The Model A Ford - Volkswagen Beetle comparison does not work. The scenario, historical context and most other aspects are totally different.
There is also no comparison for the high quality Model A Ford and Volkswagen beetle which was flimsy, weak and inherently defective. The VW was a post-war expediency, derived from the pre-war Porsche Nazi "People's Car". The 1936 era prototype for the recognizable 1938 VW was actually developed by the Ford Motor Car Company. On a visit by Doctor Porsche to Detroit, Henry Ford simply handed over the plans to his beetle shaped, air-cooled X-Car. The so-called X-Car project had been put on the shelf sometime before. There is no doubt that the later Volkswagen beetle was derived from the Ford X-Car.
From the 1960s - 1970s, the streets of America were filled with VW Bug automobiles. It was almost like a hysteria! By the 1980s, most VW bugs had disappeared from the scene. The cars were dangerous in an accident, bumpers were only symbolic deals and it's 40-hp engine couldn't get out of it's own way. Driven at sustained highway speeds over about 55 mph would kill the motor. Back in the 1970s, the former wife blew up the engines in two VW beetles driving at over 65 mph on Interstate 95 in Massachusetts. Body rot set in soon on those cars and they weren't worth fixing!
Have owned NINE (9) Model A Fords and about the same number Volkswagen cars.
Those VWs owned included . . . a 1944 type 82 "Kubelwagen" military recon car, (rare) 1951 USA imported sun-roof beetle. Other bugs included 1953, 1958, 1961, 1964 convertible bug and 1965. Yes . . . back in those days, for some misguided reason, I was "into" VW cars. Had just one 1971 VW bus which was only bought to fast flip for quick profit. The two NEW "air cooled" VWs were a 1973 type 181 "Thing" and a 1974 "Super Beetle". Both were gotten rid of within a short time of purchase. Remember on that 74 super beetle having the cable connection fixture under the gasoline peddle breaking on a regular basis. After getting stuck the first time, I carried a couple of spare cables. Got so handy at this, that in the dark, would remove old cable, attach new one to gas peddle lever and fish the thing through that channel to the back of the car into the engine compartment. There, the other fixture would hook into the carburetor.
Last year, a neighbor wanted to give me an old 1960s VW beetle that had been knocking around his family for awhile. The car ran and as soon as he started the thing, told him . . . No Thanks". Don't need any more trash around here.
As primitive and simple as it is, the high quality Model A Ford lives on and will for a long time to come.
