65 Years of Beetle in the US

It started with the iconic Beetle in 1949. 1949 VW Beetle ? $1,280 to start and equipped with an air cooled 25 hp 1.1L engine with a 4-speed MT. The first Beetles like most vehicles of their day were equipped with mechanical cable-driven drum brakes and a non-synchromesh gearbox. [b]65 Years and Counting[/b] This month, the Beetle celebrates 65 years since it first arrived in the United States. In January of 1949, a Volkswagen ?Type 1,? or Beetle, was shipped to New York City by Ben Pon, Sr., a Dutch businessman and the world?s first official Volkswagen importer. 1949 marked the first time a VW was sold in the U.S.