A certain mystery surrounds Standard Beetles in the U.S., as they have never been officially imported by Volkswagen of America, established in 1955. To be clear, we are not talking about “non-Super Beetle” 1970s. me dels here VW never officially adopted the "Standard” moniker for them by the way. Instead, our focus is on the basic Bugs, in stark com rast with the better appointed Deluxe/Export versions available in America.
Mostly offered in various European countries, the low-production Standard Beetles had unique personalities, with Split Windows having many traits in common with WWII KdF-Wagens. Among the non-exhaustive characteristics, we should mention the lack of molding and certain chrome items (bumpers…), cable brakes, a three-spoke steering wheel, and more.
HotVWs devoted an extensive article on a comparison between a ‘52 Standard and a ‘52 if you missed it. More recently, we also located a couple of almost-identical, unrestored ‘51 Standards… Taking pictures of them together was a must!
