These brand-new Volkswagen Beetles in Brazil have a story more interesting than the cars themselves
- The Volkswagen Beetle is arguably the most iconic car ever built
- It’s also one of the most popular, with millions of units sold
- Some Beetles in Brazil were recently found, with an amazing history
Published on Mar 26, 2025 at 5:02 PM (UTC+4)
by Keelin McNamara
Last updated on Mar 26, 2025 at 8:14 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
The Volkswagen Beetle is one of the most iconic cars ever built.
The iconic family car was in continuous production from 1938 to 2019.
Recently, a story developed involving some Beetles being rescued in Brazil.
And they have one interesting story to tell.
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Volkswagen Beetle: the most popular car ever made?
Unlike many other iconic cars, the Volkswagen Beetle has a…less than pleasant origin story.
The idea was originally conceived in May 1934 by the Nazi Party in Germany.
The party leadership wanted to design a cheap, easy-to-fix car that would be affordable for the masses.
Ferdinand Porsche would eventually receive the contract to design and develop the car.
The onset of World War II saw car production shifted to wartime production, so the Beetle took a backseat.
At the end of the war, the facility was renamed “Wolfsburg”, and production began in December 1945.
It was actually the British military that helped Volkswagen survive, as they pushed to keep the factory open.
And the Beetle absolutely thrived over the subsequent decades.
In fact, the Type 1 Beetle sold over 21,000,000 units during its lifetime.
Otmar Essig collects Beetle stock
Otmar Essig was a man who opened a Volkswagen dealership in Estrela, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in 1969.
Essig eventually made it a family business, with his children helping him run the dealership.
Over the years, Essig made a success of it, even keeping some of the Beetle inventory for himself.
In 1986, Volkswagen produced what they thought would be the last Fusca – that’s Beetle in Portuguese.
To that end, they produced 850 units of the Ultima Serie, the last series.
Essig only received one of the 850, which he kept for himself.
He also kept a variety of other Fusca stock, including two very rare Itamar Gold Series stock examples.
Sadly, Volkswagen pulled the permanent plug on Essig’s dealership in 2002.
So Essig kept his pristine stock in safe storage for over 20 years, until he sadly passed in 2022.
Brazilian Beetles recovered and sold
Essig’s family finally decided to sell some of the dealer’s beloved cars.
The family got in touch with sales broker Anderson Dick.
Dick then found a buyer for the cars – a man named Claude Senhoreti.
Senhoreti happens to a Brazilian living in the United States.
Dick explained the process of how he got involved in uncovering these incredible cars.
“After the family went through the formalities to make the sale after Otmar’s death, an agent contacted me and found Claude Senhoreti.”
Anderson explains that the entire process ‘took almost five months to complete.’
Furthermore, Dick notes that they got all the cars working ‘except for the 1986 Beetle.’
The Essig family are planning to put Otmar’s cars on a special display in Brazil for VW fans.
This is before they leave Brazil to join their new owner in the United States.
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Keelin McNamara is a content writer at Supercar Blondie from Ireland, covering cars, technology, and lifestyle. Despite being a Law graduate, he discovered his passion for journalism during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has worked in the industry ever since. Outside of work, he is an avid MotoGP fan, and is a self-confessed addict of the sport.
