EVOLUTION OF THE 'PEOPLE'S CAR':The history of the Volkswagen, literally meaning "People's Car" in German, is well known to have started with the Beetle. It is also well known that the concept of a car for the people which every German could afford was brought to life by Adolf Hitler. The Beetle made automotive world history and also made the career of Ferdinand Porsche. However, it has more recently been claimed by a Dutch historian Paul Schilperoord that Dr Porsche may have taken the credit for a design from a Jewish engineer named Josef Ganz. The Hungarian-born engineer and automotive journalist had a revolutionary idea for a new type of car which he called the Maikäfer (May Beetle), characterised by an engine mounted behind the cabin, an independent suspension and a smaller, more streamlined shape than the bloated cars that existed at the time. The design was credited by many as the forerunner of the Volkswagen Beetle, but without the financial backing to build his car, Ganz began publishing articles calling for a revolution in car design. According to Schilperoord, anti-Semitic laws in Nazi Germany made him an easy target for the established automakers who viewed him as a threat, eventually leading to his arrest by the Gestapo on trumped-up blackmail charges. Ganz was eventually released and tried in vain to build his car in Switzerland, only for the Swiss government to try and steal his design themselves. Liking its originality, Hitler instructed Porsche to build the car instead, giving no credit to its Jewish parentage of course, if indeed this was the case. Either way, it's now somewhat academic.
^ Dr. Ferdinand Porsche on the left, presenting his design to The Fuhrer in the 1930's. Adolf looks very happy with his new toy.
^ The original KdF Wagen factory still stands and is now part of the magnificent Autostadt.
In 1938, Hitler had the KdF Wagen factory built in what is now known as Wolfsburg to manufacture the cars designed by Porsche. Hitler himself presided over the public launch of the Beetle 'People's car' and there was a lapel badge to commemorate the event. But by the time the factory was completed, Hitler had invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland. So the factory was dedicated to building military vehicles and the 'people's car' fell by the wayside during World War II. Wolfsburg was originally known as KdF-Stadt.
^ Opening of the KdF factory in May 1938. The KdF Wagen was later named the Volkswagen.
^ Early advertisement.
Few people are as demonised or instill as much hatred as Adolf Hitler. But he cared passionately about the German nation and was a socialist before he later became an epic mass murderer. Consequently he initiated the 'car-for-everybody' project and also introduced the Autobahn. The intention was that ordinary Germans could buy the car by means of a savings scheme and books for stamps were made available. Due to the interruption of the war, no cars were actually delivered to any holder of a completed saving stamps book, though a cabriolet Beetle was presented to Hitler on his birthday.
^
"Five Marks a week you must put aside, if in your own car you want to ride"During the six years of WW2, the Volkswagen factory production changed to military vehicles:
^ A 1943 Beetle in wartime service. Not unlike those now used as off-roaders called "Baja's".
^ The WW2 Keubelwagen ("bucket car") was based on the Beetle - I'm sure ^she^ knows that.
POST WORLD WAR II:Germany's Volkswagen owes its post WW2 existence mostly to just one man - British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst. In 1945, KfD-Stadt and its heavily bombed factory were captured by the Americans and then handed over to the British as they were in their occupation zone. Hirst was the man in control and saw potential, so he painted one of the factory cars green and demonstrated it successfully to British Army Headquarters - So successfully that they placed an order for 20,000. Some British service personnel were allowed to bring their VW Beetles home with them to the UK when they were demobilised. One of the very first of these Beetles (UK registration JLT 420) is owned by Peter Colborne-Baber, the son of the original owner of the UK's first official Volkswagen importer: Colborne Garages of Ripley, Surrey. They are still in business as The Colbornes Group.
However, it was unclear what was to become of the factory and it was consequently offered to representatives from the British, American, and French motor industries. Considering how successful Volkswagen was to become across the whole world, some of the reasons for rejection given to Hirst are classic!
-
"The project will fail within two years" and the car
"is quite unattractive to the average motorcar buyer, is too ugly and noisy .... If you think you're going to build cars in this place, you're a bloody fool, young man" - Sir William Rootes. The Rootes Group went bankrupt in 1978.
- The car was
"not worth a damn" - Henry Ford II.
-
"The vehicle does not meet the fundamental technical requirements of a motor-car …. It is quite unattractive to the average buyer …. To build the car commercially would be a completely uneconomic enterprise" - Were other comments.
Thankfully for Volkswagen, no British manufacturer was interested and it became an important part of the German economic recovery. Some might say that Germany has survived WW2 economically better than the UK has.
^ 1949 split-screen Volkswagen Beetle - A particularly fine example.
From the 1950's to this day, many Volkswagen models have followed and there is a huge international community of enthusiasts, fans and fanatics worldwide. It's hard to think of another brand of car which has inspired such widespread adoration, and furthermore, among folks of all ages.
EVOLUTION OF THE VW LOGO:The People's Car (Volks Wagen) being the brainchild of Herr Hitler, it was inevitable that it evolved from the symbol of the German socialist workers with its cog wheel. But as German socialism became fascism and Hitler became The Fuhrer, the swastika and its companion graphic symbols began to represent the German Nazi regime and the horrors of the holocaust. So it wasn't surprising that no-one wanted to display such symbols after World War II ended in 1945. Ignoring what all the Nazi symbols represented, and looking at them entirely objectively, as a coordinated design exercise I don't think anyone has bettered it since - Hitler's architect Albert Speer was brilliant, but of course had the very minimum of bureaucratic red tape to cut through!
^ At the opening of the KdF factory in 1938, the swastika still represented socialism and was appropriate for the 'People's Car'.
^ The Volkswagen logo developed and quickly lost its fascist swastika associations in 1946.
Such Germanic symbols of the WW2 period have lost much of their Nazi potency and younger generations are quite happy to apply adaptations of them to their beloved Volkswagen vehicles and even to tattoo themselves. Nowadays, VW enthusiasts, fans and fanatics across the world are proud of the German heritage and many are happy to display it.
^ Although directly derived from the Hitler era, such graphic stickers are considered cool in the VeeDub community.
The fifth generation VW Golf is sold in North America as The Rabbit.
Whether we like it or not, we have Adolf Hitler to thank for the Volkswagen and Ferdinand Porsche to thank for its design. Porsche and Volkswagen are still linked today in 2011.
I'll end with a rousing VW Beetle Song:
