EOC Week 10 - Intersting Facts About Volkswagen

The idea for the Beetle came from Adolph Hitler while he was in prison. It was his solution to Germany’s unemployment problems. He decided that the government should build special roads called autobahns and mass produce a car for the people or the Volkswagen. He set limits on the car that would have to be met. It would have to go 62 mph, get 42 miles to the gallon, have an air cooled engine, be able to carry 2 adults and 3 children, and cost no more than £86. He gave Ferdinand Porsche the task of designing the car within 10 months. Porsche came up with the car and originally called it the Type 60. Hitler then renamed it the Beetle. Supposedly it was because Hitler said you have to look to nature to find out what is streamlining.
In the 50s car buyers became more demanding so VW decided to come out with a new car they classified as an “image” car. They felt that the two models they had at the time, the Beetle and the Bus, were so called “ugly” cars. They ended up getting a design from Chrysler that never got produced and combined it with the Beetle floorplan and the Karmann Ghia was born