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Volkswagen
Type 34 Karmann Ghia body assembly line at Wilhelm Karmann in Osnabrück
in the 1960s
For
Volkswagen and many Wolfsburgers, the date of June 3, 1961, is one that
has gone down in history: The late, great, football legend Pelé
was a guest in the city and Wolfsburg plant and a major sporting event
was about to take place on the Mittelland Canal, made possible by the
former Volkswagenwerk GmbH
Fusca
assembly line at the Anchieta factory of Volkswagen do Brasil, around
1975. The car in the photo is a 1300 version painted in Amarelo Safari
(Safari Yellow)
Engine
assembly line in Hall 4 of Volkswagenwerk Wolfsburg May 1959
Volkswagen
number 100,000 for the USA leaves final assembly Hall 12 on the automated
conveyor ramp at the rear (north side) of the Wolfsburg plant in June
1957
Volkswagen
Inspectors examine a Type 3 VW 1600 Fastback bodyshell fresh from the
paint line at the Wolfsburg plant
Here
we see the most critical process of the build, the joining of the completed
oval-window body to the completed chassis and drivetrain, known as the
Hochzeit (wedding, or marriage)
An
early ambulance of the fire department at the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg
around 1946 or 1947
Karmann
plant final painting area
Pumping
a few litres of fuel into the tank on a newly completed Volkswagen at
the end of the line in the final assembly hall at Wolfsburg in the summer
of 1953. The car can now be driven for the first time to the test stand
for final checks
Bodies-in-white
move through a hall at Volkswagenwerk Wolfsburg sometime between April
1954 and August 1955
Volkswagen
Karmann Ghia bodies at the Wilhelm Karmann factory in Osnabrück in
the late 1950s
New
Volkswagens from Puebla embark a roll-on roll-off ship at Veracruz, Mexico,
bound for Emden, Germany, around 1979/80. The huge banner reads, "Volkswagen
de Mexico continues with its vehicle export programme to Europe"
Line
workers deburring and grinding the bare metal bodyshell of a VW Type 3
Variant at the Wolfsburg plant prior to dipping and painting
Body
fitting out and trim lines at the Wolfsburg plant in 1964. What we see
here are two lines dedicated to models destined for the US market. Note
that the car in the foreground on the belt has a UN export code in the
windshield, meaning United States, New York. All the cars have 'towel
rail' bumper overriders and headlamps ready to receive sealed beam units
at the selling dealer
A
period postcard from the late 1950s showing scenes of the 'Volkswagen
city'. At the top left is a photo of the VW factory on the Mittelland
Canal and centre-right is the VW-Bad (swimming pool) which was gifted
to the city by Volkswagen in 1951
Lines
of new split-window Volkswagens sparkle in the sunshine as they await
onward shipment in the new vehicle holding yard at the western end of
Volkswagenwerk Wolfsburg in 1951
North-American
specification 1972 model year Beetles at an unknown holding yard awaiting
onward transit and delivery to lucky customers
Fusca
assembly lines at the Anchieta plant of Volkswagen do Brasil in the city
of São Bernardo do campo, SP, sometime between 1965 and 1967
Quinto
Provenziani (on the right in the first photo) wet sanding the primer coat
on a Beetle bodyshell with two of his colleagues at the Volkswagen plant
in Wolfsburg. He was one of the first batch of 'guest worker' employees
from Italy arriving in early 1962 at the invitation of VW for a new life
in Germany. 62 years on, and at the age of 82, Quinto is long retired,
but still lives in Wolfsburg with his German wife Monica and has children
and grandchildren
Images courtesy of Volkswagen Factory Pictures
