By the time the last VW Beetle in the world rolled off the assembly line in Puebla in 2003, the Vocho, as it is still fondly called, had become a beloved icon throughout Mexico. One of the events that elevated the curvy sedan into the public eye was the unforgettable day a little white Vocho—equipped with a 30-centimeter propeller—crossed Lake Chapala.
That crossing took place in September 1968. The event made headlines, but details were often scarce, and many newspapers embellished their reports.
Searching for the real story
To uncover the truth, Jorge Viera, president of the Volkswagen Classic Club in Guadalajara, spent years searching for the mechanics who made the car amphibious and piloted it across the lake.
“I knew eight of the 14 people involved,” Viera told me, “and one of them introduced me to the man who organized the whole thing: Alois Poppenreiter. He was an Austrian-Hungarian engineer brought to Guadalajara by Volkswagen Americas to act as service manager.”
In 1968, Volkswagen announced that its sedan was the most hermetic car around, claiming it could float. Though not entirely accurate, this sparked an idea in Poppenreiter’s mind. “He decided he was going to make a Volkswagen float, and he was going to make it float right across Lake Chapala!” Viera explained.
Poppenreiter gathered a group of enthusiastic Mexican mechanics at Volkswagen Americas, and the dealership provided them with a used 1968 sedan. Over the next six months, they worked on the project in their free time, with no compensation—just for the fun of it.
Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.