Volkswagen Beetle — Handmade Metal Model Car

The best-selling single car design in history — over 21 million built from one basic shape.

Handcrafted on an iron frame with rolling metal wheels and hand-painted finish, with the Beetle's domed roof, running boards, split bumpers and rear engine cover.

Details

• 100% iron frame and body
• Metal wheels that roll
• Hand-painted with decal insignia
• Interior detail — seats, steering wheel, dash
• Exterior fittings welded
• Ready to display

The car

The Beetle survived almost by accident. The Wolfsburg factory was bombed flat, and after the war the Allies offered the whole operation to Ford and to a British consortium. Both turned it down — a British report concluded the car did not meet the fundamental technical requirements of a motor vehicle and was commercially unattractive.

A British Army major named Ivan Hirst restarted production anyway, using the plant to build vehicles for the occupation forces. The last one rolled off a line in Puebla, Mexico in 2003.