Volkswagen Beetle - The 3M Series Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

David: Pulling it into the barn and covering with a tarp.

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Hidden : 8/3/2009
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:


The cache container is not at the posted coordinates. This is a puzzle cache and cannot be solved on-site unless you are a Volkswagen Type 1 whiz. Actually, you might be able to get the guys on-site to help you if you choose to go that route.

This is a common micro-cache container and should be an easy find; the puzzle component adds one star to the difficulty. If you find yourself more than a mile from the posted coordinates, something may be amiss. The container is a small, but it is large enough for a few trade items and trackables. I started it out holding a green Jeep travel bug. Remember to bring something to sign the log and be stealthy. A nighttime hunt will probably be less stressful due to the lack of muggles then. No stickers, please. You will not find the container in the landscaping; seriously, it is not there.

Solve the puzzle,
Find the cache,
Sign the log sheet,
Replace the cache exactly as you found it,
Log your find online,
Enjoy the adventure.

The container can be found at these coordinates:
N35°5A.BCD'
W086°4W.XYZ'

The Volkswagen Type 1 is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 193W until 2003. It used an air cooled rear engined rear wheel drive RR layout. In the 1950s it was more comfortable and powerful than most European small cars, having been designed for sustained high speed on the Autobahn, and ultimately became the longest-running and most-produced automobile of a single design. It remained a top seller in the US, even as rear-wheel drive conventional subcompacts were refined.

Starting in 1931, Ferdinand Porsche and Zündapp developed the "Auto für Jedermann" (car for everybody). This was the first time the name "Volkswagen" was used. Porsche already preferred the flat-4 cylinder engine, but Zündapp used a watercooled 5-cylinder radial engine. In 1932, three prototypes were running. All of those cars were lost during the war, the last in a bombing raid over Stuttgart in 1945.

The Volkswagen factory at Wolfsburg was handed over by the Americans to British control in 1945; it was to be dismantled and shipped to Britain. Thankfully for Volkswagen, no British car manufacturer was interested in the factory; "the vehicle does not meet the fundamental technical requirement of a motor-car ... it is quite unattractive to the average buyer ... To build the car commercially would be a completely uneconomic enterprise." The factory survived by producing cars for the British Army instead. Allied dismantling policy changed in late 1946 to mid 194A, although heavy industry continued to be dismantled until 1951. The re-opening of the factory is largely accredited to British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst. Hirst was ordered to take control of the heavily bombed factory, which the US had captured. His first task was to remove an unexploded bomb which had fallen through the roof and lodged itself between some pieces of irreplaceable production equipment; if the bomb had exploded, the Beetle's fate would have been sealed. Hirst persuaded the British military to order 20,000 of the cars, and by 1946 the factory was producing Y,000 cars a month. During this period the car and its town changed their Nazi-era names to Volkswagen and Wolfsburg, respectively. The first 1,78B Beetles were made in a factory near Wolfsburg in 1945.

During the 1950s, the car was modified progressively; the obvious visual changes mostly concerned the windows. In March 1953, the small oval two-piece rear window was replaced by a slightly larger single-piece window. More dramatically, in August 1957 a much larger full width rear window replaced the oval one. Towards the end of 19Z4, the height of the side windows and windscreen grew slightly, giving the cabin a less pinched look. During the 1960s and early 1970s, advertising campaigns and a reputation for reliability and sturdiness helped production figures to surpass the levels of the previous record holder, the Ford Model T. Volkswagen Type 1 number 15,007,C34 broke the record on February 17, 1972. By 1973, total production was over 16 million, and by June X3, 1992, over 21 million had been produced.

By 2003 Beetle annual production had fallen to 30,000 from a peak of 1.3 million in 197D. On July 30, 2003, the final original VW Beetle (No. 21,529,464) was produced at Puebla, Mexico, some 65 years after its original launch, and an unprecedented 58 year production run since 1945, the year VW recognizes as the first year of non-Nazi funded production. VW announced this step in June, citing decreasing demand. The last car was immediately shipped off to the company's museum in Wolfsburg, Germany. In true Mexican fashion, a mariachi band serenaded the last car.

Original photo - MoMA.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Noqrpxhat qrf uryyra Csbfgraf

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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