Last night on some game show that my mother was watching, they asked what was the best selling car of all time (in the US). I got a phone call and didn’t hear the answer. My guess was the VW bug. Anyone know for sure?
I can’t find the cite just yet, but I read recently that the Toyota Celica recently passed the Bug as the most manufactured car in history.
Correction. Corolla.
It hardly seems fair to count this, though. The Beetle was the same design throughout it’s entire history. Some motor variation, transmission variation, curved windshield, different running lights, and so on, but it was the same car made with the same parts with the same basic tooling all those years without significant engineering changes. The Corolla of 2003 isn’t the same as the Corolla of 1973, but the Beetle of 2003 is.
It is fair. The Beetle has changed significantly over its lifespan. The 1955 Bug is a whole-nother creature from the 2003 model.
Didn’t VW continue to make the ORIGINAL Beetle until the new century?
from Wikipedia:
and
(emphasis mine)
Oops… I should have been clear. I don’t mean “The New Beetle” but the penultimate model year Beetle-Bug, the rear-engine, air cooled one. It’s basically the same as a 1955 Bug.
The last year for the “original Bug” was 2003, in Mexico as posted above. While there were significant changes between 1953 and 2003, I still think of them as pretty much the same car. That can’t be said for the Corolla.
Another long run without many changes was the Model T Ford.
Ah, but that wasn’t what the OP asked. You are correct as to the Bug being the largest selling unchanged model. That was always my feeling as well. But going only by name, the Corolla wins. Different definitions, different results. 
At the risk of obfusticating, what’s the definition of ‘Best Selling’? This thread seems to interpret that as ‘total number cars manufactured’ but couldn’t it also be something like ‘highest market share in a given year’ ?
The Model T Ford, as I recall, sold 15 million units. Basically unchanged mechanically over its lifespan. Unlike the Corolla; Toyota’s claim is a sham.
This article says that the bestselling vehicle of all time is the Ford F-150 pickup truck. It crushes all competition at 30 million sold.
Actually, that article says the F-Series, not just the F-150. Using an entire series is cheating in my book.
You are right. It did use confusing language switching between “F-150” and “F series”. This Wikipedia article however, still mentions the F-150 as the best selling of all time. If the OP intended “car” literally then it doesn’t count.
Slight hijack: VW has a huge facility just outside of Puebla that is a major local employer. They even sponsor street signs downtown & there’s a big ol’ VW logo on the soccer team’s jerseys, seeing as they sponsor that too.
Most of the taxis in Mexico City (Puebla is about an hour from Mexico) as well as other parts of the country are green and white VW bugs.