Ardie-Ganz was the name of an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

prototype, built in 1930 by German engineer

Josef Ganz Josef Ganz (1 July 1898 – 26 July 1967) was a Jewish-German car designer born in Budapest, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Hungary). Early years Josef Ganz was born on 1 July 1898 into a Jewish family living in Budapest, then the second-largest ...

at the German motorcycle manufacturer

Ardie Ardie was a company in Nürnberg, Germany that manufactured motorcycles from 1919 until 1958. The company's name derives from that of its founder, Arno Dietrich. At first Ardie made motorcycles with its own 288cc and 304cc single cylinder two ...

History

In 1930, Ardie President Willy Bendit approved German Jewish engineer Josef Ganz to build a prototype of a small

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...

according to his (Ganz's) design. This Ardie-Ganz prototype was finished in September 1930 and achieved highly successful road-test results. The car featured a tubular chassis, mid-mounted engine, and independent wheel suspension with swing-axles at the rear.Article ‘''Der Ardie-Versuchs-Kleinstwagen 1930'',’ ''Motor-Kritik'' magazine, issue 18, mid-September 1930.

The Volkswagen Beetle connection

With the Ardie-Ganz, Adler

Maikäfer Maikäfer was the nickname of an automobile prototype, built in 1931 by German engineer Josef Ganz at Adler. History Josef Ganz, an independent engineer and editor-in-chief of ''Motor-Kritik'' magazine, was assigned by Adler in December 1930 as ...

and

Standard Superior The Standard Superior was an automobile, produced from 1933 to 1935 by '' Standard Fahrzeugfabrik'' of Ludwigsburg, Germany, founded by motorcycle maker Wilhelm Gutbrod and unrelated to the Standard Motor Company of England. These small cars we ...

cars, as well as his progressive writings and promotion of the concept of a Volkswagen in ''

Motor-Kritik ''Motor-Kritik'' was the title of a progressive automotive magazine, published by the H.Bechhold Verlagsbuchhandlung in Germany from 1929 to 1945. It originated from the earlier ''Klein-Motor-Sport'' magazine. History ''Klein-Motor-Sport'' was th ...

'' magazine since the 1920s, Josef Ganz is claimed by some to be the inspiration behind the

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

. Another possible inspiration is the

Hanomag 2/10 PS The Hanomag 2/10 PS is an economy car manufactured by Hanomag from 1924 until 1928. It was one of the first cars with envelope styling. It was affectionately referred to as the ''Kommissbrot'' ("Army Bread") due to its identical shape with the usu ...

from 1925.

New investigation

While the Volkswagen Beetle was produced in its millions after World War Two, the name of Josef Ganz was largely forgotten. In 2004, Dutch journalist Paul Schilperoord started researching the life and work of Josef Ganz. He has unearthed many new facts, and is currently working on a new book and documentary. The inspiration for the Volkswagen Beetle came from the Tatra V570, T87, and T97. Tatra sued Ferdinand Porsche for it.{{citation needed, date=August 2013

Notes

External links

Joseph Ganz ArchiveJoseph Ganz Foundation
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Germany Volkswagen Beetle