The VW Bug or the VW Beetle is the new name given in 1967 to the Volkswagen Type 1, a compact car first manufactured in 1938. The VW Bug was created by German engineer Ferdinand Porsche. Some stories indicate that the Bug was designed from a sketch drawn by Hitler himself and was originally meant to be an armored car. During World War II, civilian models of the Bug were launched for Nazi officers. After the war, the British military purchased 20,000 bugs, resurrecting the flagging production, and by 1946, the company was releasing around 1000 cars per month, a figure which only grew in the years to come and in 1954, the millionth bug rolled of the assembly line. The car's popularity spread across the globe and began to be called by different names in various parts of the world, mostly local translations of the world 'beetle'. Towards the late 1970s, production of the bug slowly slipped out of Germany towards Mexico and Brazil. In Brazil, production stopped in 1996, while in Mexico, the last VX Bug rolled out in 2003. The VW Bug has through its long history become a cult classic due to its unique design, psychedelic paintwork, and association with the hippie movement in the 1960s. The Bug has also made an entry into films, as a white car named Herbie in the 'The love bug' Disney comedy movie series, and as a yellow Wunderk'¤fer called DuDu in a German children's series. During the 1970s, the beetle also entered the advertising arena, sporting graphic advertisements. In 1998, Volkswagen launched the New Beetle, which displayed the characteristic rounded body exteriors of the vintage Beetle, but with a more contemporary engine and performance. The 2006 Volkswagen Beetle is the latest model from the stable, incorporating state-of-the-art technologies combining speed, fuel economy, safety, and comfort.