Part 7: Ferdinand Porsche – Looking for a Sugar Daddy
What’s there to say about Ferdinand Porsche that hasn’t already been said, so many times? His career started in 1898, when he built the first gas-electric hybrid and then went on to include many of the finest and most successful racing and production cars in Austria and Germany for decades. So we’re going to pick up his story in 1931, after he was made redundant at the Steyr Works due to the Depression. Tired of working for others, at the somewhat advanced age of 56 he started his own firm, Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Gmbh, offering design and consulting services for engines and motor vehicles. He brought with him a number of loyal subordinates, most of whom had followed along with him at his various previous jobs.
1931 was a difficult time to set out on one’s own, in a struggling economy. He did pick up a few consulting contracts, but he decided that he needed to initiate new projects with the hope of selling them to manufacturers. Given the times, a small car seemed like the obvious direction, and thus the first Porsche-initiated project was called Type 12 “Kleinwagen”, given that number so as to make it look like it wasn’t the first. It was for a compact aerodynamic 4-5 passenger sedan with a rear air-cooled flat four engine.
Motorcycle maker Zündapp bit, and gave Porsche a contract to build three prototypes in 1932. But since Zündapp motorcycle engines were two strokes, they insisted on a two stroke in the T12, and a five cylinder radial one at that. This engine did not pan out, and Zündapp soon abandoned the project. Another factor may well have been the high cost of the all-steel bodies built by Reutter.
But Porsche soon hooked another motorcycle manufacturer, NSU. The project was now T32, and three prototypes were built, with bodies by different coach-builders. The one on top was built by Reutter, as it looked originally (left), and as later modified with lower and integrated headlights (right). That one is in the VW Museum, and is considered by VW as the oldest direct descendant of the Beetle still in existence. The lower left one was presumably built by Dreutz, and the one on the lower right also by Reutter, but to a quite different design and using wood and artificial leather covering.
The Porsche-NSU Type 32 was a bit bigger than the Beetle would end up being, with a 2600mm wheelbase (2400 for the Beetle), and its engine was larger, with 1470cc and 28 hp. The air-cooled boxer four designed by Josef Kales already shows many of the distinctive features that would be used on the definitive VW engine.
NSU also killed the project with Porsche, supposedly because its part-owner Fiat did not want a new competitor. Or because NSU simply found it too expensive and daunting to jump into the car business.
Porsche needed a more substantial and reliable partner for his small car ambitions. He would soon find one; or the other way around.
Along with long-time associate Karl Rabe and backing from Adolf Rosenberger, Porsche also started a subsidiary company to develop a racing car, also on speculation. The “P-Wagen” was essentially an evolution of the Rumpler-based Benz RH Tropfenwagen racer that we looked at earlier.
Initially, there was talk about Zündapp funding the racing program, but that came to naught. Mercedes was the dominant force at the time, and had secured a large grant from the new Nazi regime to dominate the Grand Prix circuit. If Porsche was to get his P-Wagen built, he would also need a more substantial and reliable partner.
Part 8: Adolf Hitler – Car Nut
Hitler with Mercedes leaving Landsberg Prison, 1924
For this exercise we’re going to stick to just one or two facets of Hitler’s warped personality. One is that he was a certified car nut. Oddly, he never learned to drive, but that wasn’t uncommon then. During his year-long stay at Landsberg Prison after his failed putsch of 1923, it’s been confirmed that the bulk of the lively daily conversation among Hitler and his coterie of fellow privileged political inmates (and keepers) was not politics, but rather art, theater, opera, and…cars. His loyal friend Jakob Werlin, a Benz employee, fed him with all the latest happenings in the industry and the racing world. And upon his release, Werlin picked him up in a slightly used Mercedes on the cheap, on behalf of the party, meaning Hitler.
One of the books Werlin brought to Hitler in prison was “My Life and Work” by Henry Ford. This would be a deeply influential read, and Hitler evolved right then his plans for putting Germans back to work by building a system of highways to bind the nation closer together as well as mass-manufacturing a small car that the average man could afford. From the day he left Landsberg, automobiles and his grand vision for them was always near the foreground of his thinking, until the war changed his priorities. That’s the other quality: the vision thing.
Hitler’s first major public function after becoming Chancellor of Germany in January 1933—after providentially having become a German citizen in the nick of time—was to open the Berlin Auto Show that February. In his opening address, he laid out his three-pronged vision: highways, cheap cars and international motor racing, to showcase Germany’s technical superiority. And he affirmed that it was the intention of his government to support the production of a Deutschen Volkswagen.
The German word Volk is almost impossible to translate completely and satisfactorily, for there are multiple layers in their meaning. In its most superficial and simplistic meaning, it is just “pertaining to the people”. But it also means “pertaining to a specific culture”, as well as “pertaining to a nationalistic and/or racist movement”. So while the term Volkswagen can mean simply an affordable car, in Hitler’s meaning, it was clearly meant to stand as a symbol of the superiority of the German Volk. It’s why “The People’s Car” as commonly used in reference to the Volkswagen is rather unsatisfactory, at least to me. Volkswagen is a loaded word, or it certainly was so until after the war.
After his opening speech, Hitler made a beeline to the Tatra stand, where he told Ledwinka about how he had used a T11 “for a million kilometers” for his politicking throughout Austria. Ledwinka showed him the chassis for the new T77, and had to go into great detail of its air cooled V8 and rear suspension. That evening Ledwinka was summoned to Hitler’s hotel to hear yet more details. And supposedly Hitler said that any future German Volkswagen “must be like a Tatra—air cooled and robust”. Perhaps this is the basis of the Volkswagen origin myth regarding Tatra and Ledwinka.
One month later, in March 1933, Porsche had his first meeting with Hitler, to make a plea for funding for his P-Wagen racing car. He was told by well-placed sources that Mercedes already had 100% of the funds tied up and that he had no chance of changing Hitler’s mind. But Hitler greeted Porsche warmly, and the two instantly hit it off, thanks to the familiarity of their respective Austrian accents. Porsche was some 15 years older, and became something of a father figure to Hitler, who was in rather desperate need of that. Hitler was always courteous and respectful, to Porsche, who spoke informally and candidly to him, greeting him with “Guten Tag” instead of “Heil, Mein Fūrer!”
Hitler kept Porsche at that meeting for much longer than expected, engrossed in the plans for the P-Wagen. Porsche’s power of persuasion won the day, and he got the funding for his racers. These carried the Auto-Union Silver Arrow name and became legendary in their time, both for their raw power and their tricky handling, which only some drivers, notably Bernd Rosemeyer, ever fully mastered.
In its ultimate 1936 form, Porsche’s supercharged V16 was making over 520 hp and dominated the GP circuits. It was the final feather in Porsche’s very large racing car cap.
The next meeting between the two would be more momentous, and this time Porsche was summoned to Hitler’s hotel room, in May 1934. Hitler was concise and brief: he wanted the Volkswagen built, and he wanted Porsche to head up its development.
During that brief meeting, Hitler sketched his ideas for what a Volkswagen might look like (above).
For what it’s worth, it looks a lot like the Mercedes 130H, which would have just been presented at the 1934 Berlin show. It obviously caught his attention.
There’s also this sketch by him from 1933 that clearly shows a streamliner. It may well have been influenced by the T77, which was new at that prior year’s show.
The basic criteria were spelled out by Hitler: to accommodate four adults and one child, have a top speed of 100 kmh (61 mph) and be able to maintain that continuously on the new autobahn Hitler was having built, and to have a consumption of no more than 7L/100km (33.6 mpg).
Most significantly, he wanted it to be sold for less than 1000 RM (Reichsmark), or some $250 at the time. This struck Porsche as incredible, as constant cost-cutting had driven the cost to build—not sell—the NSU Type 32 down to 2200 marks. Even the little wood and vinyl 12hp Ganz-designed Standard Superior was priced at 1590 RM. Under 1000 RM? That seemed absurd.
But it was not Porsche’s style to question; this was simply going to be his latest challenge, and he would do everything in his power to make it happen. Porsche was apolitical, and one-pointed in pursuing the jobs given to him with his characteristic intensity and thoroughness. During the war years, he never once questioned the practicality or effectiveness of the tanks and other military weapons that he was tasked with by Hitler (most were mediocre or even failures). He stayed above the fray, and just did the best he could given what he had to work with. Initially, that wasn’t much.
In the early 1930s, car ownership in Germany was decidedly still a serious luxury. In 1932, there were only 486,000 licensed cars for a population of some 65 million; a much lower rate than in France and the UK, never mind the US. And even these number are misleading, as a very high percentage of these cars were owned for business purposes.
An analysis showed that the cost of buying and operating a car for 10,000 km per year was 67.76 RM per month, or 35% of the monthly income of a working class family, which were currently spending some 2.3 RM per month for transport (public transport and/or bicycles). The purchase price was too high as was the cost of fuel. Gasoline could well have been drastically cheaper in Germany at the time, due to a global glut of oil during the Depression. But like other European countries, it was taxed high to dampen consumption, since it had to be all imported. Hitler was adamant about Germany developing its synthetic fuel capability (from coal), as he knew that would be essential during a war. That required high prices, as it had to be heavily subsidized. And the taxes were a significant source of vital revenue to the Reich.
Germany’s car industry was very inefficient, with way too many small manufacturers. This was largely the result of Germany’s high import tariffs, which it needed in order to prop up the Reichsmark, the only major global currency that was still on the gold standard during the Depression. It resulted in higher prices than in other European countries; drastically so in relation to the US. Fordism was widely discussed, but not feasible under the circumstances.
Although Ford had a subsidiary in Germany, it was GM’s Opel that was the closest to bringing Fordism into reality. Their small 1.2 L was steadily improved and cost-rationalized, and the 1935 P4 was priced at 1650 RM, which was dropped further to 1450 RM in 1937. The ver conventional P4 was the closest thing there was to an affordable mass-market car, and it had a 50+% share of the market in its class. The P4 was still too expensive for the working class, and the industry was quite wary of Hitler’s vision of drastically expanding motorization. They could not fathom how a legitimate family car could be built for 1000 RM; even 1200 would be a huge stretch.
Still the two biggest domestic manufacturers, Mercedes and Auto-Union decided it was better to take up the effort than have it forced on them later. They jointly funded a development program through the RDA (Automobile Manufacturer’s Association), which signed a contract in June 1934 with Porsche. The contract called for the delivery of three prototypes in ten months.
Porsche had no proper facilities to build prototypes. So the Porsche home garage was turned into a shop, and work commenced…
…from the drawings of the first prototype (Type 60 V1).
The basic elements of the Volkswagen chassis are already all here, except for the plywood floor, which would turn out to be too flexible. Note the different location of the engine cooling blower.
This chassis has a two cylinder boxer, with one carb directly feeding each cylinder. Several different engines were built and tested, including two strokes parallel and boxer twins along with four stroke boxer twins and fours. The challenge was to keep costs down and meet Hitler’s demanding performance and efficiency expectations. This turned out to be harder than initially anticipated.
The finished product was the Type 60 V1 sedan, the first of the direct line of true Volkswagen. These had the flat twin engine.
It was followed by the 1935 V2, a convertible, driven here by Ferry Porsche.
These did not arrive in the stipulated ten months. Porsche was struggling, due to a lack of facilities as well as his masters at the time, the RDA. The primary issue was cost. Porsche’s internal correspondence put the cost at between 1,400 and 1,450 RM, or in other words, about the same as the latest Opel P4. The industry gambled that Porsche, just about the only man in the Reich who could speak frankly with Hitler, would be able to talk him out of his unrealistic price target. But they grossly underestimated Hitler’s absolute determination, and Porsche could see it wasn’t worth even trying.
So the relationship between Porsche and the RDA unraveled, with Porsche essentially bypassing them and working more directly with Hitler. Porsche invited Hitler to a road test in January 1936, without the RDA present. The RDA then responded with a report saying that the cost would be 1600 RM. Expecting to get Porsche into hot water, the opposite happened: Hitler vented his fury at the industry, accusing them of succumbing to elitist thinking. He simply refused to accept that the industry of superior Germany could not build such a car for his stated price.
Hitler assured Porsche that the Volkswagen would be built for such a price, no matter what it took, even compulsory reductions in the price of raw materials and such. And after a satisfactory demonstration of the prototypes for Hitler at Obersalzberg in July, 1936, Hitler decided definitively that Porsche’s car would be built, and not by any of the existing manufacturers, but in a completely new factory. And although the industry was wary of the potential competition, for the time being, they were relieved to be unburdened by Hitler’s unrealistic demands.
The very big question was how to finance such a huge new factory. The solution was the DAF (German Labor Front), which had taken over from all existing labor unions after Hitler took power. Membership was compulsory, and that created a massive influx of funds. It would allow the factory to have not-for-profit status thus avoiding taxes and lowering its cost. And it would limit competition to the existing industry as the cars would be sold to blue collar RDA members. The RDA’s leisure and recreation arm, renamed KDF in 1938, enthusiastically took on this parentage of the Volkswagen.
But even the RDA struggled to finance what was now becoming the world’s biggest automobile factory. They had to sell property and take out bank loans. Phase 1 had a planned annual capacity of 450k cars. In its third and final phase 3, annual capacity was to be a staggering 1.5 million cars, more than Henry Ford’s River Rouge factory, the biggest in the world, and substantially greater than the total sum of all existing German production facilities. Hitler’s expansive vision was mind-boggling.
Development of the Volkswagen continued, with the V3 (left), seen here at the Porsche Villa, with V1 (right). It now had a proper steel floor and a body much closer to the final one.
The biggest change was a brand new engine design. The various two-cylinder engines proved to not be up to the task, so Porsche engineer Franz Reimspiess was tasked with designing a new boxer four. Anyone familiar with the VW engines will recognize this, although it hadn’t yet sprouted the oil cooler on its case. Little did he know what an iconic engine he designed, built in endless permutations by the tens of millions, and still being built today (but not by VW).
The V3 having proved itself, the next step was a series of 30 cars (VW30) built by Mercedes, who had the facilities to do so. This body may look a bit retrograde with its smaller rear side windows, but it was actually a major step forward technologically. Unlike the steel-over-wood coachbuilt bodies of the earlier version, this was designed with production in mind. In conjunction with Ambi-Budd, the all-steel body was optimized to be as stiff, light and cheap to manufacture in vast quantities as possible. This resulted in using a lot of fluting (creases), which was a relatively new technology and made the panels much stiffer than if they had been flat or smooth.
These 30 cars were subjected to a grueling one million kilometer test regime. This took place during 1937, and is a key element in why the Beetle emerged as a relatively durable product from the beginning, and was so effective during the war in its Kübelwagen form.
A lot of Porsche’s time was spent not just on the car itself, but on the process of making them by the millions. He and a few associates went to visit Ford’s River Rouge plant in 1937, to see the vaunted Ford process with their own eyes. They were ferried to the plant in a new 1937 Zephyr, and when Porsche noticed the front hinged door, he telegraphed back to Stuttgart with orders to change the Beetle’s door to front hinged too.
And just in the nick of time, as long time Porsche body designer Erwin Komenda was just finalizing the Volkswagen’s definitive body. These are the wood body bucks, from which the tooling was to be made. The front fenders were yet to be changed to accommodate smoother flush head lights.
I originally intended to include Komenda in the group picture at the top, as he is solely responsible for the Beetle’s body design, as well as many other Porsche creations, including the seminal Porsche 356. Contrary to what some might assume, Porsche relied on a staff to execute his projects, from the first drawings to the last bolt. He was well known to regularly burst into the drafting room or shops and offer highly un-filtered feedback, but he was also lavish with his praise too. Many of his staff spent their entire working lives following Porsche loyally from one company to another, and finally to his own firm.
The first three definitive versions (VW38), sedan, cabriolet and sunroof sedan were presented at the cornerstone ceremony for the new KDF factory in Fallersleben (later changed to Wolfsburg).
At the end of that ceremony, Hitler got in the back seat of the convertible and Porsche drove him to the train station, where his personal train was waiting.
44 of these VW38 pre-production cars were built, followed by 50 VW39 cars in 1939. The 996cc boxer four made 23.5 PS (25 hp), and met the specifications for performance and economy that Hitler had laid out.
One of the key financing techniques for the new factory was that the KDF Wagen was sold strictly on a lay-away plan. The KDF-Wagen Spar Karte (saving card) was launched on 1. August 1938. Subscriber would pay at least RM.5 a week towards the value of the car. They could pay more if they could afford and wanted to. Massive advertising campaigns followed and by the end of 1939 260,000 people joined. By May 1945 700,000 joined in total and 336,000 completed their full payment. Their payments were honored some years later by VW after the war.
In Hitler’s vision, soon his beloved German working class would be mobile, enjoying the freedoms that only the automobile afforded.
The vast factory was built, but of course just as Beetle production was about to commence in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, and that changed everything.
The unanswered question is how would things have turned out if Hitler hadn’t gone to war? Would the Volkswagen factory have churned out millions of KDF Wagen to enthusiastic buyers? How would it have worked out given the unrealistically low selling price. We’ll never know the answer to the first one, but there’s no reason to think the 995 RM price wouldn’t have been maintained, given Hitler’s adamant dictates on the matter. And it’s reasonable to assume that the Volkswagen Werke would have been able to be at least self-sustaining at that price, for three key reasons:
1.) The factory was fully paid for, and did not have to be amortized in its sales price. That alone is a significant factor, and of course one that caused considerable fear and anxiety in the rest of the German auto industry. 2.) Porsche did an excellent job of designing the Beetle for mass production. After the war, the labor time to build each one plummeted for a number of years as production was fine tuned. It was almost instantly profitable and fueled VW’s rapid growth. 3.) There were zero selling or marketing costs associated with the KDF Wagen, as it was to be sold directly through the local KDF branch offices. Service was to be provided by authorized facilities.
Conclusion:
the proud parents with their baby
Although there was a lot of DNA in the Beetle from many individuals and various sources going back to Rumpler’s 1903 swing axle patent, there’s no question that Adolf Hitler was the real father of the Volkswagen. The idea of an affordable car for the masses was essentially universal; Henry Ford wasn’t the first to think of that; he just figured out how to make it a reality. The same was the case in Europe, except that after Ford, it became something of a universal desire. And it was acted upon, starting in the teens, to varying degrees, although certainly not highly fulfilling ones.
Having read Ford’s book and given Hitler’s fundamental quest to elevate the German Volk above all others, he made it one of his key domestic priorities, to prove that German superiority could create a factory larger than Ford’s and a car more affordable. He made it happen; the Volkswagen is his baby.
And it’s the only one of his many crazy and demented visions that lasted and flourished after the war (save for some extremists). And today his baby has grown into the largest automobile maker in the world. Now that’s something even Hitler’s megalomania probably never envisioned.
And as to Ferdinand Porsche, he was Hitler’s chosen vessel to bear forth his baby. The willing mother of the Volkswagen, in other words.
Postscript: there’s a lot more detail about the years of the Beetle’s gestation and birth that are fascinating, at least to me, and perhaps we’ll take that up another time. But I have taken on the chapter of the Beetle’s rebirth after the war here: Curbside Classic: 1946 Volkswagen – The Beetle Climbs Out of the Rubble.
The next chapter is here: Curbside Classic: 1957 Volkswagen – The Beetle Takes America By Sturm
And there’s a number of other VW articles in the European Brands Portal in the CC Archives
So the Autobahn and the Beetle were two parts of the same system, just as the record and the phonograph or the Web and the computer.
Streamlining isn’t needed for city cars or farm cars. It starts to make a difference at 40MPH and makes all the difference at 60. The Autobahn was meant to run at 60, which meant streamlining was necessary for the automotive part of the system.
Actually air resistance is a factor at all speeds, just disproportionally greater as speeds increase. Go walk into a steady 20 or 30 mph wind, and you’ll see what I mean.
True, but it’s not until 40/50 mph where air resistance becomes the main source of wasted energy.
Prior to that drivetrain losses make up more
However an EV produces fewer drivetrain losses so aero is more important. Hence aero wheels on a Tesla that you’re unlikely to see on an ICE vehicle.
But it does require energy, more energy than just overcoming frictional losses, from very low speeds already. A more aerodynamic car will be more efficient at 30 mph than a less aerodynamic car, all other things being equal. But yes, the effect becomes greater at higher speeds.
With the very low power engines of the times, aerodynamics was a more significant factor, especially in attaining higher speeds.
Another well-researched and logical article by Paul.
Hervorragend! Comprehensive, yet very to the point and enlightening. Lots of information I didn’t know about. Thanks!
Absolutely fascinating article, being read while I watch today’s Formula 1 race in the background. Glad that someone finally covered the entire chronology in reasonable detail.
Looking forward to follow up articles regarding the early post WWII Volkswagen.
I’m a bigger fan of the article than I am the race! It looks like another Hamilton runaway; I wish one other manufacturer could give Mercedes a real run.
Nice work, Paul – I’ve always been merely superficially knowledgeable about the gestation of the Bug, so I learned a lot.
Achh, no spoilers! I’m on the West Coast and just finishing my coffee before watching…
The best race of the weekend turned out to be the Baggers race at the MotoAmerica Superbike Weekend at Laguna Seca. The entire race is on YouTube, you haven’t seen racing until you watch Hayden Gilliam’s sliding a Harley Street Glide into the curves like it’s a 1000cc sport bike.
Absolutely fantastic read!
I would suggest a nuance to the proposition that Hitler was the Father of the Volkswagen, in that, while there is a definite parallel to Ford’s vision of mass-produced vehicles that ‘everyman’ could own, Ford was also the force behind the design and manufacture of the Model T. His vision was realized by one person, in other words.
Hitler had not the capability to design the product and manufacturing system and had to rely on a second party (Porsche, although he certainly could have chosen another person/firm) for that aspect of bringing the Volkswagen concept to reality. So your caption above, “The proud parents and their baby,” is actually spot on to the nuance I’m suggesting.
A separate question is related to your comment about VW air-cooled engines still being produced today. I was under the impression that production of engines (spares?) stopped in 2006, not long after the Type 1 Beetle ended production in 2003.
Again, excellent article and a real showpiece for CC.
Well, yes, that’s why I made them both parents.
One can still buy brand new air cooled VW engines, just not from VW. 🙂
https://darrylsaircooled.com/
The cheapest one is $4300.
Yikes!
Ed, I’m not sure if this qualifies as “still being produced”, but I’m fairly confident that I could go to any of a number of aircooled VW vendors’ websites and purchase every single component of a VW Type I engine in brand-new condition and assemble one from scratch.
And Paul, I found this a well-written and insightful treatise. As you pointed out early in the article, there are really very few truly new ideas. Most everything that is touted as “new” is just a new combination of existing ideas, and the “Beetle” is no exception to that.
What Hitler did as a dictator was to compel various people to make it happen. My main takeaway from this post, and the truly new piece of information that I gained from it, was that most of the startup and overhead costs were separated from the production costs. Perhaps that’s just a trick of accounting, but it seems easy to build a car cheaply and profitably if one does not have to factor startup and overhead costs into the profitability figures. If Henry ford had been “given” his production facilities for free by the government, the final pricing of the Model T might have been $150!
If Henry ford had been “given” his production facilities for free by the government, the final pricing of the Model T might have been $150!
Given the massive profits Ford was banking from the T, he probably could have sold it starting at $150. 🙂
Your point is valid of course. But there are certain fundamental differences between the US in the 1920s and Germany in the 1930s that make direct comparisons difficult. And the VW was a more complex and sophisticated car, with a modern all steel body.
Although a T two-passenger roadster was priced at $260 in 1926, the enclosed sedan cost $660 dollars, almost three times as much. And a Ford two door sedan still cost that much in 1939. So one really needs to compare the sedan to the $250 Volkswagen.
I’m not so sure that “free” factories would have impacted the T’s price so much. Volume was so high, staggering, that per-unit cost amortization of even the most significant investments might be surpringly little.
For example, using rough figures, if some investment of say15 million dollars was amortized over the T’s entire run, it’d only be about one dollar per unit.
It’s my guess, but wasn’t the entire Highland Park plant probably launched for well south of 5 million?
I don’t have the figures readily available. But yes, my conjecture is that the investment in Highland Park was quite modest in relation to the gusher of cash it produced. Profit margins typically were much higher then. GM assumed a 30% profit margin as a minimum on any program.
It’s like it was once upon a time in the PC business. And how it still is in the iphone business.
Car companies are very happy to hit a 10% profit nowadays.
You’re correct, Evan, in that there’s still widespread parts support for the VW air cooled engines. My point was that VW is no longer producing finished engines nor spares. Darryl’s (and likely others) are building up “zero time” engines from what has to be a combination of NOS and aftermarket components, and in fact, the Darryl’s web site has a buried “small print” statement that some parts are NLA as ‘new’ and refurbished used parts will be substituted in those cases.
You can if you so desire buy an entire reproduction 23 window van its a convoluted system getting the roof panel window holes pressed but it can be done the entire vehicle can be sourced aftermarket so all you have to find is an existing vin some spot welds and hey presto one valueable VW van.
Fantastic read tying all the various parties together. As you said there are numerous outlets offering one aspect or another but I haven’t come across (or looked for, to be truthful) one that takes it in all these different directions.
Most interesting that the shape is representative of (and demonstrated by) numerous different parties working using the same general knowledge set and that it’s really less of a “designed” shape than a natural shape.
An excellent way to start my Sunday, a strong cup of coffee and this comprehensive treatise. Thanks Paul! I knew about bits and pieces of this, but all together, it makes a cohesive story. New, and surprising to me, was that the terms “volkswagen” and “kafer” were in common use long before being applied to the VW Beetle. A couple of other observations: as the owner for ten years of a Ford truck with Twin Traction Beam front suspension, I can see the benefits of swing axles, though they have some flaws in a steering application. And after seeing all the backbone chassis, I think Colin Chapman too was influenced by this school of European design. Finally, I suspect that to Americans, even car enthusiasts whose knowledge of history may have been limited by difficult access to books in the pre-Internet days, the Beetle’s shape and technology really seemed unique. So without knowing the context and environment of the time in Europe, we assumed it sprang fully formed from one person’s mind.
Paul, thank you! You got my Sunday good start by keeping me away from the news as I had my coffee. I’ll sleep better tonight because of that!
The intertwining of tech with the people that create it and the conditions of the time is so interesting.
Quite an interesting Sunday morning read – two cups of coffee!. I knew about some of the original concepts behind the VW and the people involved (Porsche, Ledwinka, Kommenda) but your article went much more in depth and ties them all together very well.
What a fabulous read! Your research into this topic shows clearly. You prove what everyone tends to forget – history is complicated. Every idea is born in a stew of other ideas. Our natural tendency to look for a linear story often obscures much of what was happening all around the central narrative.
I would argue that the Model T was quite innovative in that it was among the first to marry cutting-edge engineering and technology (as of 1908) with a small, lightweight package. The Model T was a far better car than many costing many multiples of its price. But as you say, it’s original package was more of a middle-class peoples’ car rather than a real “peoples’ car” in the way the VW was intended.
It is interesting to contemplate how the program might have progressed (or not) under someone other than Porsche. His age, personality and capabilities seem to have been uniquely shaped to make a fit with the mercurial (yes, let’s go with that) Hitler.
Agreed about the T. My point was that Ford didn’t try to reinvent the automobile, he refined and improved upon the basic concept as it was at the time. Of course that was still quite new in 1908. I’m hardly faulting him for that. But as we saw from Lanchester in England, some were already building cars in 1908 that were radically different from the conventional format.
The stream of thinking that led to VW was based on the premise that the conventional (front engine, frame, RWD) approach was obsolete, and that a new basic format would offer both lower cost as well as improvements in comfort, efficiency and ride.
That led to the rear engine, backbone frame and independent suspension all-round. As well as FWD with makers like DKW and Citroen.
What about Béla Barényi?
Didn’t he play a role in the history of the KDF-Wagen?
Did you miss it? It’s on page two, in the Josef Ganz section.
A beautifully written and illustrated article. The Fiat pictured bears an amazing resemblance to the contemporary Fiat 500.
WOW! Paul, you have outdone yourself. Have you been considered for a professorship? Despite that I have much work to complete today, I could not stop reading this article.
Great read!
To get ainto a a bit technical detail, the axle seen in image #12 was probably not so ingeniously simple and reliable as a casual glance might indicate.
Think about it… if the twin ring-gears were a matched set and in mesh with the driveshaft pinion, then the motion resulting from shaft rotation would either be counter-rotation of the axles, or lock-up. For the “twin gear” to work only one ring-gear could be driven by the drive shaft (now we have major thrust to retain) the other would have to be driven via at minimum one idler, to reverse rotation.
Then, for the ring-gears to be able to independently arc around the drive-pinion, they could not share a common case, housed in the usual rigid carrier. Without the rigidity of a carrier-held case, maintaining proper tooth contact would be a nightmare. The slightest wear at the shoes and proper gear mesh is out the window.
For a century now, from garden tractor to earthmover, has anybody successfully challenged the proven case/carrier combination for final drive design? Does anybody know of a production example?
To me, the “sliding shoe” design seems like some of DaVinci’s work… great concept if you can wait 500 years for others to iron out the details. Suddenly a conventional differential with axle joints isn’t so complicated.
As far as I’m familiar with VWs, which would be US version ’50s on, VW swing-axle cars used a conventional differential with a “screwdriver tang drive” joint at the axle. Did some in the old country use the “twin gear” concept?
Tatra trucks still use that style of swing axle design even today, on their very heavy duty off-road capable trucks (image below). But yes, there are other versions, and the VW uses what you describe. But it’s still simpler and more rugged than CV joints used to be, although today CV joints have become very long lasting too.
CV joints made properly out last the vehicles they are installed in, I made enquiries about new CVs for a mates Xantia only to be told we dont sell them by the local agent so what ever the noise is in the left front it isnt that,
JimDandy,
Your comment: ” For the “twin gear” to work only one ring-gear could be driven by the drive shaft (now we have major thrust to retain) the other would have to be driven via at minimum one idler, to reverse rotation.”
Let me attempt to describe the system in this manner;
There are 2 axles, one on each side of the center diff. They are free to swing up & down on an arc that keeps the centerline of each axle’s ring gear in the same position. The drive shaft enters into the diff housing from the front. There is a pinion gear at the front area. Looking forward, this pinion gear is in mesh with the left axle’s ring gear, but not the right axle’s ring gear. No matter where on the swing arm’s arc, that pinion gear will be in mesh with the left axle’s ring gear.
Now let’s look at the center drive shaft inside the diff housing, at the point just to the rear of the pinion gear described above. The center shaft continues to the rear of the diff housing, where another pinion gear is mounted, this pinion gear is in constant mesh with the right axle shaft’s ring gear.
As the input shaft is rotated clockwise, the left pinion gear rotates clockwise as well. causing the ring gear to rotate forward & downwards from the top.
The rear pinion also rotates clockwise as it’s on the same main shaft in the diff. When it contacts the ring gear for the right axle, it causes the ring gear to rotate upwards & forward, the same direction as the left axle.
To keep the systems from interfering with each other, one of the pinion gears is slightly smaller in diameter than the other, with the 2 ring gears sizes matching their respective pinion gears. [The larger pinion gear powers a smaller ring gear, and the reverse difference for the opposite ring & pinion set.] Because the ring & pinions are of different sizes, the sets don’t come in contact with each other.
It’s sometimes difficult to envision, but I’ve not been able to find a simplified power diagram online, that visually shows how the Tatra swing axle system works. [It may be because I’m searching in English!] I’ve hadthe transaxle apart on my Tatra 603, and the clearances are so small it’s hard to see the offset between the gears, but I can tell you each side doesn’t interfere with the other!
And of course, from the engine, thru the gearbox, the differential, and out to the rear wheels, there are no u-joints, no CV joints, no T-joints. I’ve seen Tatra big truck chassis units, up to 6 axles with all wheel drive. and not a u-joint in sight.
On Youtube there are a few great videos on the Paris-Dakar races, and it’s possible to see these trucks in extreme use.
Great job, Paul! How many hours did you spend on this? 🙂
Disclaimer: I’ve never studied German. Your comments about the difficulty of conveying the nuances of volk reminded me of a passage in William L. Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Shirer said that Mein Kampf refers to the “folkish state” a number of times. (I assume that German for “folkish” would be volkisch.) Shirer went on to say that he had read Mein Kampf multiple times, and he never quite understood what Hitler meant by the “folkish state.” Of course it makes sense that if volk is hard to get one’s head around, “folkish state” would be likewise.
It’s a loaded and complex word. The variations of its meaning are best perceived in their context. One only needs to hear Hitler give a speech to get the gist of what he was implying with that word.
Ultimately, it’s the very essence of what Hitler was all about. That word encapsulates him.
This is yet another amazing piece of work, Paul, and thank you for it.
The Beetle is always a car that evokes strong emotions. I was never into them as I like heat in the winter, but the following is huge.
The Beetle is the only car I can recall repeatedly hearing “I wish VW would make them again.” I recently spoke with an acquaintance who thought the end of the air-cooled Beetle was a giant conspiracy and that Beetle production would commence pronto once the conspiracy was exposed.
I replied that I didn’t think there was much of a market for a 90 year old car.
I like heat in the winter, passive safety, performance, good handling, room, and refinement!
As conspiracy theories go, that one is pretty benign. I wish a lot of people would trade in their current conspiracy theories for that one.
Thank you Paul for a very well researched and presented article.
If you want to create a Volkswagen, better be born in Austria-Hungary. Either Vienna (Rumpler, Jaray, Ledwinka), Moravia (Porsche, Nibel) or Budapest (Ganz). Wouldn’ t hurt if you came from Braunau. By the way, I believe Josef Ledwinka and Hans were cousins.
Seems to help for Model-T designers too; Galamb, Farkas.
What a great article! Good to see Rumpler receive praise and Ledwinka reassessed. All designers pinch good ideas, just like all creative people so this clearly shows the contributions each made.
I wonder if you could do a similar article on Issigonis and the Mini? It seems to come
have out of the air but of course it didn’t, but its antecedents are rarely considered. Like the Lloyd 650 from Grimsby with its transverse front wheel drive.
I wouldn’t want to live in a town populated by Standard Superiors after watching that car in the video.
What a fascinating article to read this weekend. I knew only a bit of this history before — so it was quite a treat to sit down and read this fantastically in-depth and well-illustrated history.
I’m amazed at the 10 engine flying wing with seating for 175 that Rumpler designed. That guy certainly was ahead of his time. Thanks for your hard work in presenting this.
My goodness, you’ve excelled yourself here sir, almost meeting the standards of Proffs Adreina and Tatra.
Jokes aside, serious congratulations Paul, it’s really quite something. I will have to go back and read more thoroughly (and links, etc) over the next few days, but wanted to convey my appreciation for your effort.
Two quick comments for now. One, that V1(!) chassis drawing by Porsche has restraining mods for those verdammte swing axles: I wonder if cost eliminated them later, but surely it indicates an awareness of the safety issue early on (of no consideration for the “expert” driver – real or not – and monied buyesr of racers or luxo cars).
Two, could it be said that Jaray is the biggest influence of all? He is quite the linking character, and his aero ideas seem a big driver of rear engines, which other wise don’t (to me) have any obvious advantage from a cost/design point of view back then.
Again, my congrats, Dr Dr Proff N. Prost!
Good catch on the restraining straps. I don’t know why they went away. it might be a question to pose at thesamba.com. Perhaps I will.
Perhaps, re: Jaray. He certainly popularized aerodynamics. But the Rumpler was also employing it very successfully, except he used it more in the plan form than elevation form, which rather works better for most cars.
As I understand it, the Lincoln Zephyr did use some form of unit body, sometimes described as bridge-and-truss, rather than a conventional frame, except on the convertibles.
True. I forgot about that.
Great read Paul but I have to go to work I’ll reread it later, Ive seen most of this before of course but never the tie ins to the VW, But that W engine layout has been refined and is in production currently awesome stuff for the braincell at 2.30 am Thanx.
Fascinating, thank you! As a former driver of your favorite version (1966 1300 cc) purchased new by my dad. I knew a fair bit of this history, but not all the people involved or their connections. Will re-read and forward to other “car nuts” who may not regularly read this blog.
Paul, a truly absorbing read. Fine work on all counts. By chance my brother, an owner of several air cooled VWs in the 80’s sent me a copy of Walter Henry Nelson’s “ “Small Wonder – The Amazing Story of the Volkswagen” that I just received today. Your work surpasses his first three chapters by a long shot in it’s depth and detail.
Thanks.
I had that book quite a few decades ago, but it got lost a long time ago. It was the first book to write the story, but more historical details are still being uncovered.
Paul:
I loved learning from this piece, thank you. Took me a day or so to have the time to read; the wait was worth it. The writing provided much clarity to a era I understand a little bit better now.
It’s a bit of an overstatement to say, as to the KdF-Wagen “savers”, that “their payments were honored some years later by VW after the war.” Initially, Volkswagen AG denied any liability, and a group of “savers” sued, demanding delivery of brand new Beetles. There were lots of legal issues. Who did the “savers” have a contract with? The Nazi Party? The Labor Front? The Reich Government? And was postwar VWAG a legal successor having an obligation to perform on the agreement?
Ultimately, after lengthy litigation, the suit was settled in 1961 with an agreement that gave savers who had completed their payments a 600 DM discount off the price of a new VW. I wasn’t able quickly to find the price of a Beetle in marks in 1961, so I can’t say what the 600 marks represented in percentage terms.
The funds were held by the KDF. And the Russians stole the money (a huge amount) from the KDF accounts after they took Berlin. The Volkswagen company after the war was a completely new entity, created several years after the war ended, when none of the Allies wanted the factory or its contents.
Legally, one can certainly argue the the new VW company had no liability for that. But as you said, eventually VW did offer a settlement.
This was a complicated issue, given the history and the war. The settlement seems reasonably fair to me. A whole lot of folks lost everything in the war. That wasn’t exactly the fault or responsibility of the post war Volkswagen Werk.
Fantastic article, Paul!
As an ex Porsche Mitarbeiter and daily driver of an air cooled VW, I found this article absolutely fascinating. This is a fine piece of automotive scholarship.
I have read the Ganz book, am a great fan of Ledwinka’s work at Tatra and familiar with Rumpler and the rear engined Mercedes, but the way you have woven these themes together to form a logical conclusion is…ausgezeichnet!
Excellent article, most enjoyable read. Ford and Hitler had a lot in common in their world view. People who yearn nostalgically for the Beetle have obviously never driven one in modern traffic or in the rain. They are slow, lethal contraptions clearly built down to a price. That said I did have a yearning for a super beetle recently (I too suffer from the ‘car whore’ syndrome), but fortunately it passed.
Hi Rob,
Hi Rob,I drive a descendant of the Kdf (Karmann Ghia) in modern traffic as my DD and it copes surprisingly well. It will hold 75 on the freeway and it’s quick enough in town if you drive it correctly. It is a charming and fun ride, although the sidewind stability and heating and ventilation leave a lot to be desired!
Passive safety is non-existent compared to moderns, but mechanical parts availability is excellent and they are easy enough to work on.
They were definitely not built down to a price – the finish and basic quality of the VW was excellent in its day.
Having driven other European cars from the immediate post WW2 period, VWs must have seemed incredibly modern in comparison, especially to things like the English Ford Popular or Morris 8s with their beam axles and wheezing, maintenance hungry side valve motors…..
Paul, you’ve raised the CC bar higher again, much higher. Probably the most authoritative piece on a specific car we’ve ever had, maybe that I’ve read online, and the amount and quantity of the research and analysis is truly significant.
The general theme that the Beetle had many influencers shaping it over an extended period is as plausible as it is unsurprising when you pause to consider it, but identifying them all and linking them together in a coherent sequence and argument is not easy. Terrific work, Paul, and thanks for doing it, and adding the social context around it too.
The final nominees maybe the one some would have expected, but the important part is to put it all in context – Car nut nationalist (and worse) dictator wants a modern, nationally identifiable car for his people, and will design and impose an economic and manufacturing system that will enable it, empowering a leading engineer, himself a bit of an outsider through not being attached to a key manufacturer, to execute it, whilst not worrying too much about adopting best practice and blurring the edges of patents.
Do you have a recommendation for a book covering the post war history of VW, the Wirtschaftswunder and post war rise of the Germany industry? It’s a fascinating subject
What a well-researched essay, Paul, thank you. A great assemblage of relevant photos along with a deep dive. One of your best.
Thanks Paul, I had skipped this one originally to save for when I had more time. (And forgotten about it, thus proving that end of year best-of articles are a good idea)
“Small Wonder” was in the University library back in my engineering school days, and I recall finding and reading it one night instead of studying. Really great detail in the way your article weaves together the threads, and I hadn’t realized how Hitler bypassed the entire German auto industry to get the vision done. Fascinating stuff.
Overall the story brings to mind the “Connections” series done in 1978 by James Burke for BBC. We watched it in our Engineering & Society class, it shows how technological advancements are build in other work and more interconnected than the single parent of an idea, and it’s still an informative and entertaining watch.
Fantastic article Paul I reread it this time round even knowing it is a retread, one thing I have wondered is the VW was designed to run at a steady 60mph on relative flat roads autobahns would our lower speed limit and hilly terrain be responsible for relatively short engine lives in Beetles less cooling air and having to work harder hill climbing, some didnt do big mileages between rebuilds at all, some ran seemingly for ever. Or was it just driver abuse and neglect.
I can’t address the question of driving in New Zealand but the VW type 1 needs good maintenance per the book to survive. Even then one driven flat out all the time will not attain mileages over, say, 100,000 miles. Driving one at its 90th percentile of performance will add tens of thousands of miles to its TBO.
thx
Hello everybody, great article, i unfortunately saw first time about 18 months after publishing … 🙂 … Of course the influence of Josef Ganz for an Volkswagen Käfer (VW Beetle) is still in Discussion. In my opinion the Ganz’ car “Standard Superior” is an mixture of two Hanomag vehicles and not one of the origins for the Beetle. One part (the front) from the 1925 Hanomag 2/10 (german “Kommissbrot”) and from the windshield on to the back an widely unknown Hanomag prototype of 1931 with boxer-rear engine and four seats. I only found a photo of this Hanomag in a german antique book: Ralf Kieselbach “Deutsche Stromlinienautos bis 1945” (german streamline cars till 1945). ISBN is 9783170076266, expensive, but written in german and english. So Ganz copied from Hanomag …? Greetings from Hamburg, Matthias
Additional comment: You cannot find any photo of this Hanomag from 1931 via Google (the Hanomag 1931 Coupe 3/16 is different and not the car i mean). This is the photo in the Kieselbach book:
Matthias: Thanks for your comment and especially this information about the Hanomag. It’s another significant piece of the history. I will amend my article and include it.
It just reinforces the point that any claims to have “invented” the Beetle are bunk.
Ok, thanks for the answer, here is another car of that time: Borgward Hansa 400 and 500. Looks the same like Standard Superior, so why should Josef Ganz be the real father of Beetle like author Schilperoord from netherlands wants to make us believe? The Hansa started in 1933, same size, same performance, very little differences in engines (bore & stroke), same price, production ended like Standard Superiors with more or less no success in the market in 1935.
https://www.goliath-veteranen-club.de/Typologie/Typenblatt-1933-Hansa400-500.htm?msclkid=d9f16dfbab4d11ecb0ce15bc70b0aa3a
In addition to that, the term “Volkswagen” (people’s car) was used by some manufacturers in germany, beginning in 1905 by SAF Sueddeutsche Automobilfabrik Gaggenau for their model “Liliput”. Gustav Röhr (Roehr) working for Priamus Company should have talked about “Volkswagen”, and by some the Hanomag 2/10 Kommissbrot was called “Volkswagen”. This all according to a german author, a historian at a technic-museum in mannheim/germany. Book: Kurt Möser (Moeser) – Geschichte des Autos (history of car), ISBN 3593365758 from 2002, page 212. Unfortunately not in english available, like i know. And last but not least maybe the first car called “Käfer” (i.e. bug or beetle) was a experimental (non-production), three wheeler “fun”-car from Felix Wankel by 1926 with the name “Teufelskäfer” (devil’s bug). 🙂 Greetings Matthias from Hamburg