Plastic Kit Revell 1:16 VW Kafer 1951/52 (Technik) 00450

The VW Type 2 is without doubt one of the most important vehicles in motoring history. Very few cars have been built in such enormous numbers, have been exported to so many countries or are as well known as the Beetle. Ferdinand Porsche developed the fundamental technical and structural features of the Beetle back in 1934. The prototypes subsequently made were extensively tested and the details were improved until in 1938 the car was ready for series production. In 1938/39 the Volkswagen Works was set up near Fallersleben on the Mittelland Canal.

The outbreak of war prevented the production of the civil version in what was then the most up-to-date motor works in Europe. It was not until December 1945 that series production of the Volkswagen saloon started under British trusteeship in the partly bombed premises. In 1948 the triumphal progress of the low-cost Beetle started under the management of Heinrich Nordhoff. Although they kept the essential structural elements, Volkswagen continued to make improvements to the car. So in 1951, the tried and tested air-cooled four-stroke, flat-four engine of the four-seater was activated and the independent front wheel suspension and the rear swing axle with torsion bars were also retained. In particular the model made from January 1951 to October 1952 had air louvres added behind the front wheel arches. In March 1953 the split rear window that had given the car the popular "pretzel beetle" nickname disappeared. The 1131 cc flat-four engine delivered 25 hp and developed a top speed of 105 km/h.