Friday Auto Trivia

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by SD987

1. Adolf Hitler
2. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...which IMHO was a far more entertaining book, but not as good on film as most of the Bond offerings.

Hi,

Good Job! One of your answers is correct!...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[slogans7]

I always thought Dr. Porsche invented the Beetle, no?

Originally Posted by slogans7

I always thought Dr. Porsche invented the Beetle, no?

.....nein! I think Dr. Porsche designed it. Hilter was the "driving" force for it.

[SD987]

Hi,

Good Job! One of your answers is correct!...

Thanks, I'll be curious to read what you deem to be the "correct" answer for question 1.

[98Boxster98]

From Wikipedia:

Who designed the car is a matter of controversy. The official story is that it was designed by Ferdinand Porsche. But in the 1920s Joseph Ganz had already made a similar design for a car that was smaller and more affordable than existing models. Car manufacturers were not interested, but two motorcycle manufacturers were. Adler produced the Maikäfer and Standard the Superior, which it advertised as 'Der Deutsche Volkswagen' and was the cheapest four wheel car at the time. When the Nazis came to power, they tested the Superior and favorable reviews appeared in magazines. However, shortly after, the Nazis suddenly imprisoned Ganz for a while, fired him as chief editor of the magazine Motor-Kritik and confiscated his documents, after which he fled to Switzerland, never to return. The reason for this is probably that they found out he was a Jew. The Nazis then turned to Porsche, who produced a prototype of the Käfer that looked a lot like the Superior. Volkswagen says that Ganz wasn't the only one to have such a design and that the Käfer was not based on his.

More info:

http://www.ganz-volkswagen.org/home.htm

[SD987]

You're kidding me right? The problem with citing Wikipedia as a definitive source of information, is in the very nature of the site, as fully disclosed here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Who_writes_Wikipedia

Unlike other encyclopedias, the volunteer authors of articles in Wikipedia don't have to be experts or scholars (though some certainly are). They can be anyone, including you! Volunteers do not need to go through any formal process before creating an article or editing an existing article. Many people have created or edited articles in Wikipedia. They come from countries around the world and are of all ages and backgrounds. Anyone who contributes to this encyclopedia is called a Wikipedian.

The best way to decide whether a particular statement is accurate is to find independent, reliable sources to affirm that statement, such as books, magazine articles, television news reports, trade journals, or web sites. For more guidance on evaluating the accuracy of Wikipedia articles, see Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia.

The Volkswagen Beetle passage you cite was added to Wikipedia by someone who picked up on the claims made by Paul Schilperoord in 'The Engineer' magazine, which if you do a little research on the matter, caused a bit of a buzz but wasn't substantiated. You can read the translation of the original Dutch press release and the Autoweek message board thread, which put the question on the radar of a few automobile sites, here.

http://forums.autoweek.com/thread.jspa?forumID=17&threadID=12968

MNBoxster's original question was who was the 'Father' of the Volkswagen Beetle, not who designed it. There is significant evidence that Hitler spawned the idea and whether that is considered 'Fatherly' is debatable. This is discussed in a gazillion places and stated (as an example, not a definitive source) by Csaba Csere in this CNN transcript:

ARENA: For more on the Beetle legacy, history, and what all this could mean for Volkswagen we are joined by Csaba Csere, editor-in- chief of "Car and Driver" magazine from Ann Arbor Michigan, welcome.

CSABA CSERE, "CAR AND DRIVER": Glad to be here.

ARENA: So, did I hear right, this idea was spawned by Adolf Hitler?

CSERE: Absolutely, shortly after Hitler came to power in 1933 he decided he wanted to put Germany on wheels just like the Ford Model-T had done to Americans only there was no inexpensive, affordable, reliable car in Germany.

However, there is also evidence that Hitler had a hand in the design. The following link is to the 'Hitler Historical Museum', which describe the circumstances under which Hitler conceived the car and a sketch of the vehicle:

http://www.hitler.org/artifacts/volkswagen/

If you read the page, I think you'll agree that sounds pretty "fatherly".

And of course, there are numerous "historians" who pretty much give F. Porsche all the credit for the Beetle, except for the idea of the car. The general storyline can be read in this sample:

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bv/beetle.htm

You see, the key to good trivia is asking a question with a definitive answer that isn't open to debate or interpretation. This rule would apply to both the phrasing of the question and it's answer. Question 2 is an example of good trivia. Question 1, was not, hence my post at 16:08.

[98Boxster98]

Originally Posted by SD987

You're kidding me right? The problem with citing Wikipedia as a definitive source of information, is in the very nature of the site. . .

Just posted it as an attempt at an answer to a trivia question. It was the first answer I found that offered someone else other than the previous two answers, Porsche and Hitler. I participated in the spirit of livening things up and relieving tension on the forum. Next time, perhaps I'll have my crack team of researchers prepare a scholarly thesis.