What type of engine cooling does a classic Volkswagen Beetle use?

The classic Volkswagen Beetle uses an air-cooled engine.

The Beetle’s rear-mounted, horizontally opposed boxer engine is cooled by air rather than a liquid radiator system. A belt-driven fan directs air through a surrounding shroud and over the cylinders and cylinder heads, carrying heat away as the engine runs.

This arrangement helped make the Beetle mechanically simple and practical. It eliminated a radiator, water pump, coolant reservoir, and much of the plumbing used by liquid-cooled engines. The engine’s compact flat-four layout also suited the Beetle’s rear-engine design.

“Oil-cooled” is a common distractor because engine oil carries heat and helps lubricate internal parts, but oil is not the Beetle’s primary cooling medium. “Water-cooled” describes many later Volkswagen models, including the front-engine Golf and the water-cooled versions of some Volkswagen boxer engines. The classic Type 1 Beetle, however, is firmly associated with Volkswagen’s long-running air-cooled boxer engine.