The History of the Volkswagen
Ferdinand Porsche was the founder of Volkswagen.
It is said that he was indeed a technical genius and was employed by a big number of car companies eg Austro-Daimler, Mercedes, Daimler-Benz to name but a few.
In 1930 he opened his own design bureau. In 1931 he asked his team of staff to start designing a car with a water cooled three cylinder engine. This should also have independent suspension and be capable of accommodating four adults. The main aim was to keep the costs as low as possible to make it affordable to the masses.
In 1932 he found a partner in Zundapp. Originally there were three prototypes were produced using his original design which was equipped with a new engine. However the engine turned out to have a severe cooling problem and melted after ten minutes of running. Zundapp decided to discontinue the project.
NSU a cycle manufacturer decided to join forces and a completely new cooled 4 cylinder engine was built. The engine was placed in the rear to avoid the traditional transmission with a separate gear box, drive shaft & rear axle. Unfortunately due to the economical climate in Germany at the time NSU decided to withdraw and Porche was again on his own.
In 1933 at the Berlin Motor Show Hitler announced his plan to produce a small car for the people of Germany. Porche and Hitler were to join forces and a contract was signed in 1934. The prototypes were were to be built by RDA, which was the German Auto Manufacturers Association. RDA were soon to understand that this project had a chance to be successful and this they did not want. They deliberately delayed the project which made Porsche miss the deadline and therefore lose his contract. Hitler however realised this and placed the entire project under government supervision. The 3 prototypes were delivered in 1936.
To this day the VW has remained just about identical in design. It has a reputation for being a highly dependable car and indeed Volkswagen van leasing is a very popular alternative as they have such a solid history behind them.
