“producing his scale drawings and templates alone took him two years, with a further three years needed to build the mini Beetle” Do you remember those ashtrays with a realistic small rubber tyre around them, which, like smoking itself, were popular back in the 1960s? Walter Stephens had one, and bought four more – not that he was a smoker, but he had an idea that became something of an obsession.
The 6in diameter of the little tyres, you see, was exactly right for the model Beetle Walter was determined to build. But even that didn’t quite suit him, for the tread width was proportionally incorrect, so he swapped the Firestones for five miniature Goodyears (don’t ask!).
Taking five years and some 3,250 hours of labour, the project involved faithfully…
