9781422270356

An early publicity shot of a family playing by a river with a KdF-Wagen (original Volkswagen circa 1939).

Everyman’s Car Rounding up backing from a group of investors, Dr. Porsche went into business for himself, and the Porsche Konstruktionburo für Motoren-Fahrzeug-Lu " fahrzeug und Wasserfahrzeugbau came into being on March 6, 1931. The Stuttgart-based firm readily found work for the design of car, aircra " , and ship engines from Germany’s reawakening military sector, which had already coalesced around the deadly charisma of Adolf Hitler. Hitler himself became an enthusiastic backer for Porsche’s pet project, the car for Everyman, and soon Porsche and his designers were creating sketches for the car that would ultimately become known as the Volkswagen. Prototypes emerged through the mid

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