Bengt Holmgren caught the Volkswagen bug in the 1960s and has since gone on to collect some 70 classic cars. Some 25 years after opening his own VW museum, the Swede will auction off his prized collection.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB/G. Höhne
Advertisement
Anyone with a passion for classic cars and several thousand euros to spare is in for a treat this weekend, as one of the largest collections of vintage Volkswagen automobiles goes under the hammer Sweden.
Holmgren's collection includes a VW Type 1 Beetle from each year between 1948 and 1975, a rare 1973 SP-2 sports car manufactured in Brazil and a 1970 Porsche 911.
Stories round about the Beetle
04:34
This browser does not support the video element.
Each car has a unique story, which Holmgren said will make it particularly difficult for him to part with the vehicles.
"Anyone with enough money can buy a bunch of cars and have them restored," he told German news weekly Der Spiegel. "But finding an original car and negotiating to buy it off the owner — that can take years."
Incidentally, the newest car on the auction is also one of the most expensive. The VW Ultima Edicion 1600cc, built in Mexico in 2003, was one of the last Beetles to ever be manufactured. The car was offered to the King of Sweden as a gift, but when he turned it down Holmgren swooped in a picked it up for the equivalent of just €11,000.
VW Beetle through the years
The insect-inspired car is one of Volkswagen's most recognizable cars. Born in the Nazi era, the Beetle's legacy was formed over decades and shaped by the silver screen and even politicians.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J.-F. Monier
VW to end production of the Beetle
The last of Volkswagen's iconic Beetle compact cars rolled off assembly lines in July 2019. While there were two special models manufactured before production ceases, it's the original "Bug" that still generates the most emotion among its fans. DW looks at how views of the "people's car" have changed over the decades.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J.-F. Monier
Hitler wants a 'People Car'
In the 1930s, Nazi ruler Adolf Hitler tapped Ferdinand Porsche (L) to design a "Volkswagen," or "people's car" — an affordable, mass-market vehicle that could carry a family and luggage. He came up with a two-door, rear-engine vehicle that could cruise at top speeds of 100 km/h (62 m/hr). Initial production of the car remained small.
Image: Getty Images/Hoffmann
The Beetle booms
Sales of the car, officially named the Type 1, picked up after the British, one of Germany's post-WWII occupying powers, relaunched Volkswagen factory production. In 1955, the millionth car rolled off the assembly line. It was only then that the rounded car earned its nickname "the Beetle." The moniker was then carried over into numerous languages as sales of the car spread around the globe.
Image: Milad Allahyari
From film to driveways
It took a while for the Beetle to become popular in the US, however, in part due to the car's Nazi roots. But a 1960s marketing rebrand and the car's starring role in the 1968 movie "The Love Bug" as Herbie (above), a Beetle with a mind of its own, sealed its place in the hearts of Americans — and in their garages.
Image: Getty Images/M. Simmons
The Beetle is back
Beetle sales in the US plummeted in the 1970s and production there ceased in 1979. By that time, the car was being produced around the world, including in Mexico and Latin America. In the 1990s, VW decided to give the car another go in the US. They revamped the design and released the New Beetle (above) in 1998, complete with a built-in flower vase.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Volkswagen
Saying 'adios' to the original
As the New Beetle took off in the US, global production of the original Type 1 Beetle came to an end. By July 30, 2003, when the last of its kind came off the production belt in Puebla, Mexico, over 21,500,000 had been produced. The final car (above) received a ceremonial sendoff complete with mariachi band. Dubbed "El Rey" ("the king"), the car was sent to VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Political statement
Despite no longer being made, the original Beetle remained popular and recognizable, often linked to 1960s nostalgia. However, it also made a political statement. While holding the post of Uruguay's president from 2010-2015, Jose Mujica continued to use his 1987 Beetle to get around (above). The old car, part of his personal abstention from luxury, cemented his reputation as a humble politician.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/I. Franco
A place in drivers' hearts
The VW entered its third generation in 2012, with the production of a new model in the US. But just six years later VW said it would cease making the car in 2019, instead focusing on electric and family vehicles. VW's CEO left the door open to revive the much beloved Beetle in the future. Until then, however, the iconic car will continue to hold a place in the hearts of old and young alike.
Image: Nele Martensen
8 images1 | 8
The starting bid for the car around €30,000, although some estimates put its value at three times as much.
Anyone interested in making an offer can do so online, but successful bidders will be required to arrange pick up of the vehicles from Sweden.
Beetle number 21,529,464 was the last of its kind to be manufactured back in 2003 at VW's plant just outside Mexico City.Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Holmgren said his love for the VW began in 1962 when he purchased a red Beetle. His choice was largely inspired by his father's blue 1959 Beetle, the company car he used as a postman.
Holmgren would go on to make his living on the road, founding a bus company and driving across Europe. After closing the business and selling off the buses in the early 1990s, he used the proceeds to buy around 46 classic cars from a VW dealer in the Swedish city Boras.
As the collection expanded, the large hall he used to store his classic car collection would go on to become a one-of-kind vintage VW museum, boasting the kinds of original you'd struggle to even in Wolfsburg.
The museum permanently closed earlier in September. Once all the cars have been sold, Holmgren said he wants to focus on his family and his favorite hobby, which (surprise!) involves motorsports.
