Chris wrote:<<the car was built under a Nazi agency: Kraft durch Freude
(Strength through Joy) and, IMO, it was a great thing. VERY cheap cruises,
trips, and all sorts of programs to raise the general wllbeing of the
working class. VW was a[SNIP]
One thing to remember - the German people were encouraged to use a layaway
program set up by the Nazi's to buy the VW's - unfortunately, as production
was ramping up they invaded Poland in 9/39 and the Beetle production was
changed over to military needs. *Very* few VWs were delivereed to the
people they were intended for - and they money they'd paid into the layaway
program was lost.
Leaving all those empty miles of Autobahn available for Nazi military
vehicles --
Sincerely,
Larry T ('74 911, '67 MGB, 78 240D)
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Christopher McCann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Mercedes mailing list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 9:15 AM
Subject: Re: [MBZ] VW origins (was Something fishy at Mercedes)
I didn't know that, but the bug was quickly remade into the Kubelwagen (a
jeep essentially)...it saw wide service (aka the THING, when it came to the
US). An amphibious version was the schwimmwagen and a special 4WD with huge
tire version for SS officers was called the Kommander?-Wagen.
One of Hitlers first acts as Chancellor was a visit to the Berlin auto
show where he scolded the German car industry for building the best cars in
the world, but not a practical one that the average German could afford. He
compared ownership rates to the US. Porsche eventually visited Ford
(awarded the highest medal a foreigner ever received from the Reich for his
help in increasing industrial production in Germany - his views on Jews
dove-tailed with the Nazis, yet he helped to send tanks to the Soviets
later...capitalist!) to learn about cheap mass production. Hitler promoted
racing by heavily funding both MB and Auto Union (if you're the master
race, you need to win - and they did). The result was the VW plant at KdF
Stadt (now Wolfsburg)...the car was built under a Nazi agency: Kraft durch
Freude (Strength through Joy) and, IMO, it was a great thing. VERY cheap
cruises, trips, and all sorts of programs to raise the general wllbeing of
the working class. VW was a
state owned plant/project integrated into this agency's mission. Nto to be
confused with the RAD (Reich Arbeiter Deinst), which was similiar to our
WPA, also a good thing, IMO.
I WOULD like to know more about the rear-engine, air-cooled MB's of the
era. Saw a picture of 1 once. It was NOT a VW built at Untertuerkheim, but
MB's own design - yet similar from the outside.
Also interesting is the story of an American GI who became friends with a
top MB executive right after the war. I forget the names of both. THe
German liked to hunt, but was not allowed to have guns and the GI had the
guns. They hit it off. THe GI was hired at MB as an exec...went home to the
US to gather his stuff and moved back to Germany and worked as an MB exec
for decades. Interesting story.
Chris
Chris
Alex Chamberlain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: On 11/29/05, Christopher
McCann wrote:
Hitler gave directions to Porsche on basic design elements of the
KdF-Wagen..
one being the shape, another being the seating capacity, another being
the fuel economy.
Another being, legend has it, that it be able to run in any climate
found in the Third Reich, once the Nazis had won the war---from North
Africa to Siberia. Hence air-cooling, since cooling systems in '30s
watercooled cars, before modern antifreeze formulations, tended to
either freeze or boil over at the drop of a hat.
Alex Chamberlain
'87 300D Turbo
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Christopher McCann, Squier Park, Kansas City, Missouri
-2005 Blue Point Siamese, "Rose"
-1987 300TD, 150K, "Rotkäppchen"
-1985 300SD, 210K, "Wulf"
-1976 240D, ?K, "AKP-Wagen" (Alternativen Kraftstoffs Prüfenlastwagen)
-1972 Jacobsen 21" Turbo Vent
-1971 Case 222 Hydrive, 12HP Kohler, 38" deck, Snowcaster, "One Banger"
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