Volkswagen

Ferdinand Porsche sat at his drawing board in 1934 with a strange assignment. Build a car that ordinary Germans could afford. At that time, cars were toys for the rich. Most families walked or took buses. The government wanted to change that. They dreamed of a "people's car" that cost less than a motorcycle. Porsche sketched something small and round. An engine in the back. Air cooling so owners never had to worry about antifreeze. Room for four people, barely. It looked like a beetle. They called it the Volkswagen. People's car. Then the war came. When the fighting stopped in 1945, the factory sat in ruins. Bombs had torn through it. The equipment was smashed or stolen. American troops offered to take whatever was left. A British army officer named Ivan Hirst walked through the rubble and sa... More