11. Ferdinand Porsche Was Hitler’s Favorite Car Designer
Germany’s automobile industry in the 1930s was geared towards luxury cars that were beyond the means of most Germans. Ferdinand Porsche, a famous racecar and luxury automobile designer, sought to interest manufacturers in his design for a small and affordable family car. In 1933, Porsche built his concept car, a forerunner of the VW Beetle, which he named the Volksauto. It had a torsion suspension, and a beetle shape, with a rounded front hood for better aerodynamics to compensate in part for a small air-cooled rear engine.
After the Nazis came into power, Hitler jumped on the “people’s car” bandwagon. In 1934, the Fuhrer issued a decree for the production of a basic car capable of transporting two adults and three children at 62 mph, while costing only 990 Reichsmarks – about U$ 400 in the 1930s. Hitler fell in love with Ferdinand Porsche’s design, but Germany’s auto industry could not produce a car for that price in its existing plants. So Hitler ordered up a state-owned factory to produce the Volkswagen, paid for through a savings plan that put the new car within the financial means of most Germans.
