On 23/07/2011 21:48, Tim Streater wrote:

The Beetles antecedents are rooted in the late 30s even if the
British public didn't get the chance to own one until 1946 and the
power output of the early examples was even worse - somewhere in the
low 20s IIRC.

ISTR there was a program on TV ages ago about how the Royal Engineers
set about the KDF wagen after the war to turn it into a saleable
product to help kick-start german industry

Worse than that. There was a British Army major in charge in some way
who had the chance to turn Volkswagen into a British company. He decided
the Beetle would never catch on and turned the chance down.

I seem to remember the tale was that it was one (or more of the major
British car manufacturers) who said that the Beetle wasn't a commercial
prospect and declined to take it on.

--
Roger Chapman