well, sometimes I looked over his shoulder and sometimes he looked over mine" while designing the Volkswagen. The Tatra 97 of 1936 had a 1,749 cc, rear-located, rear-wheel drive, air-cooled four-cylinder boxer engine. It cost 5,600 RM and accommodated five passengers in its extensively streamlined four-door body, which provided luggage storage under the front bonnet and behind the rear seats. It also featured a similar central structural tunnel found in the Beetle.

Just before the start of the Second World War, Tatra had ten legal claims filed against VW for infringement of patents. Although Ferdinand Porsche was about to pay a settlement to Tatra, he was stopped by Hitler who said he would "solve his problem". Tatra launched a lawsuit, but this was stopped when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938, resulting in the Tatra factory coming under Nazi administration in October 1938. The T97, along with the T57, were ordered by Hitler to be removed from the Tatra display at the 1939 Berlin Autosalon and Tatra was later directed to concentrate on heavy trucks and diesel engines, with all car models, except for the V8-engined Tatra 87, being discontinued. The matter was re-opened after World War II and in 1965 Volkswagen paid Ringhoffer-Tatra 1,000,000 Deutsche Marks in an out of court settlement.

Fedden

On Sept 28, 1943, Roy Fedden, most known by his participation in the Bristol Single Sleeve valve engine research, headed by Harry Ricardo, applied for a British patent 'Improvements related to road vehicles', granted GB570814, 24 July 1945, describing a 2-door, rear-engined car, identical in arrangement and look to VW 'Käfer'. Espacenet - Original document

Tjaarda's 'Briggs Dream Car'
It has also been pointed out that the VW Beetle bears a striking resemblance to John Tjaarda's 1933 design for a streamlined, rear-engined car, that he created working for Briggs Manufacturing Company. At Briggs, a Detroit-based manufacturer of automobile bodies for Ford Motor Company, Chrysler Corporation and other U.S. and European automobile manufacturers, Tjaarda was developing a radical car for Ford to use as a new Lincoln. Ford displayed the show car at the 1933–34 Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago as the "Briggs Dream Car". One of the later designs looked almost exactly like the Beetle, if you shortened the wheelbase, and took out two side windows. It is even claimed that Porsche had visited Briggs automobiles one summer, when Tjaarda was head of R&D there, and several auto historians claim Porsche's People's Car was influenced by Tjaarda's designs, including the "Sterkenburg series" of the late twenties.

Motorsport

Drag racing

The Beetle has been modified for use in drag racing; its rearward (RR layout) weight distribution keeps the weight over the rear wheels, maximizing grip off the starting line. The car's weight is reduced for a full competition drag Beetle, further improving the grip and also the power-to-weight ratio. Combined with the Beetle's RR layout, wheelies can be achieved easily, but time "in the air" worsens 1/4-mile time. To prevent this, "wheelie bars" were added. A notable version, campaigned in the USA was the EMPI Inch Pincher.

Formula Vee

The Beetle is also used as the basis for the Formula Vee open-wheel racing category: specifically, the front suspension crossmember assembly (the shock absorber mounts are sometimes removed, depending on regulations in the class), and the engine and transaxle assembly (usually the earlier swing-axle type, not the later double-jointed axle).
In original 1,200 cc Formula Vee spec, upgrades to the cars would only be allowed sparsely, so that the wheels, tires and engines did not differ very much from the original Beetle. At the end of the 1960s, Vee Beetle engine output on a single carburetor would reach up to 70 BHP; top speeds would gradually rise to nearly . In this configuration, FV would become one of the most popular entry-level motorsports classes of its time.

Later on, double carbs and more extensive modification would be allowed, leading to the more powerful Super Vee class featuring wings for downforce and  engines, which in the end had fairly little in common with the original VW Beetle. Around 2000, worldwide Vee racing had re-established itself as a 1,200/1,300 cc beginner class with wingless cars and VW engines outputting about , but incorporating more modern chassis and tyres.

Uniroyal Fun Cup

Volkswagen Beetle-style bodies are fitted to space frame racing chassis, and are used in the Uniroyal Fun Cup, which includes the longest continuous motor-race in the world, the 25 Hours of Spa. It is an affordable entry-level series that gentleman drivers race.

Rally and Rallycross
Especially the Austrian sole distributor Porsche Salzburg (now Porsche Austria) seriously entered the Volkswagen in local and European contests in the 1960s and early 1970s. Starting with the VW 1500, in the mid-1960s the peak of their racing performance was achieved with the VW 1302S and VW 1303S (known as the Salzburg Rally Beetle) from 1971 to 1973. The vehicles were entered in such famous races as TAP (Portugal), Austrian Alpine, Elba, Acropolis etc. Drivers were top performers such as Tony Fall (GB), Guenter Janger (AUT), Harry Källström (S), Achim Warmbold (D), Franz Wurz (A), etc. The engines were highly modified 1600s delivering , later on mated to a Porsche 914 five-speed manual gearbox. Victories were achieved in 1973 on Elba for overall and class, Acropolis for class (5th overall), Austrian championship 1972, 1973 January Rallye for overall and class. Rally of 1000 minutes for overall second (first in class).

The fuel crisis, along with the arrival of the Volkswagen Golf (Rabbit), put an end to the days of unofficially supported rallying in 1974. All vehicles either used for training or actual racing were sold off to privateers, many kept racing with noticeable results until the early 1980s.

Trans-Am Series

Beetles were used in the Trans-Am Series for the two-litre class from 1966 to 1967 and again in 1972.

Armstrong 500
A Volkswagen won its class in the Armstrong 500 in Australia in both 1962 and 1963.

Baja 1000

The Baja 1000 off-road race in the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico includes specific vehicle classes for both standard Beetles and Baja Bugs. These can be seen in the documentary movie Dust to Glory.

The classes are:

 Class 5: Unlimited Baja Bugs
 Class 5-1600: 1,600 cc Baja Bugs
 Class 11: Stock VW sedans

Beetle Challenge

The Beetle Challenge is a UK-based circuit racing championship for classic air-cooled Volkswagen Beetles. The general concept is to take any Beetle, of any age or model from the 40s through to 1303s, and with minimal restrictions, allowing parts from various years to be interchanged, and of course the cars being prepared to the MSA safety requirements (cage, restraints, fire system etc.) Essentially the cars must be air-cooled Beetles (any age and parts can be swapped between years and models), with a 15-inch x 6-inch max wheel size with a control tyre. Engines must be based on a Type 1 case, with no electronic fuel injection or ignition and no forced induction, with an unlimited capacity. Other regulations apply.

Retrofit program
Volkswagen has entered into partnership with eClassics to allow Beetle owners to convert their car to electric. The battery will have a total capacity of 36.8 kWh, which should allow for a range of about . It reaches a top speed of  and charging for an hour allows to store enough energy for a journey of over .

In popular culture
The Volkswagen Beetle has made appearances in mass media which affected its popularity and sales.

 The Beetle would serve as the basis for Herbie, a fictional race car with a mind of its own, who had appeared in several movies, such as The Love Bug and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo.
 Superbug is another fictional Volkswagen Beetle and the protagonist of a series of West German movies.
 The Beetle would also serve as the basis for the vehicle mode of the Transformers character Bumblebee, a fictional robot that transforms into a car, who had appeared as a Beetle in a series of toy lines, as well as tv shows and movies.

See also
Black Current
Cal looker
Cal-Style VW
DKW F9
List of names for the Volkswagen Type 1
Meyers Manx
ORA Punk Cat
Punch buggy
Saab 92
Steyr 50
Tatra 87
Trabant
Volksrod
Volkswagen advertising
Volksworld (magazine)
 Hungarian inventions

Explanatory notes

References

Further reading
 Copping, Richard, VW Beetle: The Car of the 20th Century, , 2014.

 Margolius, Ivan, & John G Henry, Tatra: The Legacy of Hans Ledwinka, Dorchester: Veloce, 2015. .
 Nelson, Walter Henry, Small Wonder: The Amazing Story of the Volkswagen, Boston: Little, Brown, 1967.
 Rieger, Bernhard, The People's Car: A Global History of the Volkswagen Beetle. Harvard University Press, 2013.

 Videos
 Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:

External links

 The Beetle: From Hitler to Hippies: slideshow by Life
History of the Volkswagen Super Beetle

1940s cars
1950s cars
1960s cars
1970s cars
1980s cars
1990s cars
2000s cars
Cars introduced in 1938
Cars discontinued in 2003
Cars powered by boxer engines
Cars powered by rear-mounted 4-cylinder engines
Compact cars
Convertibles
Ferdinand Porsche
First car made by manufacturer
German inventions of the Nazi period
Rally cars
Rear-engined vehicles
Sedans
Police vehicles
Taxi vehicles

Volkswagen Beetle


Xu Haidong (June 17, 1900 – March 25, 1970) was a senior general in the People's Liberation Army of China.

Xu was notable for leading his men from the front lines during the Chinese Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War. His exploits earned him the nickname "Tiger Xu". He was wounded in battle nine times; and, after contracting tuberculosis, was partially bedridden for the last eighteen years of his life. Xu opposed the radical policies of the Cultural Revolution, and was persecuted to death by the followers of Mao Zedong, Lin Biao and the Gang of Four.

Early life
Xu was born in the village of Xujiaqiao, Dawu County, Hubei. He was the sixth son in a family of ten children. His father was Xu Zhongben () and his mother is only remembered by her family name, Wu (). When Xu Haidong was born, his father recognized that Xu's mother was too decrepit to nurse Xu, and requested that his mother throw Xu in a pond to drown. Xu's mother refused to kill Xu, and recruited her sister-in-law to nurse Xu.

Xu's family was poor, and Xu did not receive any education until he was nine years old, when he was sent to a primary school where his uncle taught. Most of the students at the school were from rich families, and taunted Xu with the nickname "stinky tofu". When he was twelve, Xu was expelled from school after he injured a rich classmate who was bullying him.

Because his parents were elderly they were unable to support Xu after his expulsion, and he was forced to return home and work at his family's kiln. Xu worked at the kiln for several years. He also raised ducks and worked for periods at a factory to support himself and his family. In 1921 Xu left home and became a professional soldier.

Military career

Early career
After becoming a professional soldier, Xu worked for six years in the service of various military forces established by local warlords, and in the Nationalist Army. Xu joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1925, and participated in the Northern Expedition. After the Shanghai massacre of 1927, Xu escaped the Nationalist Army and begun organizing a guerrilla resistance unit in Hubei.

In August 1927 Xu led a rebellion in his native district of Huangping known as the "Macheng Uprising". Xu's uprising was one of the Autumn Harvest Uprisings, a broader series of peasant rebellions ordered by the CCP Central Committee. Xu was initially joined by 27 local farmers. Xu's first attack was successful in defeating the local militia, capturing local arms and supplies. Forces under Xu rose to 60 men before being defeated by government forces later in 1927. Government forces attempted to capture Xu, but he escaped. With a handful of recruits, he founded the Seventh Red Army. The Seventh Red Army remained on the move for the next few years, slowly growing in strength. In late 1929 Xu and other groups of communist guerillas active around the Hubei-Henan-Anhui border area founded the Eyuwan Soviet.

Chinese Civil War

After Joining the Red Army, Xu rose quickly within the military ranks of the Eyuwan Soviet. Xu's first serious injury occurred in 1931, during a battle with Nationalist forces, when he was shot twice by a machine gun and put into a coma. Xu was promoted to battalion commander, to regiment commander, to division commander, and by the early 1930s was the commander of the 25th Army. In 1934, the Nationalists' fourth encirclement campaign against the Eyuwan Soviet forced Xu and the 25th Red Army to retreat to the Shannxi-Sichuan border area.

Xu was ordered to guard the rear of the Communist retreat during the Long March, but he soon lost contact with the rest of the Red Army after the evacuation began, and he led his forces northward independently. Xu's forces finally evacuated their own base area in September 1934, and reached the Wei River area, around the city of Xi'an, in June 1935. After arriving in the communist base area of Shaanxi, Xu was named the commander of the 15th Army Corps. By the end of the Long March, the Nationalists were offering 250,000 silver dollars for Xu's assassination.

In February 1936, Xu and Liu Zhidan (who was killed in the operation) led 34,000 Communist guerillas into southwestern Shanxi, which was ruled by a Nationalist-aligned warlord, Yan Xishan. After entering Shanxi, Xu's forces enjoyed massive popular support; and, although they were outnumbered and ill-armed, succeeded in occupying the southern third of Shanxi in less than a month. Xu's strategy of guerrilla warfare was extremely effective against, and demoralizing for Yan's forces, who repeatedly fell victim to surprise attacks. Xu made good use of cooperation supplied by local peasants to evade and easily locate Yan's forces. When reinforcements sent by the central government forced Xu to withdraw from Shanxi, the Red Army escaped by splitting into small groups that were actively supplied and hidden by local supporters. Yan himself admitted that his forces had fought poorly during the campaign. After the Communists' retreat from Shanxi, Nationalist forces remained in Shanxi to deter further guerrilla activity.

In 1936 Xu met the American journalist Edgar Snow, who visited Yan'an to interview notable Communist commanders. In his book, Red Star Over China, Snow wrote that, among the Communists in Yan'an, none were more famous or mysterious than Xu Haidong.

Mao Zedong once said, "among the Chinese revolutionaries, no one has shed more blood than Xu Haidong's family", claiming that during the Nationalists' Communist Suppression Campaign, 66 of Xu's family members were killed by a Nationalist policy of exterminating Xu's clan.

Second Sino-Japanese War

After the outbreak of the Second Sino Japanese War (1937–1945), Xu was named commander of the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army (this was effectively a demotion). Xu re-entered Shanxi in 1937 and participated in the Battle of Pingxingguan, in which a combined Nationalist-Communist force successfully delayed the Imperial Japanese Army from occupying Shanxi. After the Japanese advanced further into Shanxi, Xu continued to direct guerrilla operations in the mountainous countryside of Shanxi and western Hebei.

In August 1938 Xu contracted tuberculosis, and was recalled to Yan'an to recover. In September 1939 Xu joined forces under the command or Liu Shaoqi, serving as Deputy Commander of the New Fourth Army in central China, just north of the Yangtze River. Xu was successful in containing Japanese forces active in central China, contributing to communist attempts to establish an anti-Japanese base area in eastern Anhui.

After a series of military victories in central China, Xu's tuberculosis became seriously debilitating (at one point putting Xu into a coma for three days), and he was forced to retire from fighting on the front lines in 1940. Xu spent the rest of his life recuperating from his tuberculosis. When the Chinese Civil War resumed in 1947, Xu was assigned to organize the Red Army's logistics, but was unable to complete the assignment owing to his medical condition.

Later career
In 1955 Xu was one of ten officers awarded the rank of Senior General, or Da Jiang (), the first time that the rank of Senior General was established. Xu maintained his employment within the People's Liberation Army, but was only semi-active due to his medical condition. Xu was the chief editor of a book, the Military History of the Red 25th Army.

After the founding of the People's Republic, Xu disagreed with many of Mao Zedong's policies, but was not purged for decades. In the 1959 Lushan Conference, Xu sided with Peng Dehuai in opposing Mao's Great Leap Forward: an radical economic programme that caused a man-made famine in which tens of millions of people starved to death.   Peng was purged for opposing Mao's economic policies, but Xu survived. In 1966, Xu again opposed Mao's radical policies at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. Xu especially disagreed with Mao's practice of attacking career Party members with long histories of supporting the Party and the army. In spite of his opposition to the Cultural Revolution, in April 1969 Xu was promoted as a full Party representative during the 9th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

After the 9th Congress, Xu's opposition to the Cultural Revolution was recognized by China's radical Maoists. On October 25, 1969, Xu was purged as an "anti-Party element", and he and his family were forcibly expelled to Zhengzhou, capital of Henan. The followers of Mao Zedong, Lin Biao and the Gang of Four, allegedly directed the purging of Xu. Xu's purging was physically and psychologically harsh, to the point of "torture". After his relocation, Xu was forced to live in a cold, damp house, and was denied medical treatment for his illness. Xu died several months after being purged, on March 25, 1970.

Xu was posthumously rehabilitated by Deng Xiaoping on January 25, 1979. He was one of eight senior military officers purged during the rule of Mao Zedong who were rehabilitated after Deng came to power.

Footnotes

References

 Ch'en, Jerome, and Yang, Benjamin. "Reflections on the Long March". The China Quarterly. No. 111, September 1987. pp. 450–468. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
 Gillin, Donald G.  Warlord: Yen Hsi-shan in Shansi Province 1911–1949.  Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 1967.
 "Xu Haidong: A Man of Great Service to the Chinese Revolution" . Guangming Daily. July 1, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2011. [Chinese]
 Hershatter, Gail. The Gender of Memory: Rural Women and China's Collective Past. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. 2011.  Retrieved October 3, 2011.
 PLA Daily. "Xu Haidong: A Man Who has Rendered Outstanding Service to the Chinese Revolution". CPC Encyclopedia. September 30, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
 Wortzel, Larry M. and Higham, Robin D. S. Dictionary of contemporary Chinese Military History. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. 1999. . Retrieved December 3, 2011.
 "The Final Battle of General Xu Haidong". Xinhuanet. March 25, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2011. [Chinese]
 Yang Jisheng. "The Fatal Politics of the PRC's Great Leap Famine: the preface to Tombstone".  Journal of Contemporary China.  Vol.19, Issue 66.  pp. 755–776. July 26, 2010. Retrieved December 7 2011.
 "Xu Haidong's family tragedy written in blood and tears". mil.sohu.com. Aug 23, 2014. [Chinese]

1900 births
1970 deaths
Writers from Hubei
Politicians from Xiaogan
People's Liberation Army generals from Hubei
Chinese military writers
Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hubei
Victims of the Cultural Revolution
Chinese torture victims
People's Republic of China writers
People's Republic of China politicians from Hubei
Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery

Xu Haidong


Mitchell H. Miller, Jr. is an American philosopher.  He was, until his retirement in 2013, the Dexter Ferry Professor in Philosophy at Vassar College.  The majority of his work concerns the late dialogues of Plato, but he has also written on Hesiod, Parmenides, and Hegel.

Career
Mitchell "Mitch" Miller earned his bachelor's degree from Stanford University and his MA and PhD from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He joined Vassar's Philosophy Department in 1972, rising to the rank of professor in 1984. He served as chair of the department from 1984 to 1987, in 1988, and again from 1994 to 1996. In 2009, he was appointed to the Dexter M. Ferry Jr. Chair.

Miller is an exponent of the significance of the so-called "unwritten teachings" of Plato, as Miller holds the controversial idea that Plato taught advanced concepts to his students at the Academy beyond those explicitly discussed by Socrates and other principal interlocutors in Plato's dialogues.  The idea, which is dismissed by many Plato scholars, is based on a brief description of such teachings by Aristotle in his Metaphysics and Physics.  The Seventh Letter, which was attributed to Plato in antiquity and is now the subject of debate concerning authenticity among scholars, also includes indications of such teachings.  Miller has argued that evidence of these teachings can be found in the dialogues, but only through careful reading of structure and irony within them.

Miller's work has focused on several of the late dialogues, notably the Parmenides, Statesman, and Philebus, as well as the Republic.  In his book on the Parmenides, Miller argues that the eight bewildering and contradictory hypotheses that end the dialogue form an ironic guide that allows the informed reader to interpret the whole, revealing through what Miller has called "psychagogy"—a transformation of the philosophical disciple's soul—the true nature of Plato's conception of the forms.  That is, the ultimate purpose of the text is not to teach the reader didactically but to draw them into a different kind of thinking.

Books
The Philosopher in Plato's Statesman. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1980.  Reprinted with additional material, Las Vegas: Parmenides, 2004,
Plato's Parmenides: The Conversion of the Soul. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1986.  Reprinted University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1991.

See also
 American philosophy
 List of American philosophers

References

External links
Mitchell Miller at Vassar College

21st-century American philosophers
Vassar College faculty
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
University at Buffalo alumni

Mitchell Miller (philosopher)


Mario Alejandro Moraga Cáceres (b. Pichilemu, 16 July 1939) is a Chilean politician, who worked as regidor of Pichilemu, O'Higgins Region, between 1967 and 1970. Moraga is popularly known as el Sin Pelos en la Lengua (literally, in English: The One Without Hairs in the Tongue, meaning The Outspoken One, or The One Without Minced Words), after the radio program he hosts in Radio Entre Olas.

Biography
Mario Moraga Cáceres was born in Pichilemu on 16 July 1939. His parents were Adolfo Moraga Rodríguez and María Magdalena Cáceres Jorquera.

Political career
Moraga was elected in 1967 regidor of Pichilemu, an office which he held until 1971 under Mayor Carlos Rojas Pavez. After the Chilean transition to democracy, Moraga has participated in several municipal elections. In 1992, he renounced the Christian Democrat Party of Chile, after he was not supported by his party to run in the municipal elections of that year; he ran as independent in 1996, but was not elected mayor nor councillor, obtaining only 229 (3.61%) from the 6,352 total votes. In the 2000, and 2004 municipal elections, he ran for mayor, unsuccessfully. In 2008, Moraga ran independently for councillor of Pichilemu, obtaining 629 (8.83%) from the 7,127 total votes (surpassing Marta Urzúa Púa — who was elected — for almost 500 votes), but was not elected. In 2012, he ran again for mayor, but lost against Roberto Córdova; Moraga obtained 469 votes, the 6.57 per cent from the total vote.

Sin Pelos en la Lengua

Sin Pelos en la Lengua is a radio program, hosted by Mario Moraga since 1997, in which he informs and comments communal, regional, and national events, although he mostly discusses scandals and controversial matters that happen in the municipality of Pichilemu. It was first broadcast on Radio Atardecer, although it moved to Radio Entre Olas in 1999. According to Pichilemu News, Mario Moraga's Sin Pelos en la Lengua is one of the most heard radio programs in Pichilemu.

Sin Pelos en la Lengua is funded "by Pichileminian businessmen, some merchants, and citizens."

In May 2010, Moraga was sued for libel and slander by Dante Cornejo, municipal administrator during Mayor Roberto Córdova's government, after Moraga reportedly "gave an information that involved Cornejo [...] that wasn't veracious," in his program Sin Pelos en la Lengua. Dante Cornejo appeared with his attorney Fabricio Jiménez — who also works as Legal Counsel of the Municipality of Pichilemu, and was Governor of Cardenal Caro Province between 2004 and 2006 — during the trial against Moraga in the Court of Pichilemu. Mario Moraga eventually apologized, retracting his 'defamatory statements', on November 9, 2010.

References

Living people
1939 births
Christian Democratic Party (Chile) politicians
Pichilemu City Council members

Mario Moraga


Bloomberg TV Canada was a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Channel Zero. It was a localized version of the U.S. financial news channel Bloomberg Television; its programming was largely identical, but also featured opt-outs for domestic programs covering Canadian business news.

The channel launched on November 17, 2015, replacing the American version that was readily available in Canada. The channel shut down on October 5, 2017, and Bloomberg subsequently partnered with established Canadian competitor Business News Network (BNN) in 2018 instead. As a result of the partnership, BNN rebranded to BNN Bloomberg.

History
On February 26, 2015, Channel Zero announced it had reached an agreement with Bloomberg L.P. to launch a localized Canadian business news channel as an offshoot of its original American Bloomberg Television channel which was currently being distributed in Canada for several years at the time. It was later announced that the channel was expected to launch on November 16, 2015 with its studios located in downtown Toronto in the city's financial district.

The channel launched one day later than expected on November 17, 2015. At the time of launch, the American service was withheld from being distributed by Canadian television service providers at the request of its owners, although it remained a legally authorized channel for distribution in Canada by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Programming on the service largely mirrored the American channel's schedule, but with two local programs covering Canadian business news; Bloomberg North, and The Daily Brief. They were later cancelled and replaced with Bloomberg Markets: Canada in January 2017, which was hosted by former Reuters TV journalist Lily Jamali.

Originally launched as an exempt discretionary service that did not require a CRTC-granted television licence as it did not at launch have the required 200,000 subscribers, the channel was granted a CRTC licence on August 17, 2017 after reaching that subscriber level in 2016.

On the same day Channel Zero was granted its licence for Bloomberg TV Canada by the CRTC, Channel Zero announced in a statement that it would be cancelling all Canadian original productions for the channel and laying off 22 members of its staff relating to those productions, leading to speculation of how Channel Zero would maintain its required Canadian content quotas with no original Canadian productions. The statement referred to September 1, 2017 as the date the channel will be "changing the focus" of its programming, however, still maintaining that the channel will focus on business news and information, with reporting from Bloomberg studios in Canada and around the world, suggesting the channel would remain in operation.

On October 5, 2017, the channel was discontinued and replaced with the American Bloomberg Television service, the channel Bloomberg TV Canada replaced at its launch in 2015. The CRTC granted a request by Channel Zero to revoke the broadcasting licence for Bloomberg TV Canada on December 8, 2017.

In January 2018, Bloomberg partnered with Bell Media's Business News Network (BNN), renaming it BNN Bloomberg.

Personalities
On October 13, 2015, CBC News anchor Amanda Lang (who hosted CBC News Network's financial news program The Exchange) announced that she would leave and join Bloomberg TV Canada, serving as host of Bloomberg North. The network also hired former BNN journalists Pamela Ritchie as anchor of The Daily Brief and Michael Bancroft as executive producer of the channel.

After Bloomberg TV Canada launched, CBC reporter/anchor Danielle Bochove joined her former colleague at Bloomberg TV Canada primarily on a part-time basis, serving as substitute anchor for Bloomberg North and, occasionally, The Daily Brief, in addition to occasional reporting duties covering Canadian financial markets alongside her colleagues.

In February 2016, Lang began hosting Bloomberg North on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only, with Rudyard Griffiths joining to host on Mondays, Pat Kiernan hosting on Thursdays, and all three rotating as host of the Friday edition.

References

External links

Channel Zero (company)
24-hour television news channels in Canada
Business-related television channels
Defunct television networks in Canada
Television channels and stations established in 2015
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2017
Digital cable television networks in Canada
English-language television stations in Canada
2015 establishments in Canada
2017 disestablishments in Canada
Business mass media in Canada

Bloomberg TV Canada


Will O' the Wisp () is a 1931 novel by the French writer Pierre Drieu La Rochelle. It has also been published in English as The Fire Within. It tells the story of a 30-year-old man who after military service, followed by a few years of cosmopolitan, decadent life, has become burned out, addicted to heroin and tired of living. The author's source of inspiration for the main character was the dadaist poet Jacques Rigaut (1898–1929).

The novel has been the basis for two feature films, Louis Malle's The Fire Within from 1963 and Joachim Trier's Oslo, August 31st from 2011.

Plot
Alain Leroy is 30 years old. He served in World War I and has led a cosmopolitan, decadent life for a few years, before being admitted to a mental institution for depression, fatigue and heroin addiction. He is unable to adapt to the regulated life of the institution, but the doctor does not think his stay needs to be extended.

Alain visits several old friends in Paris. He is presented with several opportunities to return to a regular life, but is unable to find any satisfying human connection, and other people have a hard time sympathising with his situation. Alain returns to his room at the hospital where he commits suicide.

Publication
The book was published by éditions Gallimard in 1931. It was published in English in 1965, translated by Richard Howard under the title The Fire Within. A translation by Martin Robinson was published in 1966 as Will O' the Wisp. In 2012 the novel was published in Gallimard's Bibliothèque de la Pléiade series, as part of the volume Romans, récits, nouvelles.

Reception
Anna Balakian of The Saturday Review wrote in 1965 that "Drieu manages an unsentimentalized objectivity in picturing the futile machinations of Alain's wasted mind[.]" Balakian continued: "Alain's nocturnal meanderings through the great, unresponsive city are illumined here and there by some erotic encounters. Thus the book is primarily a mood piece in which night prevails; as such it will be understood by the dispirited of any age and by those who watch with anguish the likes of Alain seeking the tunnel of narcotic release from which there is no exit. Although vaguely drawn, Alain is less dated as a type than many a humanistic figure projected by better known writers of the 1930s." Kirkus Reviews described the novel as "piquant, perverse, and rather sterile", and wrote: "La Rochelle handles this with a certain boutique decadence and a tired resignation (the novel is subtitled 'autobiographical') which is true to the experience ... but perhaps self-defeating to the book."

Adaptations
The book was adapted for film by Louis Malle as The Fire Within, starring Maurice Ronet and released in 1963. It was also the basis for the 2011 Norwegian film Oslo, August 31st, directed by Joachim Trier.

References

External links
 Publicity page at Éditions Gallimard's website

1931 French novels
French novels adapted into films
French-language novels
Novels about drugs
Novels by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle
Novels set in Paris
Fiction about suicide
NYRB Classics

Will O' the Wisp (novel)


Moswetuset Hummock is a Native American site and the original name of the tribe (Mosetuset) in the region named Massachusetts after them. The wooded hummock in Squantum, Massachusetts, is formally recognized as historic by descendants of the Ponkapoag people.

The location was the seat of the ruling Moswetuset Sac'hem (Native American chief) Chickatawbut. During the warm season he conducted tribal council here. Members of the Moswetuset (Massachusett) tribe for centuries made the shore of Quincy Bay their seasonal home.

Moswetuset Hummock is understood to be the site where Chickatawbut negotiated with Plymouth Colony commander Myles Standish and Tisquantum, a Patuxet tribe guide. In 1617 an epidemic, probably an infectious disease brought by sailors on a visiting European ship, ravaged the native population here and along the New England coastline. Estimates are that 80% of the people died. By the time of King Philip's War, 1675–77, the numbers of the Moswetuset tribe had drastically declined in the town. But, descendants of these original inhabitants still live in the general area today.

In his 1747 volume A History of New-England, historian Daniel Neal described Moswetuset Hummock as the origin of the name of the indigenous Massachusett tribe. The colonists named the Commonwealth of Massachusetts after them:
The Sachem or Sagamore who governed the Indians in this part of the country when the English came hither, had his seat on a small hill, or hummock, containing perhaps an acre and a half, about two leagues to the southward of Boston, which hill or hummock lies in the shape of an Indian's arrowhead, which arrow-heads are called in their language MOS, or MONS, with O nasal, and hill in their language is WETUSET hence, this great sachem's seat was called Moswetuset, which signifies a hill in the shape of an arrow's head, and his subjects, the Moswetuset Indians, from whence with a small variation of the word, the Province received the name MASSACHUSETTS.

Moswetuset translates to 'shaped like an arrowhead'.

In 1970 Moswetuset Hummock was formally recognized and added to the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts. The historic site is also recognized by the Native American descendants known as the Ponkapoag people. Moswetuset Hummock is located on East Squantum Street, the northern end of Wollaston Beach, Quincy Bay.

A hummock is a geological term: by definition they are small and less than fifty feet in height. Earth hummocks, in contrast to ice hummocks, are also known as a small rounded knoll, mound of land, or a hillock. Hummocks are believed to be relict features that were formed under colder conditions when permafrost was likely present in the ground.

Gallery

See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Quincy, Massachusetts

References

External links

 The Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag
 Discover Quincy: Moswetuset
 Massachusetts State Park/ Quincy Shore Reservation details
 Department of Conservation and Recreation

National Register of Historic Places in Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Geography of Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Protected areas of Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Tourist attractions in Quincy, Massachusetts
Native American history of Massachusetts

Moswetuset Hummock


The jiaohu (角胡; pinyin: jiǎohú) is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family of musical instruments. Although very similar to the Jinghu and Ehru in physical structure, the Jiaohu is a traditional Chinese instrument. It is a small two-stringed fiddle-like instrument that requires a bow in order to produce its sound. Its sound box is made from the horn of a cow. The open front end of the sound box is covered with snake skin. As with many of the diverse instruments in China, many Huqin stringed instruments were used in feudal times to accentuate traditions, festivals, rituals, and court life. Chinese operas, especially in Beijing, required the use of elegant music and instruments, thus many woodwinds, drums, and stringed instruments including the Jiaohu were used in ensembles to give operas more emotional meaning. It has two strings and its sound box is made from the horn of a cow.  The open front end of the sound box is covered with snake skin.  The instrument is used primarily by the Gelao people of the southern Chinese province of Guangxi.
The instrument's name is derived from the Chinese words jiǎo (角, meaning "horn") and hú (胡, short for huqin).

See also
 Chinese music
 List of Chinese musical instruments
 Huqin
 Gelao people

References

Drumhead lutes
Chinese musical instruments
Huqin family instruments

Jiaohu