It’s amazing how little the beetle has changed in all these years.
rkmvca
And if you’re wondering, that is Ferdinand Porsche in the civvies gazing at the Führer.
Away_fur_a_skive
The interesting thing about this car was it was a massive con job. Germans were told that if they saved up stamps/coupons in a book, eventually they would get this great car.
The thing was though, if you missed even a single payment, you forfeited the deal (and lost all the money you’d previously paid in), so you can imagine that people found the money, even in extreme circumstances.
Why so strict on the rules? Well the money was actually being used to fund the development of the military and there was never any intention to make the car. By the time the truth came out, the war was over and people had other things on their minds.
The car was however put into production by a British officer called Ivan Hirst, who tasked with helping rebuild the German economy, found one of the prototypes in a ruined building and used that to kick start factory production in the post-war country.
***
Corrected nationality and name of officer, thanks to Captain_Foulenough below and rewrote that paragraph because grammar is hard.
Back then it was called KdF-Wagen (Kraft durch Freude).
polemokles
“[Both Hitler and Porsche were influenced by the Tatras.](https://78.media.tumblr.com/646724eb2558816cc96a3d608dc9de25/tumblr_inline_nacfvlzgX91sl5p31.jpg) Hitler was a keen automotive enthusiast, and had ridden in Tatras during political tours of Czechoslovakia. He had also dined numerous times with Ledwinka. After one of these dinners Hitler remarked to Porsche, “This is the car for my roads”. From 1933 onwards, Ledwinka and Porsche met regularly to discuss their designs, and Porsche admitted “Well, sometimes I looked over his shoulder and sometimes he looked over mine” while designing the Volkswagen.”
newtrawn
It’s amazing how little the beetle has changed in all these years.
rkmvca
And if you’re wondering, that is Ferdinand Porsche in the civvies gazing at the Führer.
Away_fur_a_skive
The interesting thing about this car was it was a massive con job. Germans were told that if they saved up stamps/coupons in a book, eventually they would get this great car.
The thing was though, if you missed even a single payment, you forfeited the deal (and lost all the money you’d previously paid in), so you can imagine that people found the money, even in extreme circumstances.
Why so strict on the rules? Well the money was actually being used to fund the development of the military and there was never any intention to make the car. By the time the truth came out, the war was over and people had other things on their minds.
The car was however put into production by a British officer called Ivan Hirst, who tasked with helping rebuild the German economy, found one of the prototypes in a ruined building and used that to kick start factory production in the post-war country.
***
Corrected nationality and name of officer, thanks to Captain_Foulenough below and rewrote that paragraph because grammar is hard.
JasonYaya
Early VW’s came with their own [gas oven](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ramadaponce.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F06%2FVolkswagen-Gas-Heater-Beetle.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ramadaponce.com%2Fadvantages-using-volkswagen-gas-heater%2Folympus-digital-camera-4%2F&docid=WWf8fBvHBGi7tM&tbnid=-2__O3LdsBnHkM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwimlNWAyfvaAhWPo1kKHR1IDOQQMwhjKAEwAQ..i&w=1600&h=1200&bih=615&biw=1280&q=volkswagen%20gas%20heater&ved=0ahUKEwimlNWAyfvaAhWPo1kKHR1IDOQQMwhjKAEwAQ&iact=mrc&uact=8). Or maybe I mean heater.
stonydeluxe
Back then it was called KdF-Wagen (Kraft durch Freude).
polemokles
“[Both Hitler and Porsche were influenced by the Tatras.](https://78.media.tumblr.com/646724eb2558816cc96a3d608dc9de25/tumblr_inline_nacfvlzgX91sl5p31.jpg) Hitler was a keen automotive enthusiast, and had ridden in Tatras during political tours of Czechoslovakia. He had also dined numerous times with Ledwinka. After one of these dinners Hitler remarked to Porsche, “This is the car for my roads”. From 1933 onwards, Ledwinka and Porsche met regularly to discuss their designs, and Porsche admitted “Well, sometimes I looked over his shoulder and sometimes he looked over mine” while designing the Volkswagen.”