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HOW VW BEETLE CAME TO BE By the 30's the Tatra car factory in Koprivnice, Czechoslovakia was doing extremely well. The factory used to produce carriages in the early 1800's and then railroad cars. In the 1897 Tatra started to manufacture cars. By the 20's Tatra was well established as a manufacturer of special vehicles. Large limousines, trucks, buses and specialized military vehicles. Tatra was also a leader in innovative engineering. By the early 30's Tatra's board of directors recognized that there is a market for a smaller more affordable car. A car for the people - a People's Car. In 1933 the proptotype of the People's Car model V 570 was designed and constructed in a record time. It was the first car with a rear mounted air cooled engine. The engine was a 854 ccm flat twin OHV turning 3500 rpm with a maximum speed of 50 mph. The tests of the prototype of the People's Car were not encouraging to the engineers used to making big cars. The prototype design of the People's Car was put on the shelf. Nobody trusted the air cooled engine. So the factory turned to more traditional designs and developed other small cars around the same engine - but they put it up front and added water cooling system. The story could have ended here, except that the majority owners of Tatra were of German ethnic background. Legend has it that in 1936, wanting to make an impression on certain Adolf Hitler who just came to power in Germany, the Tatra board of directors resolved to pay what they believed to be a cheap tribute to their Fatherland - they dusted off the V 570 People's Car design and sent it to Hitler as a gift. Hitler, having graciously accepted the gift, called his friend Porsche, gave him the plans and put him in charge of producing a car for the German masses. Hitler put Porsche in charge of a project he called Volkswagen - the People's Car. Porsche took the design as is except that he changed the body design a bit . . . and the rest is history. Translated from Tatra marketing booklet  |
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WOULD THE REAL BUDWEISER PLEASE STAND UP Ever wondered why Budweiser is called Budweiser? Could it be that it is named for the city where it is brewed. But then it would be called St. Louiser, wouldn't it? The explanation is very simple. The original Budweiser, the real King of Beers, is brewed in Ceske Budejovice, Bohemia. The city name was changed to Budweis under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The beer was, of course, called Budweiser or Budvar in Czech. In 1917 the Budweiser brewery was approached by Anheuser Busch of St. Louis with a proposition. Anheuser Busch wanted to use the name Budweiser in North America. A name of the most popular beer east and west of Rio Grande, a name meaning instant recognition of quality known to all beer drinking world. The Czech Budweiser agreed to let Anheuser Busch use the name Budweiser in North America. In return Anheuser Busch agreed to brew a quality beer deserving to be called Budweiser and to buy all their hops from the Budweiser brewery. Needless to say, Anheuser Busch started to use the name Budweiser immediately, never allegedly buying an ounce of hops. The Czech Budweiser filed a suit for breach of contract at the world court in Den Hague the same year. Last year the world court ruled that Anheuser Busch can't use the Budweiser name in Europe. As you have probably guessed the suit is otherwise still unresolved. The whole dispute can be summarized by an exclamation of one local man in Budweis, who after having downed the free sample of Anheuser Busch Budweiser turned to his wife and said:" Hey Mom, those Americans've done it again! This is a pretty good soft drink for the kids and Granmaw." Translated from a Czech newspaper  |
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