the American Dream: Volkswagen Beetle by ric gustafson
In May of 1938, Adolf Hitler dedicated a car for the masses and asked Henry Ford for his input. The hippie kids of the 1960's loved the car and the Volkswagen Microbus was born.
Ferdinand Porsche was born in 1875 in Maffersdorf Germany. In 1925, he became the chief engineer at Daimler-Benz. In 1934, Porsche proposed to Hitler the idea of a people's car. He proposed that the car have a rounded body, a rear mounted engine that would help the car in the cold and ice. Hitler was pleased and awarded the contract to Porsche. When Hitler annexed Austria in 1937, the people's car was introduced.
In the 1950's sales of Beetles and Microbusses surged from 31,000 in 1955 to 150,000 in 1959. The Corvair produced by Chevrolet also had a rear aircooled engine. Famous people to own a Beetle includes Paul Newman, Princess Margaret and John Lennon. In 1969 a movie called The Love Bug was the highest grossing movie of the year. In the movie, a Beetle named Herbie helped his owner win a car race. By 1972, the popularity of Beetles diminished with the arrival of the new Honda Civic.
In 1998, Volkswagen introduced the New Beetle. It had the original Beetle shape but had a new front mounted liquid cooled engine and front wheel drive.
research help: ' Engines of Change' by Paul Ingrassia
Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric
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