A Short History Of The VW Beetle (cont.)

1954 brought a new engine for the Beetle, top speed was increased to 68mph, and power was increased from 25hp to 30hp. The majority of the rest of the vehicle remained the same as the previous years.

The second “Hunderttausender” meeting took place, a club specifically for Beetle owners whose cars had covered more than 100,000km on their original engine, attended by Nordhoff, he announced “ We are still convinced that I will say it over and over again, since again and again absolutely senseless rumors arise of a new Volkswagen – that blessing lies not in bolder and more magnificent new designs, but in the consistent and tireless redevelopment of every tiny detail until perfection is achieved, which is the mark of a truly astonishing car and which truly brings astonishing success.”

1954 also marked the birth of VW Mexico, who like the Brazilians, began production of CKD kits. The 1,000,000th Beetle was first made in 1955, and Nordhoff announced another price cut, the basic car was now 3790 DM, and the export 4700 DM with the range topping cabrio at 5990 DM. 279,986 Beetles were built in 1955, a gain of over 87,00 on the previous years production, 35,581 of these were sold to the US.

Some of the changes for the 55 model included larger brake light lenses, making use of the new twin filament bulbs (one for tail and one for stop lights). US market cars got flashing indicators, whilst all other markets still had semaphores or trafficators.