Porsche 911, Porsche 914 and Volkswagen Beetle RS Porsche

(Here's a prototype from around 2020 of the old-school Beetle.)

Volkswagen Beetle is often considered the first truly modern car. Hitler wanted a people's car, and he preferred it to be round and streamlined. The choice landed on Ferdinand Porsche's project, the Beetle. Despite being a major project of Nazi Germany and Hitler, who are responsible for the deaths of around 60 million people and a world in ruins, the Beetle became a real hit after the war. The Beetle was so popular that in the early 1970s, it became the world's best-selling car. Production continued only in South America after that, where it was produced and sold until 2003. In the rest of the West, it had a long hiatus of over 20 years, during which it was replaced by the Golf. However, in the 1990s, a new model called the New Beetle was introduced, first sold in the USA in 1996. It didn't arrive in Norway until 1998. But I remember the first one in Bærum sat for a long time at Bærum Bilutleie in Haslum, available for rental as early as 1997.

In the 1980s, while production was in Brazil, you could buy a beefed-up version called the Volkswagen Beetle Porsche Moby Dick, which was often red. I remember seeing quite a few of these in Drammen in the 1990s. I often thought they were boring because they looked so modern and didn't resemble the classic old Beetle at all. Today, I know better and realize that not only did it resemble the Beetle, but it was also a truly impressive sports car, styled with a 1990s design flair.


Porsche 911 and Porsche 914 were definitely more authentic sports cars, as you’d expect from Porsche. The first 911 from the 1960s wasn’t exactly cutting-edge, but it could probably be styled into something more modern. The 911 and 914 from the late 1960s and early 1970s, at least, had the potential for that.

Driving a Porsche 914, Porsche 911, or even a racing-modified Volkswagen Beetle makes you the king of retro-science fiction from the 1960s and 1970s. Maybe even earlier or later, especially with today’s Volkswagen New Beetle Porsche GT3 from 2020. But Ferdinand Porsche’s Nazi prototypes from the 1930s are best left forgotten.



































































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