Sachsen Classic 2009 successfully completed

Seven cabriolet, Volkswagen sent to the Sachsen Classic last weekend. Nearly 700 kilometers in three days behind the aged sweetheart. Without complaint and without any problem, they were rolling on 15 August to end in the Transparent Factory in Dresden.

Prince Alexander of Saxony contributed to the Karmann Ghia Convertible T14 a special feast for the eyes. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, board member for development of the Volkswagen brand, drove the race Iltis, 1980, the Paris-Dakar win. Professor Dr. Carl Horst Hahn, former CEO of Volkswagen, took part in the rally and drove a Volkswagen, Porsche 914th

After he successfully completed the third stage were found on Saturday evening, the participants together in the Transparent Factory to celebrate the conclusion of the rally and awards ceremony to. The title of overall winner of the won, Klaus and Karin Steffens Jensen CV8 in her. In the Class 6 (Year 1977 to 1989), Gunther and co-driver Martin Hube Frauenkron reached from the team in rally Volkswagen Golf II G60 in third place.

Nearly 180 teams were lined up for the seventh Sachsen Classic, and with few losses have successfully overcome any vehicle slightly past the 669 kilometers of track by Saxon and Czech countryside.

The open cars from Volkswagen enjoyed this special attention by the audience. After cleaning, refueling and resolving technical little things that coveted sun be prepared for the next few missions this summer. Heavyweight boxer Axel Schulz, who own a car as his own called, tentatively took a seat in a 1303 convertible and did not get any more, “plenty of sun and the enthusiasm of the audience – that makes a car so very special fun.

- Volkswagen (Google translated)

Related posts:

1. Green light for Olympics: Volkswagen pavilion now ready

You're reading Classic Volkswagen Cabriolet ready for next adventure originally posted on oneighturbo.com. If you've enjoyed this article, be sure and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

At its extraordinary meeting today, the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft endorsed the creation of an integrated automotive group with Porsche under the leadership of Volkswagen. The Volkswagen Board of Management will now begin talks with the newly-nominated representatives of Porsche to jointly draw up a final concept to achieve this goal. At the same time, a comprehensive auditing and assessment process will be initiated as the prerequisite for signing an agreement on the principles relating to the combination of the two companies.

The integrated automotive group will be formed from the progressive participation of Volkswagen in Porsche AG and the subsequent merger of Porsche Automobil Holding SE and Volkswagen AG. Porsche will remain an independent company headquartered in Stuttgart. In the opinion of all parties, this basic concept represents the best possible solution for pooling the strengths of both companies as envisaged.

The agreement on the principles which is now to be negotiated will specify the further procedure and the individual transaction steps. In this context, the Supervisory Board expressly welcomes the inclusion of Qatar among Volkswagen’s shareholders as a strategic partner committed to supporting the goal of an integrated automotive group. The final concept for the envisaged union of Volkswagen and Porsche will preserve the Volkswagen Group’s financial solidity and sustain its ability to act as well as ensuring Porsche’s independence. Moreover, appropriate consideration will be given to the interests of all stakeholders when setting up the automotive group.

Volkswagen welcomes the intention of the Porsche and Piëch family shareholders to retain a close involvement in the further process and to remain the major active shareholder of Volkswagen going forward. The Supervisory Board of Porsche SE also approved the creation of the integrated automotive group at its meeting today, laying down important foundations to that end.

Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, commented: “The envisaged union of Volkswagen and Porsche follows a compelling industrial logic and offers promising perspectives: it makes two strong companies even stronger. Volkswagen and Porsche have excellent know-how at their disposal and can use their resources even more efficiently by combining them. For this reason, we expect additional growth opportunities, safeguarding existing jobs and creating new ones. At the same time, we can call on our considerable experience in the integration of proud and successful brands rich in tradition. Like Audi today, Porsche can also continue its independent development under the aegis of Volkswagen and preserve its own identity. We have great respect for the achievements of the Porsche workforce and are convinced that Porsche can enrich the Volkswagen Group – just as Volkswagen can vice versa enrich Porsche.”

Related posts:

1. Broad approval for integration of Volkswagen and Porsche

You're reading Volkswagen Supervisory Board lays foundation for integrated automotive group originally posted on oneighturbo.com. If you've enjoyed this article, be sure and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

The Supervisory Board meetings of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft and Porsche Automobil Holding SE which took place in Stuttgart on Thursday cleared the way for an integrated automotive group combining Volkswagen and Porsche. The details of a final joint concept will be worked out over the coming weeks. Representatives of the Porsche and Piëch families, the State of Lower Saxony and the workforce of both companies have however already expressed their great satisfaction with the foundations that have now been laid.

The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Dr. Ferdinand K. Piëch, sees the integrated group clearly on course for success: “Together, Volkswagen and Porsche have all it takes to occupy a leading position in the international automotive industry.” Talking in Stuttgart, Dr. Wolfgang Porsche emphasized that today’s resolutions represented a landmark decision and a milestone achievement for the future, adding: “Porsche will preserve the myth and identity of the Porsche brand in the integrated group. That brings new prospects for growth.”

The labor representatives Bernd Osterloh, Chairman of the Group Works Council of Volkswagen, and Uwe Hück, Chairman of the Group Works Council of Porsche, were extremely positive in their assessment of the perspectives for the integrated group. According to Osterloh: “We are definitely heading in the right direction. Over the coming weeks, we must make sure the employees benefit from the new perspectives, too.” Hück commented: “Porsche will retain its independence in the integrated automotive group. Porsche must remain Porsche.”

The Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Christian Wulff, underlined that the solution represented the best course for both companies: “This solution accommodates the interests of all concerned and safeguards the strength and performance of Germany’s automotive industry.”

Related posts:

1. Porsche fights to remain autonomous

You're reading Broad approval for integration of Volkswagen and Porsche originally posted on oneighturbo.com. If you've enjoyed this article, be sure and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

Wendelin Wiedeking arrived at Porsche’s factory near Stuttgart as a young engineer in 1983.

He leaves a quarter of a century later a much richer man – but with the manner of his departure casting a shadow over his otherwise hugely successful career.

To many observers, his attempt to gain control of Volkswagen (VW) was a mark of hubris, the action of a man who believed that he simply could do no wrong.

But others believe the reality is far more complex than that.

Engineering brain

When Mr Wiedeking became chief executive of Porsche in 1993, the company was struggling to survive as an independent carmaker. Under his guidance it recovered to become one of the most efficient manufacturers in the world.

His philosophy of “lean thinking” helped Porsche to reduce its costs dramatically, freeing up cash to invest in new models, including the controversial but successful sports utility vehicle, the Cayenne.

There’s no doubt that this helped to cement his reputation as one of the best engineering brains in the industry. Experts say that when it comes to the day-to-day running of a car company, he has few equals.

When Porsche made its move to take control of VW, it initially enhanced Mr Wiedeking’s reputation. The company embarked on a buying spree, acquiring 51% of VW’s shares, as well as options to take its stake to 75%.

It wasn’t the first time the company had dabbled in the financial markets. In fact, it had been trading in VW share options for several years – and making a tidy profit in the process.

But the audacity of the move took the markets by surprise – and left hedge funds which had been gambling on a fall in VW’s share price nursing huge losses. Mr Wiedeking was widely applauded for his chutzpah and business acumen.

Rival clans

Then of course, it all went horribly wrong.

The seizing up of credit markets made it impossible for Porsche to complete its takeover of VW, and left it struggling to cope with huge debts run up while buying VW stock.

Mr Wiedeking found himself fighting for Porsche’s survival – as bitter infighting broke out between the Porsche and Piech families, the rival clans which control the company.

But was he wholly responsible for Porsche’s problems? Perhaps not.

“Wiedeking is an executor. Full stop,” says Christoph Stuermer, an analyst with IHS Global Insight.

“He works to order on behalf of the family. But the grand plan isn’t his job. There are bigger egos at play here.”

One of those bigger egos is unquestionably Ferdinand Piech.

The chairman and former chief executive of Volkswagen, he is also a major shareholder in Porsche. And he has a reputation as a ruthless businessman.

His grandfather, Ferdinand Porsche, designed the original VW Beetle, as well as setting up the sportscar firm that bears his name.

Many experts believe Mr Piech was the original driving force behind efforts to bring the two companies together.

Such a move would safeguard the future of Porsche, giving it access to VW financial muscle. At the same time it would protect VW from the threat of being taken over by a foreign company.

“Piech knew that Porsche couldn’t survive on its own in the long term,” says Christoph Stuermer.

“He sent the company on a quest to find a bigger brother, and the most convenient option happened to be Volkswagen.”

Poor politician?

But while Mr Piech may have wanted to bring the two firms closer together, a takeover of VW by Porsche was apparently not what he had in mind.

Both privately and publicly, he began to criticise Mr Wiedeking, prompting an irate response from the Porsche chief executive.

Initially, Mr Wiedeking did retain powerful support from his chairman, Wolfgang Porsche. But ultimately, that may have done him more harm than good.

Mr Porsche is a cousin of Ferdinand Piech. But there is little love lost between the two cousins, or the clans they represent.

As Porsche’s troubles mounted, Mr Wiedeking became a pawn in a power struggle between the two families, which have very different visions for the carmaker’s future.

For Ferdinand Piech, the future lies in VW and Porsche becoming a fully integrated company, with VW dictating terms.

The Porsche clan wants the sports car maker to retain its independence as part of a much looser grouping. To make that vision possible, it’s seeking new investment from Qatar.

Now a compromise appears to be in sight. But it seems that Mr Wiedeking is paying a heavy price for upsetting Ferdinand Piech.

“Piech is a formidable opponent,” says Krish Bhaskar of the Motor Industry Research Unit. “There could only be one loser – and the loser is Wiedeking”.

For all his success at Porsche, Mr Wiedeking had one crucial weakness.

He was an accomplished engineer, but a poor politician. And that, say experts, goes a long way to explain his downfall.

- BBC NEWS

Related posts:

1. Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking and Holger Haerter to leave Porsche

You're reading Profile: Porsche’s Wendelin Wiedeking originally posted on oneighturbo.com. If you've enjoyed this article, be sure and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

A new tax problem is threatening prospects for Volkswagen to acquire sports carmaker Porsche. The continuing drama between Porsche and VW, the world’s second-largest automobile manufacturer, is starting to make German newspaper commentators squirm.

The struggle for power between Porsche and Volkswagen continues, despite an apparent breakthrough in negotiations late last week that suggested the two automakers would soon merge, with Wolfsburg-based VW assuming control of the Stuttgart-based company, and make the sports car-maker its 10th automobile brand.

Read the full article on Spiegel

Related posts:

1. VW gives Porsche ultimatum to accept merger

You're reading New Hurdles for VW-Porsche Merger originally posted on oneighturbo.com. If you've enjoyed this article, be sure and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

Employee meetings in Weissach and Zuffenhausen

The Group Works Council of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, will fight “to the utmost’ to keep Porsche autonomous. This was announced by the Chairman of the Porsche AG Group Works Council, Uwe Huck, on Wednesday at an employee meeting in Weissach. At the same time he called upon the owner families Porsche and Piëch to keep their promise – given most recently in May 2009 – that Porsche is not for sale. In this context he also repeated a quote by Dr. Ferdinand Piëch from the Porsche 1993 Annual General Meeting, at which he said: “Porsche will be independent for as long as I live.”

Huck spoke in favor of the entry of an outside investor at Porsche, for which, he stated, the company’s management board had developed a workable concept. He expects the Porsche and Piëch families to participate in any capital increase, in order to strengthen Porsche’s financial basis. The Group Works Council began collecting signatures from Porsche employees in the morning for a resolution that will be presented to the family shareholders.

In this resolution the staff call upon the Porsche and Piëch families to, “keep their promise and guarantee the legal and economic autonomy and independence of the Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG company and the Porsche brand and to implement a capital increase and bring in an outside investor.”

The Group Works Council Chairman also pointed out that a sale of Porsche AG to Volkswagen would harm the VW company as well, because VW itself needs its liquidity. “Entry by VW would ultimately bring harm to both workforces.’ This would be simply irresponsible in times of the current economic crisis.

Huck vehemently responded to the attacks by Lower Saxony’s Minister President Christian Wulff. Huck stated that Minister President Wulff was trying to harm Porsche in order to ultimately be able to take over the company at a lower price and was thus willing to risk endangering jobs. Huck called upon Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Baden-Wurttemberg Minister President Gunther Oettinger to “put Wulff in his place.

- Porsche SE

Related posts:

1. Porsche SE: Integrated car manufacturing group will profit all

You're reading Porsche fights to remain autonomous originally posted on oneighturbo.com. If you've enjoyed this article, be sure and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

oint Statement by Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and his Deputy Uwe Hück on the Ultimatum by Volkswagen and the State of Lower Saxony:

“We trust that as in the past we are planning a successful future together with VW to the benefit of both Companies. Hence, we are deeply concerned and irritated by the wording of the ultimatum.

We will not give in to such pressure or blackmail. Such action does not help anybody. It is detrimental to the entire cause. This is not the way to support and uphold common interests.

The 21st century is not the time for ultimatums. We wonder what the whole matter is really about and whether the focus is still on our common cause at all.

A further point: wherever used, whether in private life or in politics, and particularly in business, ultimatums have never served a positive purpose helping to reach the objective aspired.

We sincerely hope that the perpetrators of the ultimatum, in consideration of our common interests, calm down again and follow up their proposals in internal discussions and not through headlines.

We are open to such talks at any time.“

Related posts:

1. VW gives Porsche ultimatum to accept merger

You're reading Breaking: Porsche not happy with latest VW ultimatum originally posted on oneighturbo.com. If you've enjoyed this article, be sure and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

Volkswagen and its key shareholder, the state of Lower Saxony, have confronted Porsche with an ultimatum to accept a tie-up of the two carmakers under VW’s tutelage or else face more severe financial turmoil, Web site Spiegel online reported.

Porsche Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking and Chairman Wolfgang Porsche have been urged to agree by the end of June that VW takes a 49 percent stake in Porsche’s sports car business for 3-4 billion euros ($4.2-$5.6 billion), Spiegel magazine reported in its online edition on Saturday, without saying who provided the information.

According to the proposal, the Emirate of Qatar would buy Porsche’s stock options in VW, which would subsequently integrate the Porsche sports car business into its operations.

VW would not comment on the report. Porsche was not immediately available for comment, neither was the Emirate of Qatar.

The new merged carmaker would eventually be 40 percent owned by the Porsche and Piech families, 20 percent owned by Lower Saxony, 15 percent owned by Qatar with another sovereign wealth fund holding a further 5 percent, Spiegel reported.

VW threatened it could insist on redemption in September of a 700 million euro loan it granted to Porsche, should Porsche reject the offer, Spiegel online said.

Porsche racked up 9 billion euros of debt trying to swallow its much bigger peer Volkswagen before the financial crisis turned the tables and threatened to unravel the deal.

Porsche, which owns 51 percent in VW, had abandoned plans to raise its stake to 75 percent but still owns options to buy VW shares.

The tie-up proposal was devised by Christian Wulff, the state premier of Lower Saxony, which holds a blocking minority of 20 percent in VW, as well as Porsche co-owner Ferdinand Piech and by the CEO and CFO of VW, Spiegel online said.

Qatar would only pursue an investment in a merged VW and Porsche if all major shareholders agree on the set-up, the Web site added.

In a separate article, daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Saturday that Qatar plans to buy Porsche’s stock options in VW and is no longer interested in buying an interest in Porsche alone, citing unspecified sources.

Porsche had said on Friday it was close to reaching a deal with Qatar that could help solve its financial problems.

- @PapaPaulVeal via Reuters

Related posts:

1. Porsche Family stands unanimously behind the talks with Qatar

You're reading VW gives Porsche ultimatum to accept merger originally posted on oneighturbo.com. If you've enjoyed this article, be sure and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

What a spectacle this will be! First, an Audi Front UW Cabriolet will lead the parade events followed by the Audi R8 V10 as a pace car for the race. The Audi Front UW Cabriolet runs a 2 litre six-cylinder inline engine, front-wheel drive with 40 hp. Contrast that with the 520 hp Audi R8 V10.

• Exhibition of historic cars in the Audi Lounge
• Classic Audi Front UW Cabriolet heads Audi parade
• Many celebrity guests

The appearance of Audi during the DTM race at the Norisring is under the theme of the Audi brand’s 100th anniversary. To mark the “Audi home race” in Nuremberg more than 100,000 visitors and many celebrity guests are expected – this and other interesting facts from the Audi camp before the most popular international race series’ season highlight.

As already seen at the first two races of the 2009 season, Tom Kristensen once again advertises for the Audi brand’s 100th anniversary on his Audi A4 DTM at the Norisring.

The Audi Drive Away – this weekend a cooperation between Sales & Marketing Germany and the Nuremberg based Feser Group – supports the festivities surrounding “100 Years Audi”: The parade consisting of thirty Audi A3 and A5 cabriolets, which takes to the track on Sunday shortly before the DTM race at 1:05 p.m., is led by a Audi Front UW Cabriolet from the year 1934.

An exhibition on the subject “100 Years Audi” is offered to Audi Lounge guests. Rarities to be admired include a Horch 830 BL Pullmann Limousine from 1938. Edgar Friedrich, August Horch’s last apprentice, is guest in the Audi Lounge on Sunday.

In contrast to the historic Horch, the technically innovative Audi R15 TDI is on show with which Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish clinched third position in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a fortnight ago. The first diesel racing sportscar of the second generation is displayed in front of the Audi Lounge. Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen will answer questions about the subject “Le Mans” between 5:00 and 5:20 p.m. at the Audi Fantreff on Saturday.

Traditionally the ‘Norisring Speed Weekend’ attracts many celebrities. Among the guests visiting Audi are TV host Kai Pflaume, the actors Tara Reid (“American Pie 2″), Berrit Arnold, Max Tidof and Branco Vukovic, former football World Cup winner Andreas Brehme, the DSV Olympic squad with World Champions Kathy Hölzl and Maria Riesch, “XXL tester” Jumbo Schreiner, manager of 1. FC Nürnberg Martin Bader and his trainer Michael Oenning, as well as singer Loona and the Italian downhill skier Peter Fill, 2009 World Championship runner-up in Super-G in Val d’Isère.

Loona will give a short performance exclusively for guests in the Audi Lounge on Sunday, Peter Fill aims to surprise the Audi team with lucky charms in the form of ski helmets for the 2009/2010 winter season.

On Friday the Feser Group invites customers to a now traditional evening event in the Audi Lounge. Among the guests are Audi drivers Mattias Ekström, Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Scheider.

A high profile visit is expected at the weekend in the Audi Team & Media Hospitality picturesquely situated on the Dutzendteich lake: Twelve chief editors representing various important German media receive, at the invitation of Audi, an exclusive look behind the scenes of the DTM.

The Executive Board of AUDI AG is also well represented at the Norisring. Expected are Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management, and Michael Dick who, as Board Member for Technical Development, is also responsible for the Audi motorsport involvement, Peter Schwarzenbauer (Marketing and Sales ) and Dr. Werner Widuckel (Human Resources).

In addition to the current Audi R8 safety car equipped with a V8 power unit the stewards at the Norisring will also have, for the first time, the powerful 520 hp Audi R8 V10 as pace car.

Related posts:

1. DTM: Good start for Audi at the Norisring

You're reading DTM: Norisring race under theme of 100 years of Audi originally posted on oneighturbo.com. If you've enjoyed this article, be sure and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.

A great history lesson here, so read up! Did you know there was a diesel powered VW Beetle built by Porsche in the 1950′s? We you will after reading…

Seventy-Five Years Ago: Porsche Receives the Order to Construct the Volkswagen

June 22, 1934 was not only one of the most important days in the early corporate history of the Company now known the world over as Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, but also the day that changed the history of the entire automotive industry: It was on that day that ‘Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH, Konstruktionen und Beratung für Motoren- und Fahrzeugbau’ received the go-ahead from the ‘Reichsverband der Automobilindustrie (RDA)’ (the Association of the German Reich of the Automotive Industry) to construct and build the Volkswagen.

In those difficult economic times, automobile constructors had had the idea time and again to build an inexpensive car for the population at large. One of them was Ferdinand Porsche who, in the course of his career, had constructed no less than seven compact and small cars for various manufacturers. As the ultimate result of these projects in terms of technology and design he finally developed the Volkswagen concept in 1933, presenting the car to the Reich Ministry of Transport on January 17th 1934 in his ‘Study for the Production of a Germany People’s Car’ (quite simply, the ‘Volkswagen’).

At the end of the day the political leaders back then were also convinced of the concept Porsche and his constructors had developed. So five months after submitting the study, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH received the order to develop the car at the initiative of the Reich Government. And while the original agreement was to build only one prototype of the Volkswagen, the RDA increased the order on 7 December 1934 to three cars assembled in the garage of Ferdinand Porsche’s private residence.

The first Volkswagen prototype, the V1 (V = Versuchswagen or Test Car), was ready to go almost exactly a year after the official development brief, Ferdinand Porsche presenting the saloon to an RDA Technical Commission on 3 July 1935. The second test car, a convertible code-named the V2, set out on its maiden trip on 22 December 1935.

After construction of three further Volkswagen prototypes code-named V3 had started in February 1936, resistance to the project began to build up in the RDA. Quite simply because, with its central tube frame, the torsion bar suspension invented by Porsche and the air-cooled four-cylinder boxer engine at the rear, the Volkswagen was now seen – and feared – as a serious competitor to existing models. A further series of 30 prototypes (VW30) was nevertheless built in 1937 by the then Daimler-Benz AG and tested in a large-scale trial covering a total of 2.4 million test kilometres.

Contrary to the first idea to build the Volkswagen in a joint venture of German car makers, the Reich Government decided on 4 July 1936 to build a separate plant for the new car, the Volkswagenwerk. So the ‘Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH’ or ‘Gezuvor’ for short (the ‘Company for Preparation of Deutsche Volkswagen Ltd’) was established on 28 May 1937.

As one of the three managing directors of Gezuvor, Ferdinand Porsche received the official order for the technical development and planning of the future production plant, with construction work starting in May 1938 in the small town of Fallersleben, now Wolfsburg.

On two study trips to the USA, Ferdinand Porsche gained the latest know-how on modern automobile production and the rules to be observed in the production pro-cess.

By the second half of 1938 the prototypes, now having reached the level of VW38, had achieved a point in the development process hardly different from the subsequent production model. So now potential purchasers were able to save five reichsmarks a week for the Volkswagen in the meantime re-christened as the ‘KdF-Wagen’ forming part of the German Reich’s ‘Kraft durch Freude’ or ‘Strength through Happiness’ strategy.

Priced at an extremely low 990.- reichsmarks, the Volkswagen was really to be everybody’s car, easily affordable for the average purchaser. But due to the War not one of the roughly 340,000 investors reached his savings target and not one single Volkswagen was delivered to a private customer.

Starting in 1939 Porsche developed further variants of the Volkswagen parallel to the ‘KdF-Wagen‘ which were however intended for military use. Indeed, more than 60,000 of the jeep-like Kübelwagen, the amphibian Schwimmwagen, and the higher-ranking Kommandeurwagen (the commander’s car), some of which featured all-wheel drive, were built by the end of World War II.

Another model based on the Volkswagen was the Type 64 Berlin-Rome Car built in 1939. This motorsport version of the Volkswagen was developed for the Berlin-Rome long-distance race planned for September 1939 and is acknowledged by car historians as the great-grandfather of Porsche sports cars today. With its streamlined aluminium body and upgraded VW boxer engine, the Berlin-Rome Car reached a top speed of 145 km/h or 90 mph.

Regular production of the civilian Volkswagen started in Wolfsburg in summer 1945 – and bearing the nickname ‘VW Käfer’ or the ‘VW Beetle’, the Volkswagen became as popular the world over as hardly any other car before or after.

The VW Beetle also sets the record in terms of its production life and volume, production of the last VW Beetle still coming off the line in Mexico continuing until July 2003. And accounting for 21.5 million units built, the Beetle is by far one of the highest-production vehicles of all times.

The Porsche Museum is dedicating a Special Exhibition to the 75th anniversary of the order to build the Volkswagen, held from 22 June – 31 July 2009. Apart from detailed information and original pictures from the Historical Archives of Porsche AG, the Exhibition also presents a rare pre-war prototype of the Volkswagen. This very special VW38 from the Volkswagen Foundation Collection was used personally by Professor Porsche, also on many business trips. Another rare car is the prototype of a VW Beetle powered by a diesel engine and built by Porsche in the early 1950s.

- Porsche

Related posts:

1. Volkswagen announces special edition New Beetle Convertible called Blush

You're reading Porsche Museum Presents Special Exhibition of Rare VW Beetle Prototypes originally posted on oneighturbo.com. If you've enjoyed this article, be sure and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.