Ardie-Ganz
Encyclopedia
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
, built in 1930 by German engineer Josef Ganz
Josef Ganz
Dipl.-Ing. Josef Ganz was a German-Hungarian car designer, born in Budapest, Hungary.-Early years:Josef Ganz was born in a Jewish family with a Hungarian mother and a German father in Budapest, the then second-largest city within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on July 1, 1898. His father, Dr...
at the German motorcycle manufacturer Ardie
Ardie
Ardie was a company in Nürnberg, Germany that manufactured motorcycles from 1919 until 1958. The company's name derives from that of its founder, Arno Dietrich....
.
History
In 1930, Ardie President Willy Bendit approved German jewish engineer Josef Ganz to build a prototype of a small VolkswagenVolkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
according to his (Ganz's) design. This Ardie-Ganz prototype was finished in September 1930 and achieved highly successful road-test results. The car featured a tubular chassis, mid-mounted engine, and independent wheel suspension
Independent suspension
Independent suspension is a broad term for any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically independently of each other. This is contrasted with a beam axle, live axle or deDion axle system in which the wheels are linked – movement on one side affects...
with swing-axles
Swing axle
A swing axle is a simple type of independent suspension first used in early aircraft , such as the Sopwith and Fokker, usually with rubber bungee and no damping....
at the rear.
The Volkswagen Beetle connection
With the Ardie-Ganz, AdlerAdler
The term Adler, the German word for the bird of prey "eagle", is both the last name of many people and an emblematic bird featured on many blazons since the feudal age, including the present German Bundeswappen and at times on the flags of Austria and Germany...
Maikäfer
Maikäfer
Maikäfer was the nickname of an automobile prototype, built in 1931 by German engineer Josef Ganz at Adler.-History:Josef Ganz, an independent engineer and editor-in-chief of Motor-Kritik magazine, was assigned by Adler in December 1930 as a consultant engineer...
and Standard Superior
Standard Superior
Standard Superior was an automobile marque, used from 1933-1935 by Standard Fahrzeugfabrik of Ludwigsburg, Germany, founded by motorcycle maker Wilhelm Gutbrod and unrelated to the Standard Motor Company of England...
cars, as well as his progressive writings and promotion of the concept of a Volkswagen in Motor-Kritik
Motor-Kritik
Motor-Kritik was the title of a progressive automotive magazine, published by the H.Bechhold Verlagsbuchhandlung in Germany from 1929 to 1945. It originated from the earlier Klein-Motor-Sport magazine.-History:...
magazine since the 1920s, Josef Ganz is claimed to be the inspiration behind the Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
.