THE PEOPLES CAR

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Ferdinand Porsche describing the new Volkswagen Beetle to Adolph Hitler
  Adolph Hitler was the epitome of evil. However he was responsible for two positive accomplishments. The interstate highway system and the Volkswagen beetle. I am reminded of two old sayings. A stopped clock is right twice a day and even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then. For many years only the wealthy could afford a car in Germany. Only top end cars like Mercedes or Porsche's were available to the German people. The average German was lucky if they could afford a motorcycle. Several people had tried to design a car for the people without success. That is until Ferdinand Porsche came along. Adolph Hitler and Porsche teamed up 1933 to build a Volkswagen or (car of the people). Hitler wanted a car that would seat two adults in the front seat and three children in the backseat. In his opinion the average German should have the same access to cars as the average American. Hitler also wanted a car that could reach a speed of at least 62 miles per hour. 

  The car would be sold at the price of 990 Reichsmarks or in 1930's value, 396 American dollars.  Which was the price of a small motorcycle. Other car designers tried to come up with a car as cheap as the Volkswagen but they were unable. The Volkswagen factory was owned by the state using Ferdinand Porsche's design, but with certain restrictions. Hitler wanted an air-cooled engine so nothing would freeze. The plan was for average German to have five dollars a week deducted from their paychecks to pay for their car. Because of the corruption of the Nazi regime and the corruption that occurs anytime that capitalists and government combine. Can you say crony capitalism?  The plan was financially unsound. Besides the Russians confiscated all of this money when they captured Berlin in 1945. However the world has continued to benefit from the collusion of Adolph Hitler and Ferdinand Porsche. 

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