Battle for the Beetle

Hemmings Motor News - July 2013

Books & Literature

Technically, this book isn't new. It was first published in hardcover and released in 2000, the same year it won the Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot Award as the best automotive history book of the year. That hardback edition has long been out of print, but Bentley has now re-released Karl Ludvigsen's compelling history of Volkswagen's struggle to recover from post-war devastation as a medium-format paperback.

First, to its scope: Ludvigsen's telling takes up 466 pages, very liberally illustrated. We're not going to be spoilers here, but suffice it to say that restarting Volkswagen after the war was a geopolitically very touchy situation. As the buildup to the story explains, it was the Third Reich's singularly most successful product that wasn't purely military in its base concept. The remnants of Germany's auto industry were understandably nervous about facing its sales dominance once again. The KdF-Wagen's home plant in Wolfsburg was in the quadrant of Germany administered by the British, whose own cities had been demolished by Nazi weaponry.

What happened next, as told in meticulous detail here, reads like one of Frederick Forsyth's history-based thrillers. A British officer, Ivan Hirst--who contributed the foreword and died as the book was being released--green-lighted a slow restart of Volkswagen production, thinking the cars could be exported to Britain. Given that Ferdinand Porsche, released from custody by the Allies, was now working for Renault, Hirst unquestionably reset the balance of automotive power in Europe. The footnoted research here is exhaustive. Time has done nothing to dim the significance of this book.

Article from and courtesy of Hemmings Motor News - July 2013

http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/2013/07/01/hmn_feature15.html

Road & Track - September 2000

A significant Volkswagen-work

Karl Ludvigsen is one of the most prolific and certainly the most versatile of automotive writers. Following a number of important recent motor racing titles, he has worked diligently - as only he could - to produce this intensive analysis of a major aspect of the post-World War II automotive industry in Europe. Using Volkswagenwerk GmbH as the focal point and wisely employing the name Beetle in the title, he thoroughly investigates the company's development and profound influence on the popular car markets of Germany, Britain, and France - ultimately, the United States.

For decades Americans have felt they understood the whole VW saga. They certainly haven't lacked material. Starting with brilliant advertising, VW public relations traded on the career of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche and a presumed German superiority in all things technical. A bad guy, Adolf Hitler, made a handy historical villain.

But Ludvigsen's account makes it obvious how much more there was to be known, and not just about what happened during the 1930s and 1940s. Starting with a study of significant technology in several countries that contributed to the concept of a people's car - Volkswagen was originally a generic term - Ludvigsen probes the creation of Volkswagenwerk and the parallel growth of the German war industry in the late 1930s.

After the war, during which Spitfires had defeated Messerschmitts and Mosquitos had bested Ju 88s, teams of British experts nevertheless arrived in West Germany in awe of its engineering. Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix cars, which had provided a severe technical lesson just before the war, were attractive subjects for scrutiny, but the entire industrial structure and the VW situation in particular were given serious study. It was a great challenge to British carmakers to reap profit from the spoils of war - transporting the entire VW factory to Britain was even considered! - and after describing the political, economic and technical aspects in detail, Ludvigsen emhasizes how the Brits lost the main Battle of the Beetle.

The American market also suffered significant wounds in its battle with VW during the 1950s and 1960s, coming up with Corvairs, Falcons and Valiants in the process, but this proved only a foretaste of an automotive war to be waged with another former Axis power.

The book contains thorough discussions of a variety of fascinating prewar German, British, French and Czechoslovakian small and not-so-small car projects and of course the postwar models that competed for VW's position but did not match its attention to quality and logistics. The Renault 4CV and Dauphine are presented as prime examples, and British models are discussed, but surprisingly, Fiats are ignored.

More than 50 pages of valuable notes, bibliography, index and acknowledgements are what you would expect from Karl Ludvigsen. You don't need to be a car enthusiast or even a student of the auto industry to benefit from this remarkable book. No military historian, economist, political scientist or engineer can afford to ignore Beetle. Covering so much of the automotive development of the 20th century, it is already one of the important books of the 21st.

Article from and courtesy of Road & Track - September 2000

Autoweek February 26, 2001

You would think there can't be much left to say about the iconic Volkswagen Beetle. Yet a sizable part of the car's story had never been completely told.

From spring of 1938, when the cornerstone was laid for the VW plant, until 1949, when the Beetle finally became a mass-production vehicle, that period is marked by how little we really know about it. Into that gap steps Karl Ludvigsen with a groundbreaking new book Battle for the Beetle.

To be fair, the Bug's early history has been given a sound, if relatively broad treatment before. And it's understandable that the finer and harder facts have been clouded in obscurity. As Ludvigsen relates, just when the Volkswagen appeared on the world stage as Adolph Hitler's dream to put the German people on wheels, that the world began to fall apart - the result of Hitler's other, terrifying aspirations. The giant factory, which also built the V-1 buzz bomb, narrowly escaped destruction. And in the turbulent days following the war, the factory and the Beetle design itself became game pieces on the complex chessboard of post-war European politics. The focus of Battle for the Beetle, the struggle to which its title refers, is on the powerful forces (political, industrial and economic) swirling around VW as its joint Allied and German management scrambled to put the VW into production. Ludvigsen's conclusion: The conventional wisdom - that the Beetle's world-conquering potential was dismissed or overlooked by the international automotive community - is wrong. In companies all over the world, Ludvigsen finds, there were engineers and executives who knew exactly what the Beetle meant for the redevelopment of Europe and for the industry's future.

But the book is also a history of the emerging global auto industry, including U.S. automakers' European interests, an area largely neglected by automotive historians. It's also a technical survey of all the rear-engine automobiles that came before the Beetle, and all the later cars that were inspired or influenced by it's revolutionary design.

Ludvigsen's research is exhaustive and original. In the foreword by Maj. Ivan Hirst, VW's British manager under the occupation, he says much of the material has never been published before.

Ludvigsen's view spans the entire history of the automobile, around the world and across the last century. For any enthusiast who aspires to a similar perspective, Battle for the Beetle is required reading.

Article from and courtesy of Autoweek - February 26, 2001

Classic & Sports Car Magazine - June 2000

This book looks dull, but it must be the most comprehensive examination of the origins of the people's car ever. The astonishing drama of production being kick-started post-war in a bombed-out factory, by a British army major, is well known, but Ludvigsen has cast his net further, to include the knee-jerk reactions of the Americans and British to this funny little car. He deals with the behind-the-scenes politics too, in this impeccably researched hadback; the endnotes, bibliography and index span 48 pages, nearly one-ninth of this 448-page volume.

Much more than just a book on Volkswagens, it's a human-interest story, and the account of the late Ivan Hirst and his team reviving Beetle production and the obstacles put in their way makes for gripping reading. There's a wealth of new information, including the fascinating revelations that, far from being uninterested in Volkswagen as previously recorded, Ford proposed that it be merged with its existing German operations. But the executive charged with making this possible bailed at the eleventh hour. Far from being a dry account of the Beetle's embryonic years, this effort follows the enduring Veedub's impact on the automotive world and the cars it influenced - Chevy Corvair, Hino Contessa and innumerable Renaults among them. The author reveals why the car's design wasn't intrinsically changed during its lifetime and brings things up to date with the launch of the new Beetle in 1998.

Even if you don't have the slightest interest in VWs you'll find this hardback of interest. The layout is uninspiring and picture reproduction poor, but it's the words that count. Highly recommended.

Article from and courtesy of Classic & Sports Car - June 2000

Sports Car Market - July 2000

During WWII, the Volkswagenwerk was used to produce parts for the V1 flying bomb. This made it a prime target for Allied bombing raids and by the end of the war, a portion of the ground floor was in ruins. The city of Fallersleben (later known as Wolfsburg) fell into the British Zone after the war. This story begins with how the British fended off various takers interested in stripping the factory of its machinery under the guise of war reparations and how British industry showed little interest in taking over the factory themselves. All of this led to the Beetle staying in Germany. The story has all the ingredients of a fine novel.

Heroic and greedy characters suffering from various amounts of industrial myopia muddled through the late '40s not quite sure what to do with the incredible production capacity of the Volkswagenwerk factory. Non-German competitors were fearful that their home markets might be flooded with cheap, reliable Beetles. How the Beetle survived and remained a German product and how no other competitors even came close to its longevity and production numbers is told in concise as well as entertaining detail.

Beautifully researched and filled with over 200 photos, Karl Ludvigsen puts this situation in perspective. Overall, Battle for the Beetle is a scholarly and engrossing book that is easily up to Ludvigsen's usual high standards. It will be useful to all students of the period, especially those interested in automotive history, and of the early Volkswagen.

Article from and courtesy of Sports Car Market - July 2000

Aircooled Classics Issue #8 / August - October 2013

Book Worm book review

It's a fair bet that most historical books that describe anything to do with Volkswagen will concentrate on the model of automobile that started the phenomenon, and the subsequent models that continued the success story we're all so familiar with, or at least we think we are...

Karl Ludvigsen, motoring historian and author of so many books published about the motoring industry and models of car (particularly Porsche sports cars), took an entirely different path when he researched material for his epic tale Battle for the Beetle. We're often led to believe that the British rescued the Wolfsburg factory under the guidance of the late Major Ivan Hirst (who underplayed his role in its revival later on in life and seemed embarrassed by all the fuss and attention he was to receive from both the public and Volkswagen), and that given first dibs of the strange little car the British motoring industry wanted only to see its quick demise, believing it to be an inferior product. Truth or legend? Perhaps a bit of both? Given WWII was barely a memory and Europe was in emotional tatters, anti-German sentiment couldn't have helped. For most, that's the end of the story. However, as Ludvigsen's exhaustive research was to uncover, the legend maybe flawed.

No historical book on the subject matter would be complete without mention of Ferdinand Porsche, the car's creator, and Ludvigsen doesn't disappoint. But he also uncovers what many would regard as sinister activities outside of the Beetle's design remit and its humble factory beginnings. Mention Wolfsburg and you immediately think of the automotive factory that has grown exponentially with vehicle demand, not the source of the weapons of mass destruction of the wartime period that rained down on Britain's south coast and its capital. There is much to learn from this book.

Now released in paperback form, the Battle for the Beetle is a must-read for followers of the greatest little car of all time.

Article from and courtesy of Aircooled Classics, Issue #8 / August - October 2013

SpeedReaders.info - May 31, 2013

Battle for the Beetle

If you are wondering why the man synonymous with Porsche literature is writing an entire book about the lowly V Dub you'll need to remember that the Beetle is a significant part of the Ferdinand Porsche story and a building block in the pre-history to the Porsche Cars story. As such it is mentioned in his Porsche books often enough, but, of necessity, only in passing. This Beetle book, then, fills an important gap for Porsche readers and, thanks to Ludvigsen's research, materially advances the Volkswagen story.

The subtitle, if this much verbiage can be called that, says it all: "The untold story of the post-war battle for Adolf Hitler's giant Volkswagen factory and the Porsche-designed car that became an icon for generations around the globe."

Normally you have to wait a year of two for the paperback version of a hardcover; in this case it took 13-and it's the same price. (Actually, factoring in inflation, it is cheaper-better brush up on economic theory because it is a big part of this story!) Moreover, this new paperback edition contains important new material.

The hardest book to write is the one about a subject that everyone thinks they know everything about. Whether your interest is in cars or biography or business matters or politics/society, this book connects many dots. It cannot be overstated how radical the Beetle was, both in function and philosophy. No wonder that mighty Ford was very interested in merging the VW plant with the German Ford operation. This little nugget probably took a look of folks who thought they knew all about VW history by surprise when the first edition came out. (Ludvigsen even reveals the identity of the Ford functionary who dropped the ball on this.) Instead the British took over postwar management. Ludvigsen deconstructs the oft-repeated fallacy that after WW II the Allies underestimated and dismissed as irrelevant the potential of the Beetle. His research into previously unpublished material shows the opposite to be the case-hence the word "battle" in the book title.

At the time of the book's first publication, Ludvigsen was still chairman of the London-based motor industry management consulting firm Ludvigsen Associates with its vast archival holdings (now part of the Revs Institute). The book is very complex but still eminently readable. It begins with an assessment of prewar people's car concepts in several countries, with particular emphasis on rear-engined proposals; it examines political, technical, and economic angles; it compares postwar manufacturing logistics and quality control among various makers. A closing chapter begins with the New Beetle of 1994 and discusses the many, many influences Beetles over the ages had on other cars. The book is, in other words, no less than a sweeping, competent overview of carmaking in the 20th century.

The new material in the paperback edition is an Afterword ("The Ivan Hurst Contribution") that talks about the young British major who so successfully held the reins at VW until 1949, putting the firm on a sustainable path to growth. He was already 81 when Ludvigsen first met him in 1997 and died the very year the book came out. Much more important is the addition of callouts in the body copy that refer to the Endnotes that had already been included in the first edition but were rendered pretty well pointless because they could not be matched to the text. Even if you have the first one, this alone makes the new edition an absolute must.

Cleverly, the main body of the new edition has the same pagination as the old one, which, having become a crucial reference source is being quoted by many other works. All those page references would have become unfindable if author and publisher hadn't recognized this important detail.

Deservedly won the SAH's Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot award Best Automotive Book of the Year in 2000. It was and it is.

Article from and courtesy of SpeedReaders.info - May 31, 2013

http://speedreaders.info/11428-battle-beetle

Steering Column The Official Monthly Newsletter of the Historic Motor Vehicles Club Inc. (Australia) - December 2012

Book of the Month

Sure, it's another book on the VW! It comes to us from an former avid lover of the beasts who no longer owns one! This book is the real nitty-gritty of how the Adolph Hitler/VW/Porsche show began, the ingenuity of the original concept, 'design-borrowings', and assorted shenanigans in raising capital for the plant. Do you recall the brain-washing the German volk received to purchase a VW through a 'savings-stamp book'?! Pity that all the cars produced went straight to the Army, and the people's 'Beetle' would be the basis for the fabulous Kubel and Schwimmwagen. After the War, both the plant and the Beetle, were offered to the Allies. All turned it/them down. However, in a few short years, most of these manufacturers were desperately trying to combat the Beetles' run-away success with fairly mundane offerings of their own! Remember the "Imp", the "Corvair", Renault 4CV, etc, etc. All ancient history now, but the company continues to go from strength to strength. The take-over of other car manufacturers, the multi-billion $ plants VW holds world-wide, and its reported enormous-figure, on-going, financial investment into R&D, speak volumes for the dynamic force behind the ugly-duckling's 're-birth' as a private company in 1949!

A fantastic holiday-season 'read'. Even though you might hate the evil little bug, it's the story of sheer guts, tenacity and far-sighted corporate vision which must enthrall!

Article from and courtesy of the Steering Column, the official monthly newsletter of the Historic Motor Vehicles Club Inc. (Australia) - December 2012

Hooniverse - January 4, 2011

Speed Reads: The Battle for the Beetle by Karl Ludvigsen

It's difficult to not be fascinated by the once-ubiquitous Volkswagen Beetle, from its conception as a pet project of arguably the worst person in history to its unprecedented success. It has also been a veritable primordial ooze from which thousands upon thousands of Hoon-worthy project cars, kit cars, and race cars crawled to meet their evolutionary success (Formula V or the Baja class) or ignoble failure (Bugatti anyone?). It almost didn't happen, however, as war-torn Germany was stripped of much of its industrial capacity by indignant occupying Allies. How did the Nazi's People's Car survive being swept into the dustbin?

Ludvigsen answers that question in far greater detail than anyone could possibly need, unless you're a historian writing a thesis on the beginnings of postwar Beetle production. This is partly because the author had access to Ivan Hirst, the British Army Engineer who stewarded the VW works through the British occupation and into the independent entity it became in the 1950s. It's true that towards the end of the book, this detail becomes eye-crossing minutiae. That being said, Battle for the Beetle manages to convey the real message, which is that the Beetle was by no means a sure thing to bystanders in the late 1940s. After being the most-produced car design of all time, it's hard to imagine that at the beginning very few could see the brilliance of the design. 'It's noisy, the design is outdated, and it's uneconomical,' screeched the British motor industry when it became clear the VW factory at Wolfsburg might be sold. So the British passed, and so did everyone else. The reasons won't make much sense unless you read the book, but they do give some phenomenal insight into why the Beetle's 1930s design succeeded and made VW an international juggernaut while the British automakers sputtered and died.

Whether you're a fan of the ass-engined Nazi slot cars or not, the book is worth a read.

Article from and courtesy of the Hooniverse.com January 4, 2011 - http://hooniverse.com/2011/01/04/speed-reads-the-battle-for-the-beetle-by-karl-ludvigsen/

Thoroughbred & Classic Cars - June 2000

Karl Ludvigsen's account of the Beetle reveals an enormous amount of untold material, much of which gives a new insight into VW history.

Technical and historical facts blend political, industrial and social machinations, both before and after the war, together with interviews and extracts from archives.

This presents the reader with a well-balanced view into the problems faced by those charged with putting Volkswagen back on its feet after the war, and the frustrations of opposition within the motor industry and bureaurocracy at high levels.

The innovation of Ferdinand Porsche's design, the construction of the factory and its use during the war, followed by four years under the stewardship of Ivan Hurst, and the subsequent milestones to high-volume production, make this a book to appeal to both car enthusiasts and social historians alike.

With some 460 pages, including 36 pages of end notes, this is a serious tome, well researched and well written (apart from a few typographical errors), and well worth the money. ★★★★

Article from and courtesy of Thoroughbred & Classic Cars - June 2000

Automotive Industries - August 2000

"The design of the car is a good five years ahead of anything being produced in England today," noted the 1947 memo about a certain small car. Its manufacturing costs, the memos added, "are ridiculously low, and the whole car has been designed to be produced at the lowest possible man-hours per car."

The memo was about the Volkswagen Beetle. It was written by a British Army officer who, like a few others, could see beyond the rubble and wreckage of post-WWII Germany. He realized the potential of the little Beetle and is massive, partially bombed-out factory in Wolfsburg, which had fallen under the British zone of occupation. The officer, Charles Radcliff, saw VW's enormous potential in a postwar Europe hungry for cheap wheels. He believed the British government should grab this asset before someone else did.

Not everyone on the winning side shared his vision, as author and industry analyst Karl Ludvigsen explains so well in Battle for the Beetle. The recently published, 449-page book is the first detailed chronicle of fledgling Volkswagen and Adolf Hitler's "strength through joy car."

As is typical of all Ludvigsen's many works, the writing is clear and engaging and the depth of research impressive. Ludvigsen busts a number of Beetle history myths, including the one that Ford and other automakers were not at all interested in Ferdiand Porsche's innovative little bug. On The contrary, the Beetle was seen as a serious threat to British and French automakers whose own small car plans, and capacity, paled in comparison. Henry Ford II may have been wrong to believe after his 1948 first drive in a Beetle, that the car had no market in the U.S., but he saw the car and its factory as juicy assets worth having in Europe. Young Ford dispatched his new head of International operations Graeme Howard, to purchase controlling interest in VW. They proposed merging the rebuilt Ford of Germany with VW.

At the same time, Britain's myopic auto industry was working to dismantle VW completely, fearing strong competition from a resurrected Geramn automaker.

Beyond the battle, the book also offers new details on the car's design history and the company's wartime output (including V-1 terror missiles). And it examines many rear-engineered small car efforts of other automakers, including those of Feddon, Kendal, Tjaar-da-Briggs and even Ford.

If you love auto industry history, this book is a must-have.

Article from and courtesy of Automotive Industries - August 2000

Car News (Australia) - October 27-November 9, 2000

Karl Ludvigsen is a prolific motoring author, with numerous accolades to his credit.

Unlike most VW Beetle books, Ludvigsen has searched through previously unused archival material and interviewed many of the key people who were on the Allies' team that investigated the Wolfsburg factory, and decided its fate after World War II.

That many American and British company chiefs, including Henry Ford II, looked at the factory and the unconventional small car that it was designed to produce and went away less than convinced about its future is now part of motoring history.

That the factory was kept operating by a small group of dedicated English engineers and their German colleagues during these uncertain times is also history.

Ludvigsen's story tells why and how the rest of the bombed-out factory - and the car.

But did you know there was an Australian connection to the story?

Sir Lawrence Hartnett, formerly managing director at General Motors-Holden and generally acknowledged as the "father" of the Holden car, was offered the factory and all it contained to build the Volkswagen here in Australia. But while he was impressed with the quality of the machine tooling he could not see a market large enough in Australia for the car.

There are many previously untold stories in Battle for the Beetle that separates this book from the rest and makes it a worthwhile read for true history buffs.

Article from and courtesy of Car News (Australia) - October 27-November 9, 2000

Vintage Voice - Vol. 26, No. 4 - April 2001

VVWCA Book Review; "Battle for the Beetle"

I've had this wonderful book on my desk for a while now, but up until a recent (late winter 2001) two-week family vacation, had never thought I had a "fitting" opportunity to open it up and dive into it. The great automotive journalist Karl Ludvigsen's "Battle for the Beetle" is not a coffee table book--one of those big oversized, but thin, volumes, with page after page of big glossy pictures. The actual size is about 6.5 inches wide, by about 9.5 inches high, by about--and this is a key dimension--an inch and a half thick. A quick thumb-through reveals that it's a very text-intensive volume, printed & bound with a very high quality & pleasing appearance. Yes, there are a few illustrations interspersed here and there, where necessary to convey a visual impression of some particular person or design being discussed, but it's not a "picture book" by any means. The actual text covers nearly 400 pages (399 to be exact), with an extensive "Endnotes" section (35 pages in length) providing further details about specific quotes or occurrences referenced in the main body of the book, and beyond that, a comprehensive bibliography, an 8-page index section, art credits, author's detailed acknowledgements, and finally an "About the Author" section. Yes, this is one hefty book.

The subtitle for "Battle for the Beetle" reads: "The untold story of the post-war battle for Adolf Hitler's giant Volkswagen factory and the Porsche-designed car that became an icon for generations around the globe." The foreword to the book is written by none other than Ivan Hirst--undisputedly one of the most intimately familiar with the immediate post-war situation facing the Volkswagen factory, as the focus of the book is intended. Major Hirst liked it and gave it a strong recommendation--there's one important indicator of the accuracy & value of this book.

But I think the subtitle's "post-war" focus is a bit misleading, as I actually did successfully read the entire book, and have that experience fresh in my mind as I type this on my mother-in-law's laptop computer with just a few more days of vacation left. The book's been to the beach with me several times, along with various vacation day-trips, when I'd steal a few more pages of reading while waiting for the family to return to the car, from whatever attraction they were visiting, and of course, it was also good for some quiet night-time reading as well. I guess I must also "come clean" about the fact that my family generally frowned upon my touching the computer while on this vacation, so having an interesting book along with me to read was also a positive thing from that perspective.

The book starts out with very good background about what people like Ferdinand Porsche and his son Ferry, not to mention the aforementioned Adolf Hitler, were doing in the years before the war. The various Porsche automotive designs and design influences are reviewed, as are descriptions of Hitler's automotive interests (interspersed, of course, with how those related to his notorious political interests and ambitions). The design and construction of the amazing VW factory at Fallerslaben is also covered in detail, with many insights into the various political forces that were operative at the time.

World War II of course then interrupts the various automotive goings-on, and the (necessary) genesis of the famous wartime VW's such as the Kubelwagen and the Schwimmwagen are detailed. These sections really increased my appreciation for the great historical significance of our favorite antique automobiles. They really "did the job" they were asked to do, with great results, proving again and again the brilliant simplicity and great durability that Dr. Porsche envisioned by his original design.

One of the most impressive things about this book, in my view, is the in-depth information that Mr. Ludvigsen presents, to give proper perspective about where the VW "fit into" the world automotive scene at the time, about the many other similar (some more similar than others) advanced automobile designs that were in existence or being developed, at the time. This background, in addition to providing a variety of contrasts and comparisons to the superb design approach & production engineering of the VW, is also very important in helping to explain the way the VW factory ultimately ended up as an independent, German-run operation (having come very close to being taken over and/or dismantled, by the immediate post-war occupiers--the British--or the number of other Allied countries that had possible stakes in the post-war "spoils" of Germany, including the United States).

The book then brings us into the roaring '50s and '60s, where the VW went on to set all the well-publicized production and sales records, where people like Heinz Nordhoff figured so strongly and prominently in the great success of the VW.

Overall, having read "Battle for the Beetle", I'm left with a feeling of even greater appreciation for the unique & very significant place in automotive--and world--history occupied by our favorite old car--the Volkswagen. To know about how this car and it's creators factored in the many significant events in world history before, during, and after World War II makes me feel that I am a part of a very important automotive community--people who appreciate and revere the original Volkswagen! I would strongly recommend anyone who is interested in a richly detailed historical account of this car's origination & early development to get their hands on a copy of Karl Ludvigsen's "Battle for the Beetle," take some time out from the hectic rat race of life, and read it. It's definitely worth the experience.

Article from and courtesy of Vintage Voice, the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America newsletter - April 2001

German Studies Review - January 26, 2003

The VW Beetle became a cultural icon after World War II. But what were its origins? Karl Ludvigsen, the MIT-trained, acknowledged authority on the automotive industry has written a remarkable account of the symbol of Germany's odyssey from infamy and defeat to postwar recovery and prosperity.

The author credits engineer Ferdinand Porsche with the idea of creating a rear-wheel drive, air-cooled engine passenger car, but claims it was Adolf Hitler, whom Ludvigsen portrays as being infatuated with the automobile and its macro economic potential, who saw the 'People's Car' as a way to jumpstart Germany out of the Depression of the 1930s. In 1933, Germany had only 522,000 cars in circulation, less than half the number in Britain or France. Passenger cars were not for the masses but only for the rich. Thus, Porsche's small, affordable, reliable car was ideal for the German working class. The Nazis abolished all of Germany's 169 trade unions. Their replacement-the German Workers Front or DAF and its leader Robert Ley set up what was to become the Beetle's production facility at Fallersleben in Lower Saxony. A novel savings coupon plan was to make it possible for each worker to own a Beetle. But World War II ended such car-owning hopes. Only 630 Beetle-type cars were made during the war at Fallersleben as the plant was retooled for turning out 19,500 V-1 flying bombs.

With the surrender in May 1945, the Fallersleben plant ended up in the British zone of occupation. The victorious Allied Powers could have either demolished or stripped the factory as a form of war reparations. None did. The English, dominated by a tradition-bound domestic car industry, viewed the VW as too small, one not fit for British roads or customer tastes. The Americans had their own 'big car' cravings to satisfy. The French even took Ferdinand Porsche to court as a war criminal for his alleged activities of mistreating French workers. However, the procedures were so flawed that Porsche was released. The court records are sealed until 2047. The Soviets were content with stripping the Opel works in their zone of occupation.

Article from and courtesy of German Studies Review - January 26, 2003

Vintage Volkswagen Club of America website - October 2003

Worth Reading

The battle, the one Karl Ludvigsen is talking about in the title of his book, is the battle by the different victorious allies about who would end up with the trophy price, Hitler's Volkswagen factory and the car, after the war. The attempt to build a car for the German people, a Volkswagen, has been a struggle or battle all along. The battle about who would end up with it is part of the Volkswagen history, usually not very well covered, or if it is covered at all, much of the information presented is wrong.

Like most German industrial products and facilities, Volkswagen was declared as being available after the war to anyone of the victors for the asking. The Volkswagen factory was only temporarily taken of the reparations list because of it, at present, being utilized for building the Kübelwagen and later the Beetle, for the allies. This decision was not irreversible as Ludvigsen points out and could have been easily rescinded at anytime someone could make a convincing claim for Volkswagen. In other words during the four years Volkswagen was protected from being dismantled because of its work for the allies, a claim for it could have been made anyway. As a matter of fact, during the first four years, Radclyffe and Hirst approached a number of individuals, nations and companies to get them interested in Volkswagen.

Some did come by and have a look and some showed some interest in getting all or parts of Volkswagen. Ford Motor Company is the company that came closest to a take over of the plant. The attempts of disposing part or all of Volkswagen takes up a major part of Ludvigsen's book. He has found a lot of information in different archives that do add a lot to our knowledge of this period. The Ford archives were especially revealing by giving details about Ford's attempt of acquiring Volkswagen. The part I found most interesting is the role Heinrich Nordhoff played in trying to convince Ford to make Volkswagen part of his empire. Nordhoff, the man who ran Volkswagen for twenty years is widely considered the savior of Volkswagen and a hero, because of his insistence on a one-model policy. In 1948 he actually played a major role in trying to convince Ford to take over Volkswagen. Nordhoff and a vicepresident at Ford were buddies from their days at General Motors and they did make a run for it. If the Ford Motor Company had taken over Volkswagen they would have used the factory to build cars there for the European market, which would have made a lot of sense. It wouldn't have been the Beetle but another Ford designed car. It is understandable that the public relations department at Volkswagen does not want to talk about this episode very much. In the end Nordhoff got lucky that the take over did not take place, after all it turned out that Volkswagen under his leadership did quite weil, as we all know.

The book also covers all the other individuals and companies who made attempts to get all, or in most cases just part of the facilities, especially the modern tools and machinery were very attractive to many. To take Volkswagen, as a whole would have been just too much to handle by most of the interested parties, after all it was the largest car manufacturing plant in the world. And how could one move the buildings themselves. They British occupiers, who were in charge of handing out the pie, however did not entertain the thought of giving only part of the company away; this would have made the rest of it less valuable or may be even useless. One interesting aspect in all of these dealings is that most of those who came looking were not interested in the car itself.

It is unfortunate that the books title and subtitle are actually misnomers, because it covers more than just the take-over attempts. Large parts of the book are devoted to and include extensive information about how the Volkswagen idea had influenced other car developments in many different countries. These cars, especially the ones from England and France, are well covered and researched and a lot of detailed information is included in the book.

The financial relationship between Porsche and Volkswagen, a chapter I personally find especially interesting and usually have a lot to say about, is well covered. From the books title the average reader is not made aware of how much well researched information of the entire Volkswagen history is included.

Here are some hints as to the detailed information one can find in the book.

• 1. The assessment by Americans. Opinions by American experts and journalists voiced about Volkswagen during their visits to Germany in the thirties. Analyses made by the army on captured Kübelwagens and Schwimwagens captured by the allies during the fighting in Africa. Later, the same cars would be tested and analyzed by General Motors and Ford at their own proving grounds.
• 2. The reluctance of the government of the state in which the Volkswagen factory was located to take over Volkswagen after it was offered by the British, all they had to do is say yes.
• 3. The fact that some countries as weil as factories, which had shown interest in Volkswagen, did like the factory but very few had something good to say about the car. Some comments really came close to say that the car should be thrown on the trash heap and the design of the car started over from scratch.
• 4. Nordhoff had Porsche start work on a replacement for the Beetle early as 1949.

In conclusion I can only repeat what Ivan Hirst said in the foreword to this book. Quoting Hirst: "The author is an acknowledged authority on the automotive industry. As well, he has skillfully rendered a highly factual account based on extensive and thorough research into a very readable book. Much of the material presented here has not previously been published, Ludvigsen's work will no doubt be of interest to political, and social historians as well as to people connected with the industry. The car enthusiast and the Beetle fraternity, too, will find it fascinating reading. Battle for the Beetle is an outstanding, wide ranging, and accurate account. Karl's research has filted in many gaps in my knowledge, and has certainly caught the spirit of those days".

There can be no higher recommendation.

Article from and courtesy of the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America website, October 2003