WHAT’S IN A NAME? How the Volkswagen came to be

August 24, 2017
Posted by Barrett-Jackson

Just like every person, place and thing, cars must have names in order to be identified. Without this fact … well, chaos would rule. When it comes to automobile names, carmakers ponder long and hard before betting their fortunes on the final decision. Here’s the story of how Volkswagen got its name.

After the Beetle came the Microbus. This right-hand-drive 1956 23-Window bus will be crossing the block at the 2017 Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas Auction.

In 1937, at the direction of Adolf Hitler, the state-owned automobile company Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitun des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH was formed – soon renamed simply Volkswagenwerk, meaning “The People’s Car Company.” It was part of Hitler’s ambitious plan to build a network of autobahns and limited-access highways across Germany. The Nazi leader was set on developing and mass-producing an affordable yet still speedy car that would sell for less than 1,000 Reich marks (about $140 at the time). To design the vehicle, Hitler called in none other than Austrian automotive engineer Ferdinand Porsche. The Fuhrer declared the car was intended to not only answer the transportation needs of the masses, but would “give them joy.” The resulting KdF-Wagen (Kraft-durch-Freude meaning “strength through joy”) was displayed for the first time at the Berlin Motor Show in 1939 – but then World War II began and production was halted. After the war was over, Volkswagen became the flagship of a resuscitated German auto industry.