TITLE: VOLKSWAGEN Cars at Auto Lemon - Used Car History Check

Cars Directory: VOLKSWAGEN Auto, Automobile, Automotive, Car, Cars, Classic, Classic Car, Used Cars, New Cars, Used Car, New Car

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VOLKSWAGEN

USED CARS HISTORY > USED CAR HISTORY > VOLKSWAGEN

VOLKSWAGEN

VOLKSWAGEN Car Design History - Automobile manufacturer

The retro design of Volkswagen’s New Beetle will carry the Beetle legend into the twenty-first century, a legend based on the unmistakable silhouette that is shared by the old and the new versions. No other car is so steeped in myth as the VW Beetle. In the time of the Third Reich it used to be said that Hittler had scribbled the Volksvagen’s arched shape on a pad during a meeting with Ferdinand Porche. But in fact the creator of the Beetle's distinctive outline was the coachbuilder Erwin Komenda, who did work for Porsche, and who drew on the inspiration of existing models that already had a rear-mounted engine. Komenda Americanized the basic shape by making the Volkswagen more bulbous and streamlined, with tongue-shaped trunk and engine covers, curved side panels, and voluminous fenders with integrated headlights. The Volkswagen went into large scale production only after World War II.

Some years later the company launched the VW Cabriolet. The styling and the fabric roof were developed by the Karman coach building workshop, and this early recreational automobile became the company`s first cult car. It was soon followed by the Transporter, VW Microbus, and the VW Karman Ghia coupe. The latter was designed by Karman acting on its own initiative, a fact that eventually convinced the skeptical Volkswagen board of management. The low-slung two-seater with its cat-like face and Beetle technology was very well received, although its sports car image was limited to its appearance rather than its performance. The VW Microbus (also on based on a Beetle floor pan, and with a stylized nose at the front) heralded the age of the camper van.The Microbus was the first car that appealed to nonconformists, including freethinkers such as the Danish designer Verner Panton and the entrepreneur Philip Rosenthal who chose to drive it.

The secret of the Beetle's success was its reliability, reflected in the more or less unchanging shape that became its symbol. Advertising campaigns also e mphasized this aspect with the endless slogan: "It runs and runs and runs..." But in spite of the Beetle’s enduring qualities, Volkswagen, already the largest automobile manufacturer in Germany, had eventually to ask itself a pressing question: what next? Attempts at renewing the principle of the Beetle with the 1500 and the 411 proved unsatisfactory, as did the financial results of the company, which had just taken over Audi and NSU.

Volkswagen was saved by a fortunately timed success. One of the world's most celebrated car designers, the Italian Giorgetto Giugiaro, designed the VW Golf, a model that laid the foundations for a new type of car. Renowned for his ability to combine Italian bel disegno (beautiful design) with austere lines, Giugiaro took the principle of the front-engined fastback from the British Mini, and produced a masterpiece. The compact car with its rear hatch perfectly matched the changing wants of the consumer, and it also reflected the economic situation during the oil crises, which made energy saving an important consideration. Later the Golf became larger and, unlike the Beetle, significantly different from its original. Volkswagen commissioned other designs from Giugiaro: the Scirocco, a dynamic fastback coupe based on the Golf floor pan, and various larger models of the Passat.

With the Polo, the smaller car based on the Audi 80 to accompany the Golf, Volkswagen had Italian-style automobiles for the small and mid-range sectors. At the same time as it was working with Giugiaro, Volkswagen set up its own design department, led by chief designer Herbert Schafer that would be responsible for developing subsequent models. The cars produced in Wolfsburg during the 1970s and 1980s mostly radiated German quality and distinction, so that some types became cult objects, like the Golf Cabrio. Others, such as the fastback version of the Polo, were a celebration of elegance in miniature.

After the takeover of SEAT and Skoda in the early 1990s, Volkswagen was a company with worldwide interests. This went hand in hand with radical design reforms, prompted by the company itself. To achieve styles that were acceptable all over the world, design suddenly moved to the top of the list of priorities, as it did also with the Audi subsidiary. This development was cooperation between the Designcenter Kalifornien (California Design Center), a creative center within the group, and HartmutWarkuss, the company's chief designer. His influence is clear in the models of the late 1990s, including the VW Passat, a German classic among station wagons. Volkswagen set a trend with its new international style made in Germany, featuring stocky bodies, decidedly rounded forms, high waistlines, and a clear, graphic silhouettes. This visual renewal also affected the smaller models such as the Lupo, a compact city car with minimal fuel consumption. It demonstrates that smooth surfaces, saucer eyes, and elegant interior furnishings are almost enough in themselves to produce an impeccable design.

VOLKSWAGEN Car Models History
1938	Volkswagen ("Beetle") by Ferdinand Porsche
1949	VW Cabrio
1955	Karman Ghia Coupe by Ghia
1956	VW Transporter and Microbus

VOLKSWAGEN

USED CARS HISTORY > USED CAR HISTORY > VOLKSWAGEN

TITLE: VOLKSWAGEN Cars at Auto Lemon - Used Car History Check

Cars Directory: VOLKSWAGEN Auto, Automobile, Automotive, Car, Cars, Classic, Classic Car, Used Cars, New Cars, Used Car, New Car

Site Description: VOLKSWAGEN Used Car History reviews and guide on classic and older model cars. Including car designers from Italy and Germany. Learn history of cars from classic, exotic, used, new to prototype model cars.

Cars Topics: VOLKSWAGEN Classic Cars, Price, Prices, For Sale, Part, Restoration,
Classifieds, Classified ads, pictures, muscle car, picture, and photo , AutoCheck, KELLEY BLUE BOOK, USED CAR HISTORY, VIN number, VIN SEARCH, Lemon Car Check