Car, cultural icon, donor for a million dune buggies and still the most recognisable four-wheeled shape on the planet, the Beetle is an automotive giant.

Though the last car rolled out of VW’s Emden factory in Germany in 1978, production continued in Brazil, and then Mexico until 2003, by which time more than 21 million had been built.

But VW actually began looking at how to replace the Beetle in the 1950s, half a century before the last one rolled off the line. That sounds incredibly early in the context of the eventual production run, but the basic design was almost 20 years old by the mid 1950s, and was already looking dated next to more modern European rivals.

Related: China’s Great Wall Cheekily Patents Electric Beetle Rip-Off In VW’s Back Yard

After experimenting with five-door Beetles and some radically different concepts, the Bug was eventually replaced by the front-engined, water-cooled Mk1 Golf in 1974. But things could have been rather different. Let’s take a look at some of the prototype cars that tried and failed to replace the Beetle.

1955/56 EA47-12

The ‘12’ in this car’s name tells us it was the 12th of 15 prototypes produced between 1953 and 1956. Styling look vaguely familiar? It was the work of Karmann, whose Beetle-based Karmann Ghia was launched in 1955. Like that car, this prototype featured a rear-mounted, air-cooled 1192cc flat-four making a modest 30 hp.

1955 EA48

The EA48 was VW’s proposal for a car that would sit below the Beetle in size, performance and price. Think of its as VW’s answer to the British Mini, but four years before the fact. Like the Mini, and unlike the Beetle, EA48 featured unibody construction and front-wheel drive. It was also equipped with MacPherson strut front suspension, just like almost every modern car, an 18 hp 700cc, air-cooled flat-twin engine, and was the first prototype designed in-house without any help from Porsche.

1960 EA97

The EA97 looks like an entirely credible small sedan for the 1960s, and VW archivists believe the project was canned so late in the day, the workers were busy prepping the assembly line and 200 pre-production cars had already been constructed when the call came. Apparently VW chiefs felt the rear-engined, 1.1-liter car was positioned too close to the Beetle and bigger Type 3 sedan that would launch in 1961.

1969 EA266

Another design destined for the cutting room floor, this one was masterminded by Ferdinand Piëch, grandson of the man responsible for the original design of the Beetle, Ferdinand Porsche. Though it looks like a fairly conventional early 1970s supermini, it featured a mid-mounted water-cooled 1.6-liter four under the rear seat. Think Ferrari Dino for the cash-strapped family man.

But newly installed VW boss Rudolf Leiding thought Fiat’s transverse, front-wheel drive layout was the future of small cars and killed the project at huge expense. Fortunately, he was right.

1969 EA276

No, this is not some North Korean knock-off of a Mk1 Golf GTi, but it did go on to inspire the real Mk1 Golf that appeared in 1974. Front-wheel drive and the boxy styling meant it was a radical departure from the Beetle, though at this stage VW was still running an air-cooled Beetle flat-four under the bonnet. Let’s just be thankful someone had the presence of mind to get Giorgetto Giugiaro on the job before the design was signed off.

In 1974 Volkswagen finally released its Beetle successor, and eight generations later, it’s still going strong. But the there was enough love for the Beetle for it to make a Golf-based comeback between 1997 and 2019.

And one for the road that ain’t made by VW but sure looks like a Beetle

And if the presence of Great Wall’s Ora Punk Cat at this year’s Shanghai Auto Show is anything to go by, we might not have seen the last of the Bug, even if it this one isn’t made by Volkswagen.