The Iconic, Complicated VW Beetle | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I guess. I should say beep beep and welcome to. the podcast. This is stuff you should. know, the love bug of podcasts. And uh the reason why is because it. features Charles W. Chuck Wayne. Chuck. TR Bryant. >> Is it a reference to my first car or.

just me? >> Just you. You're a love bug. >> Oh, okay. I got you. >> Yeah, Jerry's a love bug, too, but much. more insect like. >> Uh, this was my first car. >> I know. Is that why you selected this? >> Yeah. I mean, I've always had a a soft. spot for the old VW Beetle. Uh, I had a. 68 that my parents bought new in 1968. which as we'll see was the year they. boomed in the states. You know,

>> I do know that. Yes. I didn't know if. there was more to your story. >> No, no, no. I just thought No, I mean. I'm I'm continuing my story. So, yeah, I. just thought, but you might react or. something. It's fine. Uh then I later. had a 75 Super Beetle. >> Liar. >> Uh and then I had a squareback, a type. three squareback. I think it was a 75 as. well. And that was actually my favorite. of them all. But. >> I'm not familiar with that last one. >> Uh you'd recognize it. It was sort of a. it was it was their version of a station.

wagon. >> Oh, you're talking about the Thing. >> No, no, no. Thing wasn't a station wagon. at all. >> No. I uh I've never seen a Beetle. station wagon in my life, dude. >> Uh okay. Well, I'll send you a picture. Uh. >> okay. >> Yeah, >> that's cool. I guess it was roomy. trunkwise. >> Oh, no, not at all. It was, you know, about the It was It was probably in the. chassis of a of a Beetle. So, it wasn't. like it was big. It wasn't like the huge. station wagons of its day. >> H. So, it was basically just the the uh.

shape of it kind of was station wagon. >> Yeah. I'm going to send you a picture. right now, buddy. >> Please do. I don't have my phone near. me, but I'll pretend I saw it. >> Okay. >> Have you sent it yet? >> Uh, not yet. Just say, "Oh my god, I. have seen one of those.". >> Okay. Tell me when you sent it. >> Well, just continue because it's taking. longer than I thought. Oh, >> okay. Um, I have a riddle for you, Charles. >> Okay. >> What do the foreign words babble,

Kosanel, Tortuga, Sapito, Boua, and. Voito all have in common? >> Well, uh, I mean, they're all various. names in various countries of the. Volkswagen Beetle. >> Yeah, that's the long and short of it. They have nothing else in common except. for that. But that's pretty cute. All of. those names are pretty cute. And the. reason why is because the VW Beetle is a. very cute car, which is kind of a. strange thing to say if we were to go. back to the 50s.

Old oldtimey 1950s post-war American. suburban dudes would probably beat us up. for saying that the Beetle was cute. >> Yeah. >> They say, "No, it's an ugly car. Everybody knows that." And no one thinks. that anymore. Everyone loves the Beetle. And that's the end of the podcast. Yeah. Good night. I sent you the picture. I'll. see you tomorrow. >> Hold on. Oh, yeah. I've seen one of those before. They're great. >> Well, I look forward to your rear uh. reel and your rear response later. But, uh I called mine the type 3. It was a.

type three square back, but the original. name of the VW Beetle was a Volkswagen. type 1, and the Germans themselves kind. of renamed it uh dera. uh ka umlout fer, which is beetle in. German, but Volkswagen, I mean, they. kind of just took that name upon. themselves because people were calling. it that already. >> Yeah. They stole it from Derk. Dervoke. >> Yeah. The people.

>> Yeah. Because it was Deervulk who came up with. the name Beetle like you said, but it. was Dervog for whom the Beetle was. created, Chuck, which is the reason why. Volkswagen is called Volkswagen. It. means the people's car and that is the. basis of the entire story of the Beetle. The whole thing was started off in the. 1930s. um championed by no less than Adolf. Hitler. >> in Germany. >> I mean, where else? Yeah. And um the the.

the point of the car was to create an. affordable car that the average German. family could use on the newly built. autobonds which Craft Work famously sung. about. >> Mhm. >> Um and which would also bring the German. economy out of um the slump that it had. been in during the Weimar Republic. And. I I don't know if you remember or not, but we talked about the German. hyperinflation many times around this. time. Yeah, late 20s, early 30s.

>> And get this, there's a stuff you should. know listener. Dave Kusten sent this to. us yesterday. I don't know if you saw, but there's a stuff you should know. listener named Scott Celigman, >> and he created a a like a search tool. where you can search keywords and it. will bring up every Stuff You Should. Know episode that we mention, say the. word hyperinflation in. So that's how I. know that it was in our episode on. currency that we talked about that. So. hats off to Scott Seligman. >> Yeah. Uh can people use that?

>> Yeah. So um the the URL is just too. cluji to to say out loud. So I would. encourage people um I think he posted it. on the stuff you should know subreddit. and that would be a good place to go get. it. >> You should have made one of those little. uh URL shorteners. >> I I don't know if that's legal to do. that to someone else's URL. Oh, I don't. know. I thought it was just a way to. send out like, "Hey, just go to, you. know, keyword syskword.com" or something. and it would redirect.

>> Well, yeah. I'm not that savvy, Charles. I'm 49 years old for Pete's sake. >> Uh, hey, speaking of that and craft. work, that leads me around to this. Did. you notice that I used craft worked on. your stuff you should know birthday. post? >> No, I didn't. I saw that post. Thank you. very much for it. It was super sweet. But, um, no, I didn't notice. What was. the craft work reference? >> Did you? I know. I had a craft work song. playing to the post. >> Oh, I know. Do. >> you have your volume down? >> Yeah. I I never have my volume up for. stuff like that. Which one? >> I got you. Um. >> the model. >> I don't know.

>> Model would be appropriate. >> I'm not sure which one it was. Uh I wish. it was Autobond because that'd really. bring this thing full circle. >> It really would. But still, the craft. work mention I'm going to go back and. listen to it. I appreciate that. I'm. going to look at the picture of your uh. your station wagon. >> and listen to the craft work song that. you posted for my birthday. I appreciate. that, man. That was. >> I mean, it's only a station wagon in the. in the purest sense of the word. It's. more like a a stretched hatchback. >> It's too late, Chuck. You really built. it up as a station wagon. You can't.

backpedal now. >> But they also had um and you know, this. is along the same lines. Um instead of. the actual squared back that was oh, what did they call it? Not the round. back. Or did they. >> the green back? >> I don't know. But they they had a. similar model in except if it wasn't as. boxy. It was a little rounded, but it. still had the hatchback. >> I don't know. I I'm totally lost now. I. know about the Beetle, but that's about. it. >> All right. Well, let's keep talking. about the Beetle then. Uh like you said, the people's car. Uh the we're going to.

tell you about the history here because. the history is a little complicated. And. I don't mean like, oh, it's complicated. because the Nazi party, you know, commissioned it. It's complicated. because there's a bunch of different. people who they borrowed heavily from to. kind of make the Beetle. Um Hitler and. there are also, you know, various. stories depending on who you want to. listen to about whose initial idea it. was. Uh Hitler, if he were alive today, uh would say that it was his idea first. and foremost and he picked um Austrian a.

gentleman named Ferdinand Porsche. Mhm. >> Porsche. >> Mhm. >> To design the first Volkswagen. Uh, and. that Porsche came up with that iconic. shape, uh, you know, that round looking. weird looking car for the time. I mean, we're so used to them now cuz it's. literally the bestselling car of all. time by a long shot that everyone's. like, "No, it doesn't look weird. It. looks like a Beetle." But back then, it. looked very strange.

>> It did. Um, and that was essentially the. end of the story. Ferdinand Porsche came. up with the design. He also came up with. the um the Beatles um iconic. characteristics which is that the engine. is in the rear. >> Yeah. >> It's air cooled which saves on space. You don't have all those tubes or. whatever for water fuel liquid fueled or. cooled engine. >> Um. >> and that it had rear wheel drive. So. essentially the Beetle was created whole. out of out of the first time out of the. gate by Ferdinand Porsche under um.

orders essentially from Adolf Hitler. That's like the story that most people. know. Even Volkswagen's like, "Yeah, it's not quite right." There's some. other details in there that are a little. different. Um, and yet they still give. all credit to Ferdinand Porsche, which. as we'll see is is misplaced. Um, really. if you drill down into it. >> Yeah. Supposedly it could fit four. adults. That's the the party line. Well, I guess that's really not the right. thing to say there. Although it was the. Nazi party. >> Yeah.

>> But you know what I mean. It's just an. expression. >> Sure. But two adults in that back uh. have to be pretty small adults. The back. seat didn't have a lot of room. Uh it. didn't go super fast, but it could it. could top 60 miles an hour. Um at the. 1934 International Automobile and. Motorcycle Exhibition in Berlin, uh. Hitler came up on stage, gave a speech, um basically saying that, you know, I. have called for the creation of this. car, car of the people, something that.

would be uh affordable, something that. you can drive on the autobon, unless. you're Jewish, of course, because Jewish. people were not allowed to drive on the. autobon. And the initial price was 990. uh Reich marks, not Deutsch marks, but. Reich marks, which was about 31 weeks. salary for the average German worker. So, not a lot of money, but a lot of. money at the time, for sure. >> For sure. But still affordable, right? I. mean, this is this is it's an unless.

they made you pay it all at once, then. it probably wasn't very affordable. The. point was to make an affordable car for. Germany and then also create what almost. amounted to a national stateowned. um car company Volkswagen. >> And to to create both this car and. ultimately the the company that made the. car, Volkswagen in 1934, the uh Reich. Automotive Industry Association was. formed. And that Reich is kind of a.

giveaway that the Nazis ran this. consortium of private privatelyowned car. manufacturers in Germany, brought them. all together and said, "Durer really. would like you guys to get together and. make this people's car. Um, and if not, you will all be summarily shot and so. will all of your family." I don't know. if they said that last part, but I think. basically everything that was said in. Germany during the 30s had that unspoken. attached to the end of it. >> Yeah, for sure. And you know, just to be.

clear, because I think I was probably. confusing things a little bit, the two. versions of that story is one, Hitler. said it was his idea and then two, Volkswagen said no, it was really. Porsche's idea to begin with. >> Yeah. That Hitler took and ran with it. >> Exactly. But I don't know that he is. said to have given Porsche the the um. the credit. >> Probably not. >> But the the upshot of it is that this. consortium of German automakers hired. Ferdin Porsche to create and design and.

create this this Volkswagen. Um so. there's no question about that. Like the. original Volkswagen Beetle was created. by Ferdinand Porsche. What makes this. whole story even more convoluted? You. thought that was convoluted? Everybody. buckle up. >> Well, they didn't have seat belts. either. At least mine didn't. >> Hang on to your um Oh, shoot. bar. >> Yeah, exactly. >> Um it gets way more convoluted than that. because it turns out that Ferdinand. Porsche either took credit for a lot of. other people's ideas or just over time.

was given credit kind of like you know. um the the short sketch version of the. story. Most people don't go into this. much detail into the story of the VW, but we're stuff you should know. So, we're going to do that. But um there. were a few people that kind of along the. way contributed to the what would become. the Beetle very directly. It wasn't like. hey we should make a car and call it the. Beetle. Their ideas were essentially. taken and adopted and turned into the. Beetle sometimes. >> like as a whole.

>> Yeah. I mean it was it's pretty blatant. when you look at these designs and these. sketches and drawings and uh stuff like. that. Uh the first guy we're going to. talk about is Joseph Gans who was a. Hungarian Jewish engineer. >> and he came to Germany after World War I. and from almost the beginning of the the. 20th century I guess it was like 1904. 1905. um people were talking about like a a. people's car um you know motorcycles. were the only kind of inexpensive way to.

get around and they thought hey if we. could get a car that's you know not too. much more than a motorcycle that could. actually hold a few Germans, then we'd. be, you know, doing pretty well for. ourselves. And he was a editor of a a. German car magazine, so he was he knew. his way around um the idea of like an. affordable, lightweight kind of smalish. car. Well, yeah. He also used that. position to promote and try to drum up. support for the idea of a German.

people's car in the pages of that. magazine, too. Uh, which I think was um. car un driver. He even went so far as to design a. prototype that he actually called the. May coffer, the May Beetle. This is. 1931. This is long before the Beetle was. even called the Beetle popularly. And he. had there was another car called the. standard superior. Did you see a picture. of one of those? >> Yeah. I mean it looks like a Volkswagen. Beetle. >> Exactly. Um and so the the apparently.

that was based on one of uh Joseph. Gans's patents. So this guy definitely. had a lot of contribution to the. development of the Beetle. And we're. talking I mean 1931 he his um the. standard superior was built in 1933. the. Beetle started to to start to be built. in I think 1934 3536. So this is like. it's not like the Ferdinand Porsche was. totally unaware of the standard. superior. It was a car you could buy in. Germany at the time. So you might say,

well why was Joseph Gans not credited. for this? Why wasn't he hired instead of. Ferdinand Porsche? Well, he was Jewish. and he was arrested by the Gestapo. before the Volkswagen um Beetle was ever. created but right before it. So it was. very easy for Ferdinand Porsche to be. like Joseph who these are my ideas. >> Yeah. Exactly. He was arrested in 33 and. fled the country in 34 and that was kind. of it. He never got any kind of. compensation or anything or any. recognition either. Uh even except for I. mean us and other people on the internet.

I guess. >> Sure. And that's what counts, right? >> Yeah. Uh the second guy we're going to. talk about another Hungarian engineer. Uh, I don't know what the little accents. mean as far as pronunci uh pronunciation. goes in Hungarian, but I'm just going to. say Bella Bini. >> Okay, >> good enough. >> Sure. >> All right. So, he also wanted to build. like a people's car, sort of a small. inexpensive thing. Um, this was like he. was a kid. He was a teenager in the mid. 1920s, right,

>> when he came up with an idea for a. rearwheel drived rear engine, air cooled. uh engine. >> Uhhuh. >> And if you look at the sketch uh that he. set out in 1925, and this is what 8 years before the the. super standard superior even, this thing. looks a lot like a Volkswagen Beetle. >> Oh yeah. The chassis is exactly the same. essentially. And then even the body, he. drew like a side view of the car. And. it's a beetle. I mean, like he's he's.

creating this in 1925, like you said, as. an 18-year-old. And this one is so. >> um. irrefutable that in the 50s he. apparently sued Volkswagen and they. said, "Okay, from now on we will refer. to you as the intellectual father of the. Beetle cuz you definitely laid down all. the stuff that later became the Beetle.". even though you weren't given credit at. the time. >> Yeah. And he was like, "Does a check. come along with that title?". >> And they said nine.

>> Yeah, they probably did. Uh it's. interesting though if you look at the um. I'm getting confused now. I think the. standard superior is the one that looked. like a Beetle except the front end had a. little kind of squared off center. Uh, I I'm not sure about the front end. and all the squared off business, but I. do know that the lines were more um. right angled. rather than um rounded, but it. >> Yeah, I think that's the one I was. thinking of. Like it what it looks like. actually is people VW beetles are highly.

uh have always been highly modifiable as. far as people making them look and as. we'll see later like dune buggies or. like this or that. And one of the kind. of I never really liked them that much, but one of the kind of fun things you. could do with the Beetle was put a. little front squared front end on it. instead of that big rounded scoop. Uh. it, you know, a a square front like a a. Model T Ford. >> Huh. >> And that was something that people would. do to modify their Beatles. And it looks. a lot like the standard superior that. way.

>> Oh, like the hood. >> Yeah. >> Turning that. Yeah. Okay. I got you. I. got You're I wasn't I'm not up with the. jargon and the lingo here. >> The hood. Yeah. >> Yeah. I don't know this front and end. thing. >> Yeah. Yeah, that's where the boot is. >> I think the standard super right. I. think the standard superior did have um. the a squared off hood as the lay people. call it. >> I'm a frontender. My bad. >> Um and then there was one other guy too. who was Austrian. His name was uh Irwin.

Commanda and he's the one who actually. filed the patent for the the body that. became the beetle. This wasn't like he. drew something along the way. He was. working for Porsche. Porsche produced. this design for this car and the guy who. actually drew the design and patented. what the car ultimately looked like was. a different guy. Yet, if you just listen. to all the stories, essentially it was. Porsche Hitler. Porsche Hitler. >> Yeah. >> Over time, VW would try to get away from. that story a little bit, but it would. come back to them. They had to finally.

kind of deal with it head on. Yeah. Uh, as we'll see. But in the meantime, Chuck, while um we wait for VW to reckon. with their Nazi past, uh I say we take a. break. We'll be right back. [Music]. [Applause]. [Music]. [Music].

All right. Earlier you said it was 35 36. or so. Uh it was in fact 35 when they. delivered the first prototype. Uh at. this point it was the the VW Series 3. Um Dave helped us out with this and he. was keen to point out it was made from. steel and wood, which sounds weird when. you think of a car being made of steel. and wood, but back then cars were made. of steel and wood generally, >> right? Yeah. Um and this was the. prototype, but I think the the eventual.

ones that came out were made of the same. stuff. And if you look at it, it looks. like a cross between a Beetle and one of. the black cabs in the UK. >> Yeah. like those things like one mounted. the other and then the be the Beetle. series 3 came out. >> Sure. Um a little fun fact of the. podcast, Hitler never knew how to drive. He never had a driver's license. And yet. if you step back, he was like directly. in charge or not directly in charge, but. he was overseeing this. Like this, he.

knew what was going on. Maybe not. daytoday, but generally he was getting. updates on the progress of this car and. how it was coming. Um like this was not. like a he said something at an auto show. once and then from that point on it was. kind of taken over. Like he had like. some sort of hand in it. Um which is. just crazy if you think about it cuz I. remember being a teenager. >> and hearing like man you know like the. Volkswagen it was like a like a Nazi car. the Beetle was or something. >> Yeah. >> I was that teenager who owned it at the.

time so it was a little bit. >> Okay. All right. I was the one throwing. eggs at your car. >> Okay. But um you know when you when you. hear those things like in college or. high school or something like that, as. you get older, you're like 98% of that. stuff is totally wrong. It's just off. It's sometimes just totally untrue. This. is one of those rare ones that's not. only true, it's even worse than it. seemed in in college. >> Yeah. You you were throwing eggs at my. car and sucking down your fan of orange.

>> Yeah. I was very confused at the time. >> Yeah. And so uh in 1938 uh they built a. factory in Stuttgart uh to start. building this car like you know this. tremendous uh you know people's car. factory uh the original like. off-the-line edition like for real. finally was called the Volkswagen type. 38. >> KDF wagon uh big K big F little D stood. for uh Croft Dur Frea uh which is. strength through joy which is was a.

literal Nazi propaganda slogan. >> because you associate joy They named. their car off of that. >> with the Nazis for sure. Um, so they. their their plan was this is 1938. Their. plan was to um produce 1.5 million of. those a year. That is ambitious in the. 1930s, but that's what they were going. for. They ended up producing 210, >> right? Not 210,000. >> No, 210. 2110. niner. Uh, and that's it. Um, the reason.

why in large part was because the war. broke out in 1939. The reason the war. broke out is because the Nazis started. everything. >> Yeah. >> I just want to make sure no one forgets. that. >> Yeah, that's true. And they immediately. started sort of uh reconfiguring the the. KDF to suit their military needs. So, they came out with a a different types, a type 87, >> uh, which was a four-wheel drive, >> and I guess that German officers would. drive that one. Uh, they had a type 82,

uh, a Cubulvagen, a bucket seat car, and. that was, uh, armored. It was on that. Beatles, uh, Beatles, like the band. You. get it? >> Mhm. >> It was on a a Beetle chassis, but it was. armored, and so therefore safe. And I. I'm sure some of the higher-ups rode. around in that one for obvious reasons. That one very clearly to me became the. thing, the the VW thing. >> Yeah. I I knew one person in high. school, uh, Mary Francis Shepard had a.

VW thing and I thought it was so cool. >> Oh, yeah. It was cool. Especially in. high school. It takes some some gall to. drive such an unusual cool car. >> Yeah. It meant you were uh and a little. bit the same with me. I I was the only. person with a Beetle in my whole high. school because everyone else wanted like. a Mazda RX7 or something, >> right? Exactly. Yeah. >> Yeah. Um, so that they also had a. modified version of the type 82 or type. 80. Yeah, type 82 called thevim vagen, the swimwing or swimming car. And you.

could drive around in the water with it. I saw a picture of some dude in his. vintage um vogen. >> like in the water and it looks so. nerve-wracking like the water the thing. is maybe. 8 in above the water line. The rest of. the car is below the water. >> Too close for comfort. >> Yeah, way too close for comfort. Apparently, it went six full miles an. hour on the water. And uh there weren't. very many of those made. So, I imagine. that that dude probably paid a lot for.

that. >> Yeah, probably. So, uh and I don't know. if you can I doubt if you can still find. one of these, but they had a um during. the war they had some gas shortages, some fuel shortages. So they developed a. wood burning conversion kit for that cub. vagen. So the bucket seat car and you. know I'm sure you looked up pictures of. this thing. >> Mhm. >> It had a little, you know, round hatch. in the front of the car. What do you. call that? The hood. >> Yeah. >> And you would open up that hatch like a.

like a wood burning stove and and put. wood in there to to power this thing. >> That's how you remember it's called the. hood. That's where you put the wood. >> Right. That's right. That was her slogan. >> Um, and that would uh power the car not. through combustion but through py. pyrolyis where the wood was gasified and. then those gases would be transferred to. the pistons to make them go up and down. and then make the wheels on the bus go. round and round. >> I didn't know know that was even. possible. Uh, not the wheels on the bus,

but I didn't know that you could use. wood in such a way to power a car. It's. kind of cool. >> Yeah. And it did work, but it didn't. work very well. And to answer your. question, I read some article on it and. the the people said that as far as. anyone knows, none of those survive. So. you would not be able to find one of. those. >> Yeah. Sadly. So in the end, uh while. they were pumping these things out, what. they would use was forced labor. Um they. had, and this is another um horrifying. fact of the show, there were four.

literal concentration camps and eight. forced labor camps um on the the grounds. of the Volkswagen uh factory complex. And that's just like that's is not only. was it a Nazi car, like they were. exploiting labor to make them. >> Yeah. And it gets even worse because. Ferdinand Porsche specifically asked for. forced labor to be assigned to build the. Volkswagens because he wanted to keep. cost down. >> So you put all this together, Hitler's.

directly involved in the creation and. and manufacturer of this um this car. They they use slave labor in. concentration camps built into the. automotive factory complex. And the. reason that they're using slave labor is. because the chief designer Ferdin. Porsche asked for slave labor. VW. eventually had to like face this. As the. world kind of continued on, people are. like, "Guys, this is we have to talk. about this cuz this is not okay to just. ignore.". >> Yeah. I mean, you you wonder like could.

they literally arrest uh Ferdinand. Porsche for this? Um he was held by. French authorities at one point, but he. was not convicted of a crime. Uh but in. the 90s uh I think it was the early 90s. Volkswagen um started a couple of. different payouts. They paid 12 million. German marks Deutsch marks which is. about 63 million bucks today to some of. the survivors who were those forced. laborers from that factory. And then. about 8 years later in 99 uh Porsche. actually uh set up a fund even they were.

like yeah you know Volkswagen's taking. all the heat on this but it was really. our guy so maybe we should pony up some. dough. So they ponyied up 5 million. euros, >> about 10 million bucks today to. compensate some of those same laborers. >> Yeah. So remember, they only produced. 210 of what became the Beetle, the what? The type 38. Is that correct? >> Yeah, I think that was it. >> Or the series 3, one of the two. They. only produced 210 of those before the.

war. During the war, they changed the. whole VW factory to a defense vehicle. factory. And then after the war when. they started to get back to business, it. was under oversight from the British. authorities. So it actually in a really. weird way was the Brits who first fully. realized Hitler's vision for a people's. car for Germany. >> Yeah, it was in their occupation zone. So it was kind of theirs, I guess. uh. they renamed the factory uh to the uh. Wolsburg Motorworks uh because of the.

Wolsburg castle that was close by and. that you know that that I don't know if. you would recognize it depends on how. much you've been in like these old. Beatles and Volkswagens but um a lot of. them like later on would be like the. Wolfsburg edition if they had a special. edition of a of a Golf or something. >> Even I know about that. >> Okay. All right. Good. Uh, but they. would have that little symbol, this. little castle with a wolf um there on. the center of the steering wheel. Just. sort of an iconic logo. >> I haven't seen that. >> Yeah, you might recognize it.

>> Maybe. Is it on the hood? >> I don't know what that is. >> So, with the Brits, they made 20,000 of. those things. 20,000 essentially beetles. in 1946 alone, but all of them were to. be used by um Allied occupation forces. in Germany at the time. Right. >> So they weren't the people's car yet. It. wasn't and I think the Brits ran it from. 1945 to 49. In 1949, they finally handed it back.

over to the West German authorities. Um, and in the interim, I think 1948, they. hired the guy who would essentially be. what who you could truly call like the. real actual father of the VW Beetle, a. guy named Hines Nordhof, who took the. took the the control of this factory and. like ran with it and introduced the. Beetle to the world. >> Yeah. I mean, he he really ramped up. production. Uh, he was a very. experienced car maker. Uh, he made the. car a little better. He um I think gave.

it a little more horsepower, but you. know that's that's not saying much cuz. the Beetle was never known for that. >> Yeah, it would actually cough sometimes, >> right? Yeah. Uh he gave it hydraulic. brakes, which is pretty good, and shock. absorbers, but again, none of that stuff. was like it was always a car that felt a. little janky to drive. >> I remember you talking about yours and. and the heater was redirected waste heat. from the engine onto your ankles. Is. that correct? Yeah, they just had these.

little vents down on the floorboards and. uh we call them ankle burners because it. would just pump heat directly from the. engine right out to your feet and it. would ultimately heat the car, but it. would it would scorch the ankles. >> Was it bad enough that you could smell. the hair on your legs burning? >> I didn't have hair on my legs then. >> Okay. Um so, but it didn't have AC at. all, did it? >> No, I know that the some of the Super. Beatles did later and I don't think my. Super Beetle did though, but my 68. definitely did not. It was uh 260 air, which is you drive 60 m an hour and roll.

down two windows. >> Not a dad joke. That was a joke I heard. back then. >> Okay. From a dad. >> Yeah, probably. >> So, Hines Nord off, he comes in, he. takes over and he's like, "Look, we're. there's a lot of stuff we can do. Like. you said, we can update the car. The. problem is we can sell a million of. these in Germany, but German marks are. so devalued right now because of the. fallout of World War II that we need to. get some dollars in here. And the way. that you get dollars are start selling.

them in America. So he tried that and it. did not go very well at first in large. part because America was like, "That's a. Nazi car and you're probably a Nazi. trying to sell us a Nazi car. And by the. way, your stupid Nazi car is ugly as. sin. Get out of here, Nazi.". >> Yeah. And uh Hines Nordolf was like, "Well, let's try this again in a year.". >> Yeah. And that's all it took. Uh I think. the first Beetle um and it was just a. single one that came to America was in. 1949. It was a Dutch car dealer named. Ben Pawn. And uh he had to sell that.

thing for like whatever he could get. just so he could go back home like uh. you know, transatlantic sale back home. Um that he's like, "All right, I did I. barely sold the one car, so it's. probably not a good idea to buy a bunch. of these." But like you said, just one. year later in 1950, uh there was a. dealer named Max Hoffman, a foreign car. dealer that ended up um selling 330. Volkswagens to dealerships that were. selling Porsches and Jags, other foreign. cars. So, it fit in just a little better.

and doesn't look that much different. You know, the the those old bathtub. Porsches, you know, the design isn't. that different than the BW Beetle. They're very round and sort of buggy. looking. >> That's true. For sure. So I think in. 1950 they sold 330 of them. >> Yeah. >> In 1955 they sold 32,662. of them. And one of the reasons for the. huge leap forward especially considering. when the year before they sold 9,000 was. that Volkswagen of America was formed. So essentially an extension the American.

version of Volkswagen was formed and. that really kind of helped streamline. importing. um create setting up dealerships moving. cars to those dealerships um getting car. salesmen uh to step away from their. chicken fingers in the breakroom and. actually go out and sell the cars for. once in their life. Yeah. >> Um that's really all those factors put. together are what uh what helped them. start selling Beatles like crazy in the. mid50s. Should we take a break? >> Sure. All right. Good. Because I got a.

cliffhanger. Uh, a very key thing. happened in the mid-50s to really ramp. up sales of these. We'll talk about that. right after this. [Music]. [Applause]. [Music]. [Music]. So, Chuck, you left everybody hanging.

Um, you said that uh that you had a. cliffhanger about something that. happened in the 50s that really kind of. revved the Beetle up into hyperdrive, which I think is a thing. >> Yeah. And I said mid-50s. It was really. 1959. And anyone that has been around. the advertising industry uh or even. knows a little bit about it or watched. Madmen knows that there was a series of. brilliant, brilliant ads brought forth. by the uh DDB in uh almost said.

insurance agency uh ad agency. >> Mhm. >> That um that I hate to say this, but. they leaned into uh what people didn't. like about the Volkswagen and tried to. make that a selling point. And they did. so to tremendous success. >> Yeah. It was a real gamecher. >> Yeah. So this I mean like everybody in. advertising knows about this and a lot. of people outside of advertising know. about it because it's just talked about.

so much. And the reason why it was a. great ad campaign just visually. speaking, they used all sorts of. different techniques that were very much. different than um than what you would. normally find to sell American cars, which were huge land yachts at the time. This is the I think the first compact. car that America ever encountered. Um. but like you said, they they um they. really kind of took some of the the. criticisms of the Beetle and turned them. into selling points. One of the the.

first things they said was that it's. ugly, but it gets you there. So, this. this was just one example of what came. to be called an anti- ad campaign. It. was like the um what was that Paul Riser. movie from the 80s where he like just. turns the ad world on his on its head by. just speaking the truth about the. products he's selling. Do you know the. one? >> No. >> Yeah. What it was like an ad for Volvo. was they're they're boxy but they're. good. I don't remember that movie at.

all. >> I can't remember what it was called. It. doesn't matter. But it was basically a. movie based on this even though it they. would it it was never meant to be like a. fictionalized version of it. They just I. think it gave the screenwriter an idea. is what I'm saying. >> Okay, I get you. Um, one of the ads. became uh and I guess it was the most. famous one. It's not the one I think of. first, but it was named ad of the. century by ad age. It was uh it just. said think small. >> Mhm. And the one I remember most. specifically was uh and not by seeing.

it, you know, live obviously because. this was before my time, but I just. remember seeing I guess reading about or. something, but it was just the a picture. of the VW Beetle and it said Lemon. underneath it. >> Oh, yeah. >> Yeah. Which lemon is, you know, a car. that's kind of sucks, >> right? So, I'm not sure what they were. going for with that. Can you explain? >> Well, I don't No, I mean the same as the. other ones that say ugly is only skin. deep. Uh, you know, they were just sort. of playing upon people saying it was.

ugly or saying it was, you know, uh, I. don't know if people were saying it. wasn't a quality car cuz Lemon. definitely indicates like it doesn't run. well. So, that was a real. >> um, sort of extra brave I think even. compared to the rest. >> I mean, even I don't get that one at. all. It doesn't make any sense to me. I'll have to go look further into it. What? >> What do you What's your search term? Can. someone explain to me why they. >> Yeah, I'll write it out exactly like. that.

>> Well, I mean, I don't think it's that. much different than saying it's ugly. >> No, it is because ugly it's like that's. all just a point of view. It's it's. subjective. And really, ultimately, if. the car runs well, a lot of people don't. care what it looks like. A lemon, everyone cares that the car is not going. to run well. It does not. It makes no. sense to me whatsoever. But I'll figure. it out and I'll report back. How about. that? >> Yeah. Well, maybe that's why I. remembered it because it didn't make any. sense, >> right? But but it Yeah. And I guess you. ended up buying one. So there you go. >> Uh well,

>> my favorite one was live below your. means. >> That's pretty fun. But who wants to do. that? >> Well, I'll tell you who wants to do. that. People who essentially were the. basis of the counterculture. The people. who were the who were the Beats a few. years earlier started to grow up, started to go to college, were very. highly educated, but still did not want. to follow in the exact steps of their. parents and the beetle kind of gave them. a well a vehicle out of their parents'. shadow to kind of forge their own path. It was basically a finger to the crew.

cut buying a Beetle was in the early. 60s. >> Yeah. And it's very weird that my. parents bought one brand new in ' 68. because they were not that at all. Uh my. dad was the crew cut like literally. Yeah. >> And I don't know they they weren't. counterculture like I have no idea. May. I mean maybe my mom thought it was cute. Maybe my dad did. >> Uh I have no idea. I'm going to have to. ask my mom about that. But costwise it. that it's probably because of the cost. because they didn't have a lot of money. And in 1964, you could get a a Beetle.

for 1565 bucks. >> compared to about 2,400 for a Ford. Mustang at the time or close to seven. grand. >> for a convertible Lincoln Continental. So it was definitely affordable and I'm. sure that's probably why they got it. >> Yeah. And so they started selling a ton. of these things. Um in 1968 they sold. 420,000 just in America. And by this. time, by this year, around the world, it. was the bestselling car in the world. This was 20 years after uh Hines Nordof.

took over. So, we went from essentially. this Nazi car to the bestselling car in. the world in in two decades, which is. quite a quite a feat. >> Yeah, for sure. Uh just a year after. that, it got a big bump when Disney came. out with the Love Bug movies. Mhm. >> Uh the initial one was just the love bug. and Herby of course was the name of that. 63 Beetle. >> that uh if you haven't seen those. movies, they're they're like those ' 60s. early '7s Disney movies. They're kind of. fun, but they're not great. Uh but Herby.

was definitely a lovable car and you can. still see Herby versions driving around. with the with the two offc center. stripes. >> Yeah. >> And uh whatever the the number in the. circle was, I can't remember what its. race racing number was. >> 63 or 53. >> I know. Well, it was probably 63 because. it was a 63 Beetle. >> Oh, yeah. Okay. Um, I'm more of a. Snowball Express man myself. Have you. ever seen that one? >> No. >> It's a good one. >> Okay. >> Okay. Just check that one out and thank.

me later. >> I bet this stuff is all on the uh Disney. app. Don't they have all their classics. on there? >> Snowball Express for sure. Watch that. one and then watch the North Avenue. Irregulars. Those are both. >> I do remember that one. I love that. movie. >> Okay. Okay. So, if you love North Avenue. regulars, there's a good chance you're. going to like Snowball Express. I. guarantee it. >> Uh, one thing about the movie, though, was it was a um. it wasn't a radiocrolled car. Like, it. it's driving around by itself. That's. whole concept that this is a car is kind. of alive. >> Uh, and you might think, oh, cool. They.

figured out how to, you know, remote. control this car. Uh, it was actually um. old movie making trick where they have. somebody uh down out of view of the. windows kind of in the back seat, like a. stunt driver that thing. >> Yeah. And we say that because there's a. bunch of people on the internet saying. this is what's the world's first. self-driving car and they're just wrong. wrong. >> Wow. I didn't know that people claim. that. >> Yeah. Wrongly. What about um what about. Mexico, Chuck? Because it turns out that. Mexico and the Beetle go hand in hand. I. didn't know that though. >> Oh, you didn't know that?

>> No, I mean I I I No, I didn't. I'm not. going to even try to BS my way out of. it. I did not know that. I am surprised. that you've been to Mexico City and uh. that you did not notice the inordinate. amount of VW Beetles driving around. Um. >> I just saw a forest. >> Yeah, that's what I was kind of one of. the things I was looking forward to when. I went to Mexico City for the first time. cuz I heard there were just like VW. Beetles everywhere. Mhm. >> Uh and there are uh because they were. made there uh until 2003,

which is remarkable. Like uh you can buy. um a 2003, you know, final year edition. Mexican Volkswagen Beetle. Uh I went. online immediately and like you can buy. one for like 15 grand that I saw that. was looked to be in pretty good shape. and that's kind of all I want now. >> Okay, good to know. Somebody's got a. birthday coming up in March. Um yeah, they they actually the the. factory in Pueblo, Mexico, which was the.

first plant outside of Germany or the. largest plant outside of Germany. Um it. outlasted the one in Wolfsburg. Uh I. think the one in Wolsburg shut down or. the Sorry. Yeah, the one it was in. Stoutgart, the Wolsburg plant in. Stoutgart. Um it shut down in 1974 and. like you said, the Mexican plant kept. going until 2003. So that's amazing. >> Yeah. And again, they stopped selling. new beetles in the states in 1979, but. Latin America is like, "We still love. them, so keep them keep them coming,

Mexico." And Mexico said, "Right on.". >> Yeah, for sure. Um, I know I mentioned. earlier sort of the dune buggy. conversion that some people have done. Uh, the initial guy, I guess, or I don't. know if he was the first one, but the. guy that really got famous for it. >> was a California car guy and racer named. Bruce Meyers. >> And he was a dune buggy guy. He built a. kit car using a Beetle chassis and kind. of reconfigured the the shell. If you've. ever seen like uh Wonderbug, the Sid.

Marty Croft show from the 1970s. >> It's that kind of dune buggy. >> Uh but it was called the Myers Mans. Very, very popular, especially in. California. Uh after he won the Baja. 1000 in one of those in 1967. And uh you can I went to the MyersBanks. website. They are building a new one, the first one in decades, a uh it's. called the Mans 2.0. you know, EV. >> Yeah. >> And it is. Did you see this thing? >> Yeah, I did. They're amazing. >> Oh, man. I immediately was like, should. I put a deposit down on this thing? It's.

like 500 uh bucks to put down a deposit, >> right? >> $74,000. starting price. So, I immediately was. like, I don't think so. I'll just admire. them. >> Right. Yeah. There they had another one. I can't remember what it was called, but. it was like 125 grand starting or. something. These are like These are like. doom buggies. Electric doom buggies. essentially. And I'm not sure that they. go off-road. I didn't have that. impression. >> Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think it's. going to if it's a MX, it'll it'll do. all you want. Um.

>> Okay. Well, that's good. >> It's got a pretty It's because it's so. small, it's going to have a limited. range, like 125 miles. >> Mhm. >> Uh but if you're a listener out there. and you end up getting one of these, I. will meet you wherever you are in the. United States to ride around in it with. you. >> Oh, cool. There you go. >> Putting out that offer right now. Um, I. think we should talk about a few uh a. few stats, a few records that VW put. out. >> Sure. Well, one thing was that they they. kept kind of upgrading or updating or. tweaking the bug in all sorts of ways,

but if you really look at the first bug. that came out in the ' 40s and you look. at the bugs that that were produced. until 2003, they don't look very. different. It's essentially the same. car, which is why it's considered the. longest selling car of all time. It's. the greatest selling of all time. >> I think they sold 21 million plus. Beatles over the over the production. run, but it's like it was essentially. the same car. And so they would tweak it. and release these limited editions once.

in a while. One was the sports bug, one. was a bicesentennial bug, and then there. was one that came out in 1977 called the. champagne edition. And I looked into. these and it seemed like maybe that had. like a different exclusive paint color. or there was a slight tweak to the trim. package or something. Um the champagne. edition came with a coke mirror and a. vacuum-shaped metal straw, but other. than that, they seem like just regular. Beatles. >> Yeah, I mean it was a convertible, but. there were other convertibles. Um I. always wanted a convertible, too. Uh cuz.

you know back in those days with the. Beatles it was just like a couple of uh. twists of a knobs and then you manually. just sort of threw it back over your. head. >> Uh never was able to get a convertible. >> Um you're right about the body style. never changed. The the tail lights would. change shape a little bit here and there. and that's kind of one of the ways you. could tell what year it was. >> Okay. >> Um but other than some sort of headlight. tail light stuff, it was basically the. same shape. Um, even through the Super. Beetle, uh, they might have been a.

slightly different shape. They were a. little bit bigger, I think. Yeah. But. not much cuz I had a super beetle in it. It's not like it was roomy, you know. >> Yeah. And you had to be paying attention. to probably spot the difference between. a beetle and a super beetle, unless they. were parked next to each other, you. know. >> Yeah, for sure. But VW Beetle owners uh, were and are still very much known for. being very. >> into them and sort of knowing that kind. of stuff. >> It's sort of like it wasn't just a car. usually. it was like something that you. adored and were into and you could get. parts cheap and, you know, generally.

work on it yourself cuz when you looked. at that engine, it looked like it had. like nine or 10 parts total. >> Yeah. And apparently VW dealerships kept. um all parts in stock from all years. essentially. They had huge huge stock. piles of parts, so you could always be. like, "Well, I can at least go get this. thing fixed pretty cheaply.". >> Yeah, for sure. Uh and we should. probably close with a car that you. owned. Uh or at least Yumi bought that. thing, right? Yeah, that was Yumi's car, the new Beetle. >> Yeah, >> it was cute. >> That didn't surprise me. It was super.

cute and it just fit Yumi to a tea, I. think. >> Yeah, she would do donuts in that thing. all day long. It had the best like turn. radius. >> Oh, really? >> Really? I mean, yeah, it would turn. fine, but she didn't actually do donuts. as far as I ever knew. >> No, no, no. I knew that part went true, but I thought it had like a a noted turn. radius or something. >> No. Okay, you just got me on that. >> I did. But one thing it did have, Chuck, was a little vase, a little flower vase. next to the steering wheel. Do you. remember that?

>> Yeah, it's very cute. And they I think. they look pretty cool. I I wish they. would have made it a little more. traditionally looking like a bug. Like. the the couple of things that bothered. me. Um and this is nitpicky as a Beetle. guy was the uh the flush headlights and. the flush tail lights. Um I always loved. that they stuck out before. Um but aside. from that, I think they they honored it. quite well. Yeah, they did an update in. 2011 that I thought was pretty cool, too. >> I don't know if I saw that one. I'll. have to look that one up.

>> Okay. So, you look that up. I'm going to. look at the text of your square back um. Beetle station wagon. >> Yeah. >> Uh I'm going to look up that lemon that. confusing lemon ad. >> Okay. >> And there might have been something. else. So, I'll have to go back and. relisten to this. Well, I got one more. quick little thing because if you have. ever been in a Beetle or or owned one, and this is something I didn't know. until Dave pointed this out, there's a. very particular smell that when I stick. my head in a Beetle, it's just like it.

it zaps me back. It smelled like no. other car made on the interior. And. apparently that came from the uh. cushioning of the seats. It was made out. of coconut hair. And I remember seeing. that coconut hair like falling out from. under my seats and stuff, but I never. knew that was what the smell was due to. >> Did it smell like coconuts or it just. had this distinct smell? >> Just a distinct smell. I think it was. the vinyl combined with that coconut. hair. It was just super super distinct. >> Very nice. Uh well, I guess well Chucks.

Do you have anything else? >> No, that's it. >> Well, since Chuck started nostalgizing, then uh he just accidentally triggered. listener mail. >> That's right. I'm going to call this uh. I guess a follow-up on Mad Man months. >> Mhm. >> Uh because this is a pretty fun email. Hey guys, a big fan of the show. Um I. was very excited uh listening to the. topic on eight tracks and was thinking. silently they better mention Muntz. They. better mention Muntz because Earl Madman.

Muntz was born here in El Elgen, Illinois. Uh he led a very colorful life. and his part of the Atrex story is only. a small portion of that wildlife. He was. an innovator in giant screen. televisions, cellular telephones for. cars, and satellite receivers. >> Wow. >> Uh he started as a car salesman, and. this is the basis of the typical crazy. used car salesman thing. And one of his. slogans was, I buy them high and sell. them low. It's more fun that way. Don't. tell Mrs. Muntz. Uh. and she pointed out, he he failed to.

mention what uh Mrs. Muntzy was talking. about because I think he had seven. wives. Well, I think I saw that when we. were doing the eight track research. >> What that that ad? >> No, that he had he had like seven seven. marriages, I think. >> Yeah. You know, I'm not one to blame a. divorce on a person, but if you've been. married seven times, you may be the. problem, >> you know. >> Sure. >> Uh he would smash cars with. sledgehammers, wear a uh tricorn hat.

with red long johns. Mhm. >> So, he was, you know, he was supposedly. invented the wacky car salesman guy, uh, routine. Um, >> that's pretty cool. >> So, uh, Madman Muntz will be the subject. of the Elgen History Museum's podcast, uh, Echoes of Elgen on August 1st of. this year if you want to learn a a. little bit more. Uh, and this is coming. from Rebecca Miller, who is the museum. educator at the Elgen History Museum. >> Very neat. Thanks a lot, Rebecca. Um, Chuck, I have to say I have a terrible.

feeling that we're going to get a lot of. follow-up emails saying it's pronounced. Elgen. >> Oh, is it Elgen? >> I don't know, but I could just totally. see it. >> All right. Well, just pretend I said. Elgen if that's the case. >> We'll have Jerry go edit hard G's into. all the time she said Elgen. >> Yeah. Instead of giving her a full read, I'll just go G. >> Yeah. >> And that Yeah. Just lace that in. Uh, if. you want to be like Rebecca and bring us. up to speed on somebody we just kind of. mentioned but really walked past, we.

love that kind of thing. You can do what. Rebecca did and send us an email. Send. it off to stuffodcast.com. Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iMheart. Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows.