Ferdinand Porsche or an unknown Jew? New book documents the father of the Volkswagen Beetle
We all know the story of the Volkswagen Beetle: In his vision to motorize Germany, Adolf Hitler wanted a "People's Car" of sound design and quality to transport the subjects of his Third Reich around an expanding empire. The Beetle became that car. It made automotive and world history, two of Germany's biggest automakers and Ferdinand Porsche's career. But was it really his design as history recorded? New evidence suggests otherwise.According to Dutch author and historian Paul Schilperoord in his new book Het Ware Verhaal van de Kever ("The True Story of the Beetle"), Porsche may have taken the credit for a design from a Jewish engineer named Josef Ganz (pictured right). The Hungarian-born engineer and automotive journalist had a revolutionary idea for a new type of car which he called the Maikäfer (May Beetle), characterized by an engine mounted behind the cabin, an independent suspension and a smaller, more streamlined shape than the bloated cars that existed at the time.
The design was credited by many as the precursor to the Volkswagen Beetle, but without the financial backing to build his car, Ganz began publishing articles calling for a revolution in car design. According to Schilperoord, Antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany made him an easy target for the established automakers who viewed him as a threat, eventually leading to his arrest by the Gestapo on trumped-up blackmail charges. Ganz was eventually released and tried in vain to build his car in Switzerland, only for the Swiss government to try and steal his design themselves. Enamored of its originality, Hitler allegedly charged Porsche with building the car instead, giving no credit to its Jewish parentage.
After years of legal battles, Ganz moved to Australia where he worked for Holden and eventually died poor and in relative obscurity. Although his name remained known for generations by car designers and engineers, Schilperoord's new book is the first major publication tell the story. The publisher is currently in negotiations to produce documentary films based on the book in several languages, so stay tuned. Thanks to Peter for the tip!
[Source: Ganz-Volkswagen.org and AD.nl Autowereld – translated]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jimbo 10:58AM (9/08/2009)
So what? Would the story be any less true or intriguing if someone else had reported it?
Das Borgen 10:07AM (9/08/2009)
irony?
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Avinash machado 10:08AM (9/08/2009)
If the allegations are true, it is very shocking.
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Vizel 10:16AM (9/08/2009)
It is, such an unfortunate life for this genius of auto industry...
P.S for all the cruel and ruthless things that Hitler has done to this world, he actually did ONE thing good! Thinking up of Volkswagen Beetle!!!
Serge 10:19AM (9/08/2009)
Sad, yes... very sad. However, I don't find this sort of thing shocking. Unfortunately these things happen all the time, revolutionary ideas and the people who though of them are "burned at the steak" for heresy... only so the people in power can proclaim the idea as their own.
Javanese 11:03AM (9/08/2009)
Shocking? Barely...
Isnt it widely known that Porsche ripped off Ledwinka's T97 car and he even sued Porsche for it. After the war VW admitted it and even paid 3 million marks to shut Tatra up. So for this jewish guy claim that the beetle was his idea is just another way of saying he was the first one to ripped the idea off Ledwinka but wasnt smart enough to make money out of it. And then he dies alone and penniless... 'nuff said.
One a more personal note, the beetle is a sh it car and I would distant myself from it as far as possible.
zamafir 11:13AM (9/08/2009)
"Isnt it widely known that Porsche ripped off Ledwinka's T97 car and he even sued Porsche for it."
Among those who love cars and the history of cars yeah. I'm not sure why anyone would be shocked the nazi party or anyone working for them would rip off great ideas if the furthered their aims.
Bigfork 12:08PM (9/08/2009)
@ Serge,
"Burned at the steak"? Shame, they should be rare or medium rare only!
Sean 1:19PM (9/08/2009)
Javanese in correct. As some other people have mentioned Tatra, the Chech car company, which Porsche, the nazi, oversaw during the war. Tatra, whose head engineer was Ledwinka, built air-cooled, rear engine cars with swing axle suspensions. Porsche admitted to this in court.
So this book sounds like an attempt to sell books in a weak economy.
Serge 1:34PM (9/08/2009)
@Bigfork
I meant "stake", it's a typo. But I admit it's a bit of a FAIL...
ronnie schreiber 8:17PM (9/13/2009)
Javenese is not correct.
Porsche ripped off both Ledwinka and Ganz. From Ledwinka, he took a engine design (his first small car for Zundapp had a radial engine), from Ganz he took the general design of the Beetle. Ganz even used the name Beetle for his prototypes and Volkswagen for his produced designs. The 1933 Standard Superior "Volkswagen", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Superior, which was Ganz' design, looks much closer to the VW kdf vehicle that Porsche eventually made than his own Zundapp Type 12 prototype often considered the original take on what became the Beetle.
The major difference is that Ganz' engine was midmounted in front of the rear axle, and Porsche's design was ass-engined. Other than that, they shared a rear transaxle, rear swing arms, independent front suspension, platform frame with central tube stiffener, and aerodynamic body with removable fenders.
We'll never be able to prove anything but Porsche, we already know from the Tatra case, was willing to borrow ideas. We also know that the Standard Superior was on display at the 1933 Berlin auto show, attended by Hitler. Ganz, whose consulting for BMW and Mercedes Benz is now acknowledged by both companies, found himself being prosecuted for blackmail when he tried to collect royalties on his patents and he fled to Switzerland.
Ganz deserves a role in automotive history even outside his contributions to the concept of the Volkswagen. He was an expert on swing axles (invented by another Jewish engineer, Rumpler, who was also the first to make a midengine transaxled car in the early 1900s), he worked on BMW's first in house car design, the AM1, he consulted on Mercedes Benz' landmark 170, which was produced along with its variants into the 1950s.
Shilperoord is righting a whitewashing of history.
BTW, an argument can be made that a Jew, Friedrich Marcus, invented the automobile. Benz and Daimler may have made the first "practical" car, but Marcus in 1870 was the first to use a gasoline powered engine to drive a vehicle. The first cracking of petroleum into something like gasoline was also done by a Jew, as was the first recorded attempt to drive a vehicle with an electric motor, some 20 years before Marcus.
BigMcLargeHuge 10:16AM (9/08/2009)
Ganz' heirs should be given Porsche AG as reparations. Flamesuit on!
(not being serious, just want to see the uber-elites sweat bullets)
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jv2k 10:59AM (9/08/2009)
Heirs getting compensation for things their ancestors did is a load of crap.
Just like how the Siegel family is slowly winning back the rights to superman from DC comics.
TonyInMI 10:27AM (9/08/2009)
Ever seen a Tatra?
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bilbo baggins 10:34AM (9/08/2009)
wat about a tatra?
abt this story so sad. almost like the story "flash of genius" only worse.
TonyInMI 10:53AM (9/08/2009)
Porsche stole the design from Tatra.
Serge 1:37PM (9/08/2009)
Looks like a Beetle limo...
http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/photo/1999,875/1936-Tatra-T97_photo.aspx
Spule4 7:14PM (9/08/2009)
One up. Yes, and I have driven them (603).
Dude 10:34AM (9/08/2009)
News Flash! The original car by Karl Benz was also a rear engine car.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Benz
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Gardiner Westbound 10:35AM (9/08/2009)
I'm not discounting this story, however, during the cold war the Russians claimed they invented baseball.
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