The early development of the "Peoples Car" took root in two forms: first, with Dr. Ferdinand Porsche's quest to build a small car, and second, with Adolf Hitler's desire to emulate the very successful US car builder, Henry Ford. Essentially, Hitler hoped to build a propaganda machine that would draw support from the middle and working classes into his National Socialist Party and take advantage of the new Autobahn being constructed all across Germany. While the Volkswagen was primarily an offshoot of Adolf Hitler's socialist thinking, it was the inimitable Porsche who brought the vehicle's design and manufacture from concept to fruition.

This particular 1:43 scale replica of a Type 87 Volkswagen is painted in the Afrika Korps motif and comes with Field Marshal Erwin Rommel standing alongside his trusty vehicle. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 3 inches
Width: 1.5 inches

Historical Account: "Porsche" - Prof. Dr. h.c. Ferdinand Porsche (September 3rd, 1875 - January 30th, 1951) was an Austrian automotive engineer. Porsche was born in Vratislavice nad Nisou, Bohemia, which is now part of the city of Liberec in the Czech Republic, aka Maffersdorf in German. Porsche is best known for designing the original Volkswagen Beetle and for his contributions to advanced German tank designs: Tiger I, Tiger II and the Elefant. Adolf Hitler honored Porsche in 1937 when he was awarded the German National Prize for Art and Science, one of the rarest decorations in the Third Reich.

In June 1934, Porsche got a contract to build three prototypes based on his design. The three cars were completed in winter 1936. Daimler-Benz was contracted to build an additional 30 prototypes. A new city, "Stadt des KdF-Wagens", near to Fallersleben was founded for the factory. The city is named Wolfsburg today and is still the seat of Volkswagen.

At about the same time, Porsche designed a racing car for Auto Union to compete with Daimler-Benz in Grand Prix motor racing from 1934 onwards. The V16-powered car became known by the name P-Wagen and was both innovative and successful. The dominance of the Silver Arrows of both brands was only stopped by the war in 1939.

Ferdinand Porsche became involved with the construction of the factory in Wolfsburg. He handed over his racing projects to his son, Ferry.

Ferdinand also accepted further projects from the Third Reich, including the design and construction of tanks and other military vehicles such as the Tiger Tank and the Elefant tank destroyer. As was routine in the days of the Third Reich during the war, those projects also involved forced labor. Slave labor was used at the Wolfsburg factory as well.