Oddly familiar.
It’s even more familiar than you’d think at first blush. The Nazis literally used preorders of the Beetle to fund their war effort, grifting their own citizens in the process.
https://www.krause-papierwerke.com/post/kdf-wagen-savings-booklet
Nobody from the thousands of subscribers ever received the car. In 1939 war started and VW production switched to Kubelwagen and other military vehicles. Many subscribers kept paying till 1945 believing in final victory and not wanting to lose the money they invested in the program so far. In 1950 group of subscribers sued Volkswagen demanding compensation. After 12 years of a trial, they received a credit towards a new VW that amounted to ~12% of a price of a base VW model, or 5-times less in cash.
The Nazis had some weird aesthetics, man
One has to imagine the colours.
Striking red banners, green leaves, probably very colourful cars. Funky traditional hats catering to the traditionalists. Colours, modernity, tradition, everything in one spectacle. And then there’s the music on top of it.
This was not some dark black & white event - it was joyful and colourful, and an ignorant observer would easily get sucked into the optimism of it all.
Today’s nazis have what, frog memes, doge, and whatever the fuck this is?
I think as well that Nazism has been co-opted now as the stereotypical aesthetic of evil. At that time, those connotations may have not existed
History sure rhymes, doesn’t it
History repeats is a well known saying. I never realized it created carbon copies though.
It’s kind of funny when you consider that the VW design was a ripoff of the Czech-made Tatra T97.
For the curious:
It had a boxer engine in the rear, just like the Beetle. The Beetle was designed by Ferdinand Porche, the T97 by Hans Ledwinka. Ledwinka served five years in prison in Czechoslovakia after the war for collaboration with German occupation forces.
Interesting, it’s like if a beetle was squeezed out like a turd. The front looks just like a beetle, but the back looks dopey.
Beetle turd is…an accurate description.
That color on the wiki image isn’t doing the Retro-Future aesthetic any favors.
Looks pretty cool, just needs a jet engine on the rear and it’s good to go
Now replace the swastikas with maga hats and flags
Yup, looks like a maga klan rally
Three German engineers at the very peak of giddy anticipation about to introduce their crowning achievement to a cheering crowd:
and IBM had close ties to nazis, and mitsubishi build kamikaze planes
