Who designed the VW Beetle?

Who designed the VW Beetle?

Ferdinand Porsche? Wrong!

The Beetle was actaually designed by Hans Ledwinka a Czechoslovakian designer with Tatra as the

Tatra 97.

Tatra sued VW but this was set aside when Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, but the law suit was sucessfully reopened in the 1960's and  Tatra were awarded 3M DM.

Here is an extact from Wikipedia:

Resemblance to KdF-Wagen / Volkswagen Beetle

Both the streamlined design and the technical specifications, especially the air-cooled flat-four engine mounted in the back, give the T97 a striking resemblance to the KdF-Wagen or Volkswagen, the later Beetle. It is believed that Porsche used Tatra's designs since he was under huge pressure to design the Volkswagen quickly and cheaply^[2]
. According to the books Tatra - The Legacy of Hans Ledwinka and Car Wars, Adolf Hitler called the Tatra 'this is the car for my roads'.^[3][2] Ferdinand Porsche later admitted 'to have looked over Ledwinka's shoulders' while designing the Volkswagen.^[4][2]
Tatra sued Porsche for damages, and Porsche was willing to settle. However, Hitler canceled this, saying he 'would settle the matter.' ^[5] When Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Nazis, the production of the T97 was immediately halted, and the lawsuit dropped. After the war, Tatra reopened the lawsuit against Volkswagen. In 1967, the matter was settled when Volkswagen paid Tatra 3,000,000 Deutsche Mark in compensation.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_T97
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Ledwinka#cite_note-wilson-0

So if you're asked the question on Masternind or Eggheads you know the real answer.

The storm in Kirkintilloch

This week we had a storm in Kirkintilloch, when winds reached around 80 mph for a whole day. This was the biggest Blaw since the "Twechar Tornado" a few years ago.

Hre is a report from the kirkintilloch Herald: 

Warning as storms set to move south

Published on Sunday 11 December 2011 10:05

Stormy conditions that brought havoc to Scotland are expected to return to other parts of the UK this week, forecasters said.

Wind speeds up to 165mph were recorded during the worst of the storm that hit parts of Scotland and northern England, bringing down trees and power lines, causing disruption to roads and closing schools.
As Scotland and northern England recovered from the wind damage, there were more warnings of storms further south - with forecasters saying wind speeds could reach 100mph later in the week.
Strong winds are forecast to return to the UK in the next few days, but not at the force experienced last Thursday.
The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for strong winds and heavy rain on Monday night for most of England, with the South East expected to be hit hard.

Windy weather is expected to continue into Tuesday, with the potential for "severe gales" or storm-force winds across Northern Ireland and the southern half of Britain. There could also be frequent, heavy showers, bringing the risk of surface water flooding.
Aisling Creevey, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather forecasting arm of the Press Association, said it was too early to tell where the winds would hit.
She said the country could expect winds of between 80mph and 100mph.
A Met Office spokesman said: "Strong winds on Monday evening have the potential to cause some disruption, especially in areas exposed to the south. In addition, rain will turn persistent and heavy, bringing the risk of surface water flooding over south-west England and Wales."
Engineers are still battling to restore power to hundreds of homes in Scotland, as freezing temperatures hit. Scottish Hydro said huge efforts were made, particularly in Tayside and central areas of Scotland, to bring the number down from about 29,000 on Friday - and from about 105,000 at its peak.

http://www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/warning_as_storms_set_to_move_south_1_2003505

The storm blew down a 6ft high pine fence between our garden and a meighbours.