Maikäfer was the nickname 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 1931 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 Adler.

History

Josef Ganz, an independent engineer and editor-in-chief of ''

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, was assigned by Adler in December 1930 as a consultant engineer. In the first months of 1931, Ganz constructed a lightweight "volkswagen" ("people's car") prototype at Adler with a tubular chassis, a mid-mounted engine, and

swing axle A swing axle is a simple type of independent (rear wheel) suspension designed and patented by Edmund Rumpler in 1903. This was a revolutionary invention in automotive suspension, allowing driven (powered) wheels to follow uneven road surfaces ...

independent rear suspension. After completion in May 1931, Ganz nicknamed his new prototype ''Maikäfer'' (German for

cockchafer The cockchafer, colloquially called Maybug, Maybeetle, or doodlebug, is the name given to any of the European beetles of the genus ''Melolontha'', in the family Scarabaeidae. Once abundant throughout Europe and a major pest in the periodical ye ...

). After a shift in management, further development of the Maikäfer was stopped towards the end of 1931 and Adler concentrated on new car models with front-wheel drive. Josef Ganz was allowed to keep the Maikäfer prototype and kept on using it as his personal car and demonstration model for his patented Volkswagen design until around 1950.

The Maikäfer today

In the 1990s, the original Maikäfer prototype was discovered in Switzerland by a German collector and restored to its original condition.

The Volkswagen Beetle connection

With the Ardie-Ganz, Adler Maikäfer 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

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, ...

. This is partly due to the name Maikäfer, that is, "May Beetle", deriving from its shape. However, those contesting that inspiration derives from patents of Josef Ganz point especially to the

. Not only is the resemblance to the classic "Beetle" shape obvious, particularly the second design iteration (model 1934), but so are many of the technical details including the rear-mounted multi-cylinder engine, special characteristics of the chassis, and suspension. Advertising even named it a "volkswagen", as can be seen in the "History" section for the

. One claimed 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, but this came ten years earlier than, and did not particularly resemble, the first "Beetle". In the end, however, Ferdinand Porsche (a designer much admired by Hitler) managed to connect his name to the "people's car". Aside from Ganz being Jewish, the régime needed to appease bitter enemies Ganz had made in the industry.

New investigation

While the Volkswagen Beetle was produced in its millions after World War II, 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 has published a new book and is currently working on a documentary.Paul Schilperoord,''The Extraordinary Life of Josef Ganz: The Jewish Engineer Behind Hitler's Volkswagen'' (New York, New York: RVP Publishers, 2011). Tatra sued Ferdinand Porsche for using the designs from the Tatra V570, T87 and T97 to make the Volkswagen Type 1, but the lawsuit was dropped when Hitler said he would "settle the matter". After the war, the lawsuit was reopened and in 1967, Volkswagen compensated Tatra in the amount of 3,000,000 Deutsche Mark over the dispute.

Notes and references

External links

Joseph Ganz ArchiveJoseph Ganz Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maikafer Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Germany Volkswagen Group