The famous VW Beetle was made at the incentive of Adolf Hitler who, in his speech in 1933, promised that soon every average working family would be able to afford a car. Hitler liked Porsche’s design of the Beetle and the car went into production in 1938.

The production of the Volkswagen Beetle (German: Käfer) in Germany ended on this day in 1978. The car was created at the incentive of Adolf Hitler who, in his speech in 1933, promised that soon every average working family would be able to afford a car. Hitler requested the designers to develop a vehicle that can transport a five-member family at the speed of 100 km/h and does not cost more than 1,000 Reichsmark.

The vehicle was designed by Ferdinand Porsche, who would later become known for the Porsche automobile brand. Just to mention, he was born in Austro-Hungarian Empire in a town of Vratislavice, today part of the Czech Republic. In his youth he built coaches for Emperor Francis Joseph. Interestingly, he worked for a while as a chauffeur to Archduke Franz Ferdinand (assassinated in Sarajevo), and then got a job as a designer in Daimler factory.

Hitler liked Porsche’s design of the Beetle and the car went into production in 1938. Forty years later, precisely on this day, the final specimen left the German factory. However, the production continued in Brazil and Mexico. The last Beetle of all time was manufactured in 2003 in Mexico. It had a serial number 21.529.464 and was called El Rey. It was placed in the Volkswagen museum in the town of Wolfsburg in Germany, where the world headquarters of the Volkswagen AG company is also located.