the famous beetle Vocho was a success from its manufacture in 1934. The engineer Ferdinand Porsche was in charge of the design. The challenge was to build an economical but safe vehicle for the German people.
More than eight decades later, this peculiar car can be seen on the Mexican streets. The Vocho does not go out of style, its popularity has kept it as the favorite of many despite the passing of the years. Family memories return immediately when we see a Vocho, since the car of German origin had Mexico as its second homeland.
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A little history
Its designer and creator was Dr. Ferdinand Porsche who over many years of work created a total of 380 designs, including the one for the Volkswagen .
El Vocho had a very special conception, since its birth was framed by wars. To learn a little about the history of this peculiar car, it is impossible not to go back to the time before the WWII and with it one of the enigmatic characters in the history of humanity: Adolfo Hitler .
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World War I came
Porsche was a great lover of cars, For years he dedicated himself to creating different designs always with the dream of building “the people’s car”. A vehicle that will transport families safely, comfortably and at a low cost. However, in the year 1911 Ferdinand Porsche received a call for help from the government of his country to build airplanes and airships equipped with powerful and light engines.
All this effort earned him recognition as a Doctor of Engineering . After the war ended and after passing through various automotive companies, Porsche opened its own workshop in Stuttgart in January 1931. This city is the heart of the German automotive industry. The name of his workshop was: “Construction office for the manufacture of engines, motor vehicles, aircraft and ships” .
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A new patron
Porsche teamed up with Baron Fritz Von Falkenhayn in a project and together they created the Type 32 . This model caused the failure of the automotive project. Dr. Ferdinand’s project was left without a sponsor and the dream of creating a car for the people was increasingly far from being achieved. A new patron with vision and money was needed to sponsor such a long-awaited project. Soon fortune came to Porsche and Adolf Hitler became his new ally and patron.
For Hitler, communication was a priority because it allowed him to spread Nazi propaganda and that it reached every home in Germany. Adolf himself provided the specifications for the creation of the people’s car. This car would have to represent the Nazi party so it had to be a winner on the race tracks.
The main characteristics would be: a four-seater family car with an air-cooled engine and a capacity of 1 liter. Its consumption should be only 7 liters of gasoline per 100 km and it had to easily reach 100 km/h. Porsche began work on building its prototypes. Nevertheless, World War II broke out when Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. This conflict prevented the project from continuing and Porsche dedicated itself to the production of designs for military weapons.
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The beetle leaves the German market
The war came to an end in May 1945 and Porsche’s dream seemed more and more difficult to achieve since post-war Germany had no raw materials or parts for the manufacture of cars. The consecutive years were very difficult and hard work but the Vocho managed to position itself as an automotive success.
Unfortunately in 1974 the decision was made to replace the Beetle by the Golf. Thus, in July of that year, the last Sedan rolled off the production lines. But this was not the end for the people’s car because It continued to be manufactured in various Volkswagen factories, mainly in Mexico and Brazil.
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The Vocho arrives in Mexico
The car conquered Mexico for being “yielding”, economical, enduring and with never-before-matched characteristics . For many Latin American countries and of course for our country, the Vocho was much more than just a car. For thousands of families it was their first means of transportation, the car in which entire generations learned to drive and the companion of endless stories.
The first stage of Volkswagen in Mexico started in 1954 and ended in 1963. At first only complete cars were imported, years later the vehicles had to be assembled in Mexico. In 1964, the production phase began in our country.
At that time, automobiles were mostly large and luxurious cars with a high cost in gasoline consumption. Compact cars were not very well known. At the beginning of 1954, the first VW vein point was opened in Mexico City under the name of “Volkswagen Central Distributor” . Later, other points of sale were inaugurated in Puebla, Monterrey and Torreón; by the year 1963 there were almost forty distributors in the country.
On May 7, 1962, its own assembly plant was founded. Years later, On January 15, 1964, the company Volkswagen de México was formally created. , with facilities located in Xalostoc. However, the demand for the car caused the production factory to move to Puebla.
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Goodbye to the Vocho
Unfortunately, In May 2003, Volkswagen confirmed that the only factory in the consortium that still built the legendary town car would stop doing so.
The end of the Vocho began years ago, in the mid-nineties, when the first compact cars from other companies arrived in Mexico, offering better comfort and income than the Beetle. There were more and more competitors for the people’s car that offered more interior space, greater power and speed, and innovative designs.
The farewell to Auto de Puebla was held at the Volkswagen Plant in Puebla, in a large forum where various classic vochos were exhibited, such as the reproduction of the unforgettable Herbie, Motorized Cupid.
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The last Vocho in the world is manufactured
The people’s car says goodbye with a last edition manufactured on July 30 at its last production plant in Puebla . However, the fact that it was discontinued did not mean that the classic and endearing Vocho disappeared from the Mexican streets. The event to fire him was loaded with nostalgia and memories. The last sedan number 21 million 529 thousand 464 was decorated with flowers and a mariachi musicalized the celebration.
Days later, the last Vocho undertook its last trip, crossing the Atlantic to occupy a place of honor in the Auto Museum of the VW Headquarters, in Wolfsburg, Germany. The latest edition of the sedan was priced at 84,000 pesos and production was limited to 2,999 units.
With a success story of almost 68 years around the world, the Vocho is one of the most iconic cars in history . It was produced in more than 20 countries around the world, and in the special case of our country, it found a new homeland in the homes and stories of Mexican families.
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For Tania Aleman Saavedra