The Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle changed the world.

Like the globally successful Ford Model T, it was a simple, properly-engineered automobile that was inexpensive enough to bring motoring to the masses.

And like the Model T, it was strong and reliable and was built around the world in mind-boggling quantities.

The Beetle’s heritage goes back to the pre-war Kd

F-Wagen, whose name stood for Kraft durch Freude and translates loosely to ‘strength through joy’.

Conceived from the experiments of Porsche Design’s Project 12, it used a revolutionary rear-mounted engine with Aluminium and Magnesium castings.

With a simple yet effective platform chassis, the car underwent countless revisions and prototypes before, eventually, the Series 38 design would embody the Beetle as we know it.

With 40bhp from its 1192cc horizontally-opposed, four-cylinder engine with Solex carburettor, a 4-speed manual gearbox, independent front suspension with upper and lower control arms and transverse torsion bars...