kernals12
Banned
Scene: March 1946, British zone occupied Germany
Orders are sent to demolish a factory which was supposed to be building the Kdf-wagen, one of Hitler's pet projects. At the last minute, British Army Officer Ivan Hurst convinces them to keep the factory running to produce vehicles for the British army. The town that was built to house the factory's workers is renamed Wolfsburg, and the car is christened the Volkswagen. The rest is history. So what if Hurst was ignored and the plant was destroyed and the Beetle never saw the light of day? I'd say the biggest impact would be across the pond. The Beetle's impact on the US Auto Industry can't be overstated. Because it was designed to handle Germany's autobahns, it had the performance and durability for American highways, meanwhile imports from Britain and France left their owners on the side of the road. This made it very popular, so popular that Detroit was forced to respond. In 1960 we got the first wave of compacts with the Ford Falcon, the Plymouth Valiant, and the Chevrolet Corvair, before then, each car company sold one car in one size in a variety of bodystyles. Then in 1970 we got subcompacts with, for better or worse, the AMC Gremlin, the Ford Pinto, and the Chevrolet Vega. Without the Beetle, America's small car revolution would be delayed by at least half a decade (at which point the increasingly popular Rambler would've forced them to act).
Orders are sent to demolish a factory which was supposed to be building the Kdf-wagen, one of Hitler's pet projects. At the last minute, British Army Officer Ivan Hurst convinces them to keep the factory running to produce vehicles for the British army. The town that was built to house the factory's workers is renamed Wolfsburg, and the car is christened the Volkswagen. The rest is history. So what if Hurst was ignored and the plant was destroyed and the Beetle never saw the light of day? I'd say the biggest impact would be across the pond. The Beetle's impact on the US Auto Industry can't be overstated. Because it was designed to handle Germany's autobahns, it had the performance and durability for American highways, meanwhile imports from Britain and France left their owners on the side of the road. This made it very popular, so popular that Detroit was forced to respond. In 1960 we got the first wave of compacts with the Ford Falcon, the Plymouth Valiant, and the Chevrolet Corvair, before then, each car company sold one car in one size in a variety of bodystyles. Then in 1970 we got subcompacts with, for better or worse, the AMC Gremlin, the Ford Pinto, and the Chevrolet Vega. Without the Beetle, America's small car revolution would be delayed by at least half a decade (at which point the increasingly popular Rambler would've forced them to act).