Porsche built his first car in 1900
for the Vienese coach builder Ludwig Lohner. After this Porsche moved to
a company called Daimler- Benz It was whilst he was there that he first
had the idea of building a small car, however Daimler - Benz did not want
to build a small car so Porsche set up his own company.
In Stuttgart, Germany he opened
his first office. It was here where he developed the initiative based on
the idea of a small affordable car for the masses, a car that would become
known as the type 12.
In June 1934 Porsche signed a deal
with the RDA (the German automotive industry) for the development of a
small car. During the winter of 1934-35 two type 60 prototypes were completed,
the type 60 displayed flowing aerodynamic lines inspired by the German
approach to automotive design at the time, these flowing lines began to
resemble the tell tale shape of the Beetle.
By 1936 three more prototypes had
been made each of these now included an air cooled engine, one of the proninent
features of the VW Beetle. This car was begining to have the looks and
personality of the car we have all come to know and love as the Beetle.
At this point the apperance of
the car was to be finalised to give a look the remained fundamentally unchanged
for 50 years.Incorporating an oval rear window, a single line of louvres
in the metal strip above the engine cover, a one piece lid at the front
and the famous 'frog eye' headlights, the Beetle was born! It was a styling
and engineering sucess, the rest ,as they say, is history!!!!!!
And now it's time for a nice picture!
Told you it was nice!
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