VW Bug Fixings

When time came for him to collect the cars, he and 5 other staff traveled to Wolfsberg to bring them back, however one of the 6 cars failed it’s final inspection, and couldn’t be taken away. Production numbers for 1947 were less than 1946, as whilst efficiency was up, and the factory was being constantly repaired, there was simply not enough coal to keep the factory running over the winter months, causing a three month closedown.

Again changes were minimal for the 1947 model year, with bearing and bearing cap changes on the front and rear axles, an improved spare wheel chain and bracket, and a change to the cooling air throttle ring. 1948 saw the ex Opel manager, Heinz Nordhoff was take full control as director of the Volkswagen factory, and plans for a redesigned Beetle were hatched.
In the same year, the Reichmark was replaced by the Deutschmark, and East and West Germany were split up. West Germany implemented the Marshall plan, pouring millions of dollars into the West German economy to stimulate growth. Changes for the little car were again fairly minimal, a steering column lock was added, the front and rear axles underwent minor modifications, and the engine no longer featured a spring loaded cable, and the flywheel centrebore was changed to 48.5mm.

Production had risend to twice that of the previous year, with 19,244 Beetles rolling off the production line. Two coachbuilders came to the factory’s aid, to produce cabriolet versions, in the form of Karmann and Hebmuller. In the Autumn of 1948 owners of the Sparkarte began a lawsuit against VW, trying to obtain the cars which they’d paid for before the war, a situation that wouldn’t be resolved until 1961.

July 1949 saw a new model of Beetle released, the aptly named “export” model had been created with the idea of having a higher specification variant for foreign markets. Distinguishing features between the two models were; chromed curved bumpers, chromed hubcaps, chromed headlamp rings and chromed door handles. There was a new steering wheel, the dashboard came with a removable radio blanking plate, so it was no longer necessary to cut the dashboard if a radio was installed.

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