89 Years Ago, the Volkswagen Type 1 Started Its Journey to Legend

On October 22, 1936, a prototype signed by Ferdinand Porsche gave birth to the one that would become the famous Beetle.

Imagine a prototype with even more rudimentary design, if not worse, you have the Volkswagen Type 1, future Beetle. This test marked the birth of an unprecedented industrial and political project, that of a “people’s car” – literally Volkswagen – conceived to motorize 1930s Germany.

The concept had been commissioned by the Nazi regime from engineer Ferdinand Porsche, already recognized for his technical genius. His instructions were precise: a vehicle capable of reaching 100 km/h, transporting four people, consuming little, and costing less than 1,000 Reichsmarks. A colossal challenge at the time. Porsche accepted the challenge by designing an innovative architecture: air-cooled rear engine, platform chassis, and streamlined body to reduce drag. The prototype tested this October 22, 1936, was still just an experimental sample, but it quickly established itself as the basis of a legend.

Mass production really only started after the war, under the impulse of the British occupation forces. Ironically, this car born in Nazi Germany became, in the 1950s and 1960s, a symbol of a reborn, peaceful, and technologically exporting Germany. Renamed “Beetle” by the Anglo-Saxons, the Type 1 became a global phenomenon.

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With more than 21 million units produced, the Beetle remains one of the most iconic cars of the 20th century today. Its timeless design, mechanical simplicity, and durability have made it both a cult object and a cultural marker. From the people’s car to a pop icon, from a political project to an industrial legend, the Volkswagen Type 1 has crossed it all. And it all started that October day in 1936, when a small rounded prototype, driven by a certain Ferdinand Porsche, first dared to face the asphalt. Unknowingly, the world had just witnessed the birth of a legend.

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