If only everything in life was as reliable

The origins of the company date back to 1930s Nazi Germany, and the project to build the car that would become known as the Beetle. Hitler's desire that almost anybody should be able to afford a car fitted with a proposal by car designer Ferdinand Porsche (1875-1952) -- although much of this design was inspired by the advanced Tatra cars of Hans Ledwinka. The intention was that ordinary Germans would buy the car by means of a savings scheme, which around 336,000 people eventually paid into. Prototypes of the car called the KdF-Wagen (German: Kraft durch Freude = strength through joy), appeared from 1936 onwards (the first cars had been produced in Stuttgart). The car already had its distinctive round shape and air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine, features similar to the Tatra.

Erwin Komenda, the longstanding Porsche chief designer, developed the car body of the prototype, which was recognizably the Beetle we know today.

The new factory in the new town of KdF-Stadt, now called Wolfsburg, purpose-built for the factory workers, had only produced a handful of cars by the time war started in 1939. Consequently the first volume-produced versions of the car were military vehicles, the jeep-like Kübelwagen and the amphibious Schwimmwagen

Other UKCAR Volkswagen Information Volkswagen Road Tests Volkswagen General Information Volkswagen Chassis Information Volkswagen Cars Picture Library Volkswagen Cars for Sale Place a Volkswagen wanted advert Volkswagen Cars Wanted Volkswagen Links Volkswagen Posters VW Car Quiz VW Interior Quiz VW Engine Quiz Volkswagen Badges Mascots & Misc. Volkswagen Prototypes and Concepts Find Books on Volkswagen (USA)

Try out the new image library for all Marques

See the UKCAR   Volkswagen  Thumbnail Only Gallery

Volkswagen Service Light Reset Information