TheSamba.com :: View topic - Millionth Beetle Ceremony vs. Actual Production

Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:11 am

In another thread started today, patrickkryan asked who's car was closest to the 1,000,000th produced. He asked that his thread not be used to continue this offshoot debate, but IN2VW's opened up an interesting point that warrants some more attention:

IN2VWS wrote: That question could open up much debate.
The 1,000,000th VW rolled off the production line on the 5th of August 1955......but, chassis number 999.999 and 1,000,001 (either side of 1,000,000) didn't come off the line until October 1955.

So, was the 5th of August 1955 the real date the 1,000,000th VW came off the line?
Or, was this the date it was expected off the line, but because off the celebrations organized with visitors from around the world, VW still used the 5th of August 1955 as the official date even though it wasn't the 1,000,000th VW?
Definitely an interesting question that I've never really thought about until now. My first thought was that the millionth VW was just that, the millionth VW, not the millionth Beetle. But that idea, of course, is bunk, as some 130,000 busses had rolled off the line by Aug 55, putting the number of total VW's way over a million by any count. So they were celebrating the Beetle only. ( :wink: )

Okay, let's take a closer look. The first really weird thing is this: There were apparently more cars produced than VINs allocated! At the end of 1954, the last VIN used was 781 884. But if you add up the production figures from 1938 - 1954, you get 811 972 ! And 38-39 production is very small, so even if you use the same range as in the VIN chart, 40-54, there's still over thirty thousand cars that apparently have no VIN ?!

Alright, let's take the 811 972 as the number of cars built through '54. From Jan - July 55, 147 628 additional VINs were allocated, bringing total Beetle production through the end of July 55 to at least 959 600 (as opposed to the 929 512 that the VIN chart might lead you to believe). With that number, I can certainly start to believe IN2's theory of an an optimistic production estimation leading to premature ceremonies.

Consider also the following: from September '54 through June '55, VW produced around 21,000-24,000 cars each month. In July of 55, for whatever reason, production fell to just 13,056. So in all likelihood, right there are ~10,000 cars that VW probably expected to produce but did not. It's very feasible to believe they underestimated by 30,000 additional units during the time they were planning the ceremony, as it was a grandiose event with presumably lots of planning.

Fri Sep 26, 2008 7:17 am

Marketing genius back in 1955 :)
Didn't sales take off (esp in US) after 1955?

Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:26 am

Great thread. I never thought of it either, but it makes sense. I'm always skeptical about such claims anyway.

Dan

Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:18 pm

this is what the owner of my 56 was telling me when i picked it up... i have tried to fugure it out but no luck

THANKS HerrrKafer

Sat Sep 27, 2008 5:30 am

all this means noone knows which car was the actual 1000000 beetle which also means it could be you owning one

Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:01 pm

olo wrote: all this means noone knows which car was the actual 1000000 beetle which also means it could be you owning one

Yeah, Germans and details, everyone always seems to think that they are so exacting and so detailed oriented, perfectionists if you may.

Yet the reality of it all is that they are humans just like us and aren't always as on top of it as we'd like to think! They will fudge things to make it "right" as the need arises.
I used to work with German mechanics at Mercedes Benz, believe me, not so exacting!!
I totally believe that their manufacturing records are not as "perfect" as we all would like to think that they are.

Dave

Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:37 pm

Could it be, that chassis number 999 999 is the real 1,000,000th Beetle?

Sat Sep 27, 2008 9:43 pm

Thank you two fold. One for not derailing my thread. Two thank you for the informative post.

Sat Dec 20, 2008 12:25 am

Not sure if its relevant, but I found this article in a 1955 German magazine.

Sat Dec 20, 2008 12:40 am

IN2VWS wrote: Could it be, that chassis number 999 999 is the real 1,000,000th Beetle? No, there wasn't a car with VIN 0000000

Sat Dec 20, 2008 1:53 am

Bruce wrote: IN2VWS wrote: Could it be, that chassis number 999 999 is the real 1,000,000th Beetle? No, there wasn't a car with VIN 0000000

I never said there a car with VIN 0000000.
My point was, that if the real 1,000,000th car rolled of the line in October 1955, then chassis #999,999 plus the "fake" 1,000,000th VW, would equal 1,000,000 cars......get it?

Sun Dec 21, 2008 7:52 pm

HerrrKafer wrote:

Consider also the following: from September '54 through June '55, VW produced around 21,000-24,000 cars each month. In July of 55, for whatever reason, production fell to just 13,056. So in all likelihood, right there are ~10,000 cars that VW probably expected to produce but did not. It's very feasible to believe they underestimated by 30,000 additional units during the time they were planning the ceremony, as it was a grandiose event with presumably lots of planning.

HI,

1955 was the short year of production. July 55 was the end of the 1955 model as they zeroed out the body numbers and started with the new August production for the next calendar year model. Maybe there was some "down time" involved in this process?

Note that August production was higher @ 28,087 and then production dropped off for September to around 26,000 and stayed in that range. The Numbers may have been "skewed" or edited for some reason by the bean counters?

Keep in mind that beginning on Aug 4, 1955 @ chassis # 1-0929 746 there were a LOT of changes incorporated into the 56 model year.
Different seats, different door latches, different doors, etc. Changes always, no matter how well planned, take time to implement.

Dave

Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:27 pm

Im sure someone probably made a baja out of the millionth beetle. :)

Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:18 am

IN2VWS wrote: Bruce wrote: IN2VWS wrote: Could it be, that chassis number 999 999 is the real 1,000,000th Beetle? No, there wasn't a car with VIN 0000000

I never said there a car with VIN 0000000.
My point was, that if the real 1,000,000th car rolled of the line in October 1955, then chassis #999,999 plus the "fake" 1,000,000th VW, would equal 1,000,000 cars......get it?
Even if you are right, nobody is going to accept that YOUR car is the millionth Beetle. :wink:

Tue Dec 23, 2008 8:35 pm

Busses are typ 2

Typ 1 -

929.512 thru July 1955

50.935 VW82 + 14.283 VW166 + 669 VW87/92 = 65.387

929.512 + 65.387 = 994.899

is getting very close to 1 000000

Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:09 am

Then there's the pre-war prototypes.

Thu Dec 25, 2008 6:58 pm

I read a lot of "misteries" about the 1.000.000 th. bug.
Maybe it´s too stupid, but... did anyone asked VW Automuseum? If there´s a lot of info about our cars, obviously they would know the truth :-k.

Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:47 pm

JorgeDavidson wrote: I read a lot of "misteries" about the 1.000.000 th. bug.
Maybe it´s too stupid, but... did anyone asked VW Automuseum? If there´s a lot of info about our cars, obviously they would know the truth :-k.

Judging by this pic of the 1,000,000th bug taken at the Automuseum, I'd say they are not they authority on the subject. :roll:

(this is an old thread but I was researching this bug and thought I would dig it up.)

Tue Jan 31, 2012 3:38 am

Hello,

Nice that you bring out this old topic ;-)!

See below a picture I took a couple of weeks ago of the 1,000,000th beetle in Wolfsburg.

The guy from the archive told me the story about the "second" 1,000,000th bug as well. It is the white car that is also featured in the article above. This car does NOT have a VIN-number, because that way it could be used as # 1,000,000 when the "real" 1-millionth would get damaged.

Tue Jan 31, 2012 11:15 am

Heinz Nordhoff struck that number himself.