• Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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    1 year ago

    Hitler was directly behind the development of the VW Beetle with Porsche doing the engineering work.

    • evergreen@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Porsche also stole many of the innovative design elements of their cars from a Czech auto manufacturer called Tatra, after the Nazis took over the factory.

    • Schmuppes@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Hitler was not “directly behind” the development. You make it sound like he was the lead designer, accountant and test driver. He said “I want you to develop a car that will seat four, reach 110 km/h and cost a maximum of 1000 Reichsmark” because he wanted to make car manufacturing a significant industrial branch. The reality is that it was pretty much an empty promise. People invested in shares of VW so they could eventually get a Käfer, but very few were actually built during the war.