{"id":13856,"date":"2022-06-17T07:55:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T10:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/?page_id=13856"},"modified":"2022-06-21T13:17:47","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T16:17:47","slug":"volkswagen-vocho-sedan-clasico-open-air-schuco","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/volkswagen-vocho-sedan-clasico-open-air-schuco\/","title":{"rendered":"Volkswagen Sed\u00e1n Cl\u00e1sico \u201cOpen Air\u201d – Schuco"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"open<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
1996 Volkswagen Sed\u00e1n Cl\u00e1sico \u201cOpen Air\u201d<\/strong>\nSchuco - 45 038 7900 (diecast) <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Published 06\/17\/22<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the early 50s, the K\u00e4fer was a huge commercial success. Consequently, Volkswagen\u2019s (only) plant at Wolfsburg was at full capacity. To make matters worse, the Volkswagen Limousine<\/em> was also gaining international demand. In 1955, the 1,000,000th unit<\/a> rolled out of the Wolfsburg assembly line. With that, VW opened more factories in Europe, to fulfill local and international orders. And in 1957 they built their first plant outside of Europe, in Melbourne, Australia. Two years later, VW inaugurated their factory in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil. That was followed in 1962 by a plant in Xalostoc, Mexico, and another in Uitenhage, South Africa, in 1965. By 1963, VW produced 10,000,000 units<\/a>. Slowly, however relentlessly, the people\u2019s car gained the world. By the way, the 1,000,00th car? It was gold with bumpers lined with rhinestones – you can see it at Wolfsburg’s AutoStadt Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"open
From 1981 forward, the official name of the car in Mexico was just \u201cVolkswagen” (yes, the VW Volkswagen).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
In Mexico, the first \u201cVocho\u201d arrived in 1954, as part of an exhibition. At the time, the Mexican automotive market was entirely supplied by American cars. To publicize the car, seven VW 1200 Sedans participated in the gruesome 1954 Carrera Panamericana. Though none won, all seven finished the race. Official importation of the car soon followed, and in 1962 VW opened an assembly plant in Xalostoc, State of Mexico. However, the Xalostoc plant was not keeping up with the demand. So, in 1965 VW inaugurated a new plant in Puebla, 130 km SE of Mexico City. On October 23, 1967, the first Sedan 1200 rolled off of the Puebla line, and in June of 1968 VW Mexico introduced a new 1493 cm\u00b3 engine. This new engine delivered 43 hp, a little better than the 40 hp of the 1200 engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
In Mexico, almost every taxi was a Vocho.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
In 1974 further modifications came – chiefly, a new 1.6 engine. This new boxer-4 displaced 1584 cm\u00b3, producing 53 hp and allowing a top speed of 135 km\/h. The Vocho also received enlarged front fenders, new front turn signals and larger round tail lights with amber turn signals. These bigger tail lights were nicknamed \u201celephant foot lights\u201d. In 1977 the front turn signals migrated to the front bumper, like on the post-1975 European Beetles. With the end of the German production line, VW Mexico exported the Vocho to Europe. However, these export models all had the older 1200 engine. VW continued evolving the Vocho piecemeal, and in 1986 it received the larger rear window from the 1972 German K\u00e4fer. In 1991, by governmental disposition, it received a catalytic converter. However, it kept its carburetor, electrical system and the old ignition system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
VW adopted the designation Sed\u00e1n in 1989. However, Mexicans just called it the Vocho or Vochito.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
In 1995, according to VW Mexico, the Vocho received 87 improvements. Among other items, it got new front disc brakes and an alternator replaced the generator. In terms of aesthetics, now the door handles, stirrup moldings and side mirrors were all matte black<\/a>. Moreover, bumpers and headlight moldings came in the same color of the car. At the time, VW officially offered two versions of the car, the Sed\u00e1n City<\/em> and Sed\u00e1n Cl\u00e1sico<\/em>. The Cl\u00e1sico was slightly upscale, with black vinyl upholstery. However, some Sed\u00e1ns received a modification right after leaving the factory: a sunroof<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
Ice cool as it was, the sun roof was not easy to operate. AND obstructed the rear-view mirror.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The sunroof was a modification performed on some of the cars after they left the Puebla factory. However, installation occurred before the sale; therefore it was a VW-approved modification. If a customer wanted, he could have his brand new VW Sed\u00e1n with the \u201cOpen Air\u201d<\/a> option. Made of vinyl, an electric motor opened and closed it. Opening the sunroof was slow and cranky, and was not exactly a smooth operation<\/a>. Nonetheless, it was a very popular option among buyers. VW Mexico produced the Vocho, basically unchanged, until 2003. In June 2003 VW introduced the Volkswagen Sed\u00e1n \u00daltima Edici\u00f3n<\/strong>, a limited edition of 3000 cars. Of these, 2,999 went to VW dealers across Mexico and the last one went to the AutoMuseum Volkswagen<\/a>, in Wolfsburg. And that was the last hoorah of the classic Beetle…\ud83d\ude25<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
I’m truly impressed with Schuco’s Beetles – all terrific so far!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"\/
VW logo \u2013 1995-2000<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Schuco released this little gem in 2016, and supposedly it is a limited edition of 1000 models. Mine is in \u201cBright White\u201d, yet Schuco also offers a version in \u201cClassic Green Pearl\u201d. Though the white one is fairly easy to find, I never saw the green one offered on eBay. Once again Schuco delivered a beauty of a model, just as gorgeous as my K\u00e4fer 1100<\/a>. And again, Schuco falls short on correctly<\/em> designating the model \ud83d\ude44. I now know it\u2019s a Mexican Vocho (or more correctly, a 1996 VW Sed\u00e1n Cl\u00e1sico) because I did some research. Yet, according to Schuco, it is just a \u201cVW K\u00e4fer\u201d<\/em>. If I can find the real name, I bet they can also. Deficient naming aside, the model is a duesy, so I will cut them some slack \ud83d\ude0b.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And here we start W-143 Beetlemania<\/strong>. Stay tuned, more beetles will show up! <\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1996 Volkswagen Sed\u00e1n Cl\u00e1sico \u201cOpen Air\u201d Schuco – 45 038 7900 (diecast) Published 06\/17\/22 In the early 50s, the K\u00e4fer was a huge commercial success. Consequently, Volkswagen\u2019s (only) plant at Wolfsburg was at full capacity. To make matters worse, the Volkswagen Limousine was also gaining international demand. In 1955, the 1,000,000th unit rolled out of … Continue reading “Volkswagen Sed\u00e1n Cl\u00e1sico \u201cOpen Air\u201d – Schuco”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-13856","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13856"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14221,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13856\/revisions\/14221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}