What year is it?
OK, I know. They all look alike. How could there possibly be any differences between all those cute little bugs? Well, VW made Beetles from 1949 (!) to 1982, and most years, there were enough changes made that, if you look close enough, you can figure out what year it is.
By "year", I mean model year, which for Volkswagen means from August of the previous year to July of the model year. (For example, 1965s were made from August 1964 through July of 1965.)
pre-1949 (yes, prototypes were made as far back as the 30s, when Hitler first
had his idea of a "people's car".)
no horn grille, external hood latch, nipple hub caps, exposed horn, no trim, "Pope's Nose" rear light. EXTREMELY RARE!
1949
plated horn grille, internal hood latch, bubble hub caps, hidden horn, trim on all except front windshield, VW badge at top of hood.
1950
sunroof (optional), opening rear windows, front window vent nicks.
1951
Wolfsburg badge on hood, no rear window flaps, vents in quarter panels (from June on), windshield trim (starting in April).
1952
Groove taken out of bumper, oval horn grille (Oct), quarter panel vents discontinued (Sept), "Pope's Nose" discontinued (Sept), round rear-view mirror, wheels decreased to 15" (from 16"), deck lid T-handle, oval stop lights.
1953
Split rear window discontinued (last one built on 10 March), front vent windows.
1954
One-piece stop lights.
1955
No major changes.
1956
Plastic sunroof instead of cloth, stop lights moved 2" up, two tail pipes.
1957
No major changes.
1958
Large rear window, small vent louvers.
1959
No major changes.
1960
Push-button door handles (instead of pull-out).
1961
Flashers in stop lights, front fender turn signals, vertical door key slot.
1962
larger rear lights, fuel gauge added to instrument panel.
1963
Wolfsburg badge gone.
1964
Steel sunroof, wider license plate light.
1965
Left-parking windshield wipers, larger windshield, slimmer door and window pillars, push-button deck lid latch.
1966
flat hub caps, "1300" emblem on deck lid (denoting increase in engine size).
1967
No molding around license plate light, 1500 engine offered, 12-volt electrical system (had been 6-volt).
1968
Gas tank filler flap, wider license plate light, new rear lights, no bumper overriders, grille on hood, vertical headlights (had been slanted back).
1969
Locking gas tank filler flap, no push button hood release.
1970
Two deck lid louvers.
1971
Vent behind rear windows
1972
Four deck lid louvers, larger rear window.
1973
Big ugly tail lights.
1974
Black Europa-bar bumpers.
1975
Headrest on front seats.
And that's all the Beetles that were made in Germany. For me, they stop being dool in 1973 with those huge tail
lights. What does it for me isn't necessarily just the lights, but all the emmissions-control garbage they started
putting on them, and the fuel-injection, and all the stuff that makes a Bug harder to work on. I prided myself
in the fact that I could do all my engine work myself, and when I can't overhaul a carb, or have to actually label
all the hoses and wires coming off my engine to make sure they go back in the right place, well, it's time to start
wondering.