The soldier who saved the Beetle

An article from our local newspaper. (Coventry Evening Telegraph (UK))

__________________________________________________ _____________________

Jun 10 2005

By Ian Johnson


BRITISH military history has its heroes. People like Wellington, Nelson
and the like have hogged the history books for years.

But Major Ivan Hirst of the REME is one of the Army's unsung heroes -
and without him, one of the world's most famous motoring names would
probably not exist.

Not heard of this down-to-earth Yorkshire professional soldier?

Not surprising, because he was the backroom boy that made it possible
for the great Volkswagen Beetle to attain its cult status. He also
underpinned the future for all Volkswagens that followed.

Hirst was the engineer who took over guardianship of the war damaged
Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, northern Germany, from the Americans in
the final days of the destruction of the Nazi regime.

His brief was to run a workshop for British Army vehicles in the
partlyruined plant.

The original intention was to dismantle the entire production line and
ship out the machinery and tooling as reparations.

However, when the Volkswagen equipment was offered to Britain's motor
manufacturers, including Rootes and Morris, they turned it down.

An official British report famously found that the vehicle - Volkswagen
is German for People's Car - "does not meet the fundamental technical
requirement of a motor-car... it is quite unattractive to the average
buyer... to build the car commercially would be a completely uneconomic
enterprise."

But the British Army thought differently and, after one of the few
surviving wartime Volkswagen cars had been demonstrated to the British
Rhine Army group headquarters, the military ordered a batch of 20,000
similar vehicles.

By the end of 1945, the factory had somehow managed to put together
2,490 cars. Many of them were then bartered for materials to make
further cars, or for provisions to feed the 6,000 workers and other
citizens of Wolfsburg, the company town built before the war as
Volkswagen's headquarters. Ivan Hirst was the man who got production
going. He organised the clearance of bomb damage and had the buildings
repaired. He recommissioned machine tools, body presses and assembly jigs.

Also, he concerned himself with improving the quality of the car, with
setting up a sales and service network and with starting exports - the
first went to Holland in 1947.

On October 8, 1949, the British military government placed the
trusteeship of the Volkswagen factory in German hands. Sadly, Hirst died
in 2000, but his memory and work lives on.

Ivan Hirst was decisive in steering Volkswagen into the fast lane.

He set high quality standards to make the Volkswagen saloon suitable for
the world market, and he created close ties with customers by setting up
an extensive service network.

The Volkswagen culture of participation is also down to the British, who
allowed the first free elections for employee representatives to be
staged in November 1945.

These British roots have therefore left their mark on the company to
this day.

It is also amazing that Hirst was inadvertantly responsible for the
saving of a great British marque, Bentley, which joined the Volkswagen
fold in 1998. Strange how things work out.

> But Major Ivan Hirst of the REME is one of the Army's unsung
> heroes - and without him, one of the world's most famous
> motoring names would probably not exist.

Major Hirst was never one to seek publicity, particularly about his
early efforts with the VW factory. To show their appreciation, when
the factory was turned over to Heinz Nordhoff the workers wanted to
present Major Hirst with a new VW bug. Always a right military man,
the Major said he could not accept such a gift.

In his later years he was amused by those VW buffs who would knock on
his door and ask permission to take a picture of the Major next to
their VW. As he believed that such was misplaced and unnecessary.
That being told, Major Hirst was an excellent speaker and even in his
later years could easily recall events during the early production days
after the war. With a particularly interesting and amusing story about
the removal of a half-ton unexploded bunker buster bomb which was
dropped from a B-17. And landed next to the only working generator at
the plant. Had it exploded there likely would never have been any
further manufacturing at that plant. And no more VW Bugs.

The first group of British troops assigned to the plant found what fun
it was to drive, or rather launch, a schwimmwagen driven at about 80kph
off the dock and into the canal. And there was a noticeable increase
in parts production when this activity stopped due to the absence of a
replacement fuel pump. Or maybe that was the carburetor.

A surprising part of the story was that on his return to England Major Ivan
Hirst wasn't head hunted by the British motor industry. Maybe it would have
had a brighter future if he had been onboard!
"tricky" > wrote in message
...
> An article from our local newspaper. (Coventry Evening Telegraph (UK))
>
> __________________________________________________ _____________________
>
> Jun 10 2005
>
> By Ian Johnson
>
>
> BRITISH military history has its heroes. People like Wellington, Nelson
> and the like have hogged the history books for years.
>
> But Major Ivan Hirst of the REME is one of the Army's unsung heroes - and
> without him, one of the world's most famous motoring names would probably
> not exist.
>
> Not heard of this down-to-earth Yorkshire professional soldier?
>
> Not surprising, because he was the backroom boy that made it possible for
> the great Volkswagen Beetle to attain its cult status. He also underpinned
> the future for all Volkswagens that followed.
>
> Hirst was the engineer who took over guardianship of the war damaged
> Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, northern Germany, from the Americans in
> the final days of the destruction of the Nazi regime.
>
> His brief was to run a workshop for British Army vehicles in the
> partlyruined plant.
>
> The original intention was to dismantle the entire production line and
> ship out the machinery and tooling as reparations.
>
> However, when the Volkswagen equipment was offered to Britain's motor
> manufacturers, including Rootes and Morris, they turned it down.
>
> An official British report famously found that the vehicle - Volkswagen is
> German for People's Car - "does not meet the fundamental technical
> requirement of a motor-car... it is quite unattractive to the average
> buyer... to build the car commercially would be a completely uneconomic
> enterprise."
>
> But the British Army thought differently and, after one of the few
> surviving wartime Volkswagen cars had been demonstrated to the British
> Rhine Army group headquarters, the military ordered a batch of 20,000
> similar vehicles.
>
> By the end of 1945, the factory had somehow managed to put together 2,490
> cars. Many of them were then bartered for materials to make further cars,
> or for provisions to feed the 6,000 workers and other citizens of
> Wolfsburg, the company town built before the war as Volkswagen's
> headquarters. Ivan Hirst was the man who got production going. He
> organised the clearance of bomb damage and had the buildings repaired. He
> recommissioned machine tools, body presses and assembly jigs.
>
> Also, he concerned himself with improving the quality of the car, with
> setting up a sales and service network and with starting exports - the
> first went to Holland in 1947.
>
> On October 8, 1949, the British military government placed the trusteeship
> of the Volkswagen factory in German hands. Sadly, Hirst died in 2000, but
> his memory and work lives on.
>
> Ivan Hirst was decisive in steering Volkswagen into the fast lane.
>
> He set high quality standards to make the Volkswagen saloon suitable for
> the world market, and he created close ties with customers by setting up
> an extensive service network.
>
> The Volkswagen culture of participation is also down to the British, who
> allowed the first free elections for employee representatives to be staged
> in November 1945.
>
> These British roots have therefore left their mark on the company to this
> day.
>
> It is also amazing that Hirst was inadvertantly responsible for the saving
> of a great British marque, Bentley, which joined the Volkswagen fold in
> 1998. Strange how things work out.