Volkswagen Beetle

The Volkswagen Beetle is a compact car known for its rounded body and rear-mounted, air-cooled engine. Its original design was produced from 1938 to 2003, followed by redesigned versions from 1997 to 2019.

Rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout: A vehicle layout placing the engine behind the passenger compartment and driving the rear wheels. The Beetle’s engine sat behind its occupants and powered its rear wheels.
Ferdinand Porsche: An Austrian-German automotive engineer and designer who founded the Porsche engineering firm. Porsche led the engineering work that produced the car’s original design.
Herbie: The anthropomorphic Volkswagen Beetle featured in Disney films and television productions. Herbie turned the car into a distinctive fictional character.
Citroën 2CV: A small French economy car produced from 1948 to 1990, designed for practical rural mobility. The 2CV pursued low-cost transport with a front engine and a radically different body.
Air-cooled engine: An engine that transfers heat directly to surrounding air rather than using liquid coolant. The original Beetle used air cooling instead of a radiator and coolant system.
KdF-Wagen: The German state-sponsored automobile project intended to provide an affordable car before World War II. The Beetle originated in the KdF-Wagen program.
Volkswagen New Beetle: A retro-styled compact car introduced by Volkswagen in 1997 and produced through 2010. This redesign reused the original Beetle’s visual cues for a new generation.
Fiat 500: A small Italian city car introduced in 1957, with a rear-mounted air-cooled engine. The Fiat 500 shared the Beetle’s rear-engine idea in a smaller urban package.
Flat-four engine: An internal-combustion engine with four horizontally opposed cylinders arranged in two banks. The Beetle’s familiar engine configuration helped keep its profile low.
Volkswagenwerk: The automobile factory established near Fallersleben, Germany, to build the KdF-Wagen. The factory built the car under the state-sponsored project and after the war.

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