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.

Why Haven't I been Blogging Lately?

Sorry for the lack of blogging over the past few months..........

Not much has been happening lately, and I'm not chaffeuring at the moment ..... in fact I've been working part time at the Car Auctions in Glasgow .... I'm still driving a lot though, about 60-70 cars a day, all kinds. from silly wee Peugeots and Rovers to Mercedes, Lexus, Lotus.

What are the worst cars I've driven? .... I don't like Smart cars or the Range Rover Discovery, and I find it difficult getting into a Lotus these days .... the best cars (surprisingly) the SsangYong Rodius .... which is also arguably the ugliest car in the World.

The other reason I haven't blogged? ........... I forgot my log-in details....... auld age catching up with me ....

Look out for more Updates from me soon  .........

Scottish Tours and Canal Walk.

@sansdyschauffeur sillhouette

Scottish Tours

I realised I hadn't added any posts to my Blog recently, so here's a rundown on what I've been up to.

Over the past wek or so I have done a few Scottish Tours, firstly a mini-tour of Edinburgh and Stirling, and a Tour of Loch  Lomond and Inveraray for a Mother and Daughter from Singapore, then a Tour of Burns country and Brig o' Doon, with an American Group comprising Mother, Daughter, and Mother's Sister.

The second Tour arose from a misunderstanding by the Travel Agent, when they had asked to see Brigadoon (which is impossible as it only appears from the mist once every hundred years). However they enjoyed the Day, including Burns Cottage and the new Museum, and were delighted when they learned that Brig o' Doon was where the Witch (Cutty Sark) grabbed the tail of Tam O' Shanters' horse as he rode over the bridge. We all had our sillhouettes done at the Museum, and mine is shown above.

Canal Walk 

I've decided to get back into shape again, so I went on a short (5 mile) walk today from Kirkintilloch to The Stables Bar/Restaurant and back. It was a pleasantly cool morning, and there was not much traffic on the Canal, apart from a couple of Tour Boats, and I saw a couple of heron.

The Pyramids of Tenerife

Pyramids at Guimar

On a family holiday a few years ago we visited the Pyramids  at Guimar on Tenerife.

Although not discovered by him, they were brought to the notice of the World by Norwegian Explorer and Anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl, at that time a resident on the Island, and due to his intervention the Archaeology Department of La Laguna University carried out excavations, and  the site of the pyramids was purchased by the Fred. Olsen shipping company in order to protect and restore them.

At the time I made a video of our visit, and hope to post this later (when I have worked out how to transfer it to my computer).

More information about the Guimar Pyramids can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramids_of_G%C3%BC%C3%ADmar



Kirkintilloch History

Finds from Barr Hill Fort near Kirkintilloch.

The placename Kirkintilloch is derived from Caerpentulach, a Celtic name (Fort at the end of the hillock). The fort referred to is the former Roman settlement and the hillock is a volcanic drumlin which would have offered a strategic viewpoint for miles to the West, North and East. This is sometimes taken literally as "Kirk in tilloch" (church in the field). Its long name is often shortened by locals to Kirkie, as reflected in a number of business names in the town.

A castle and church were recorded there in the 12th century. A small settlement grew and was granted Burgh status in 1211,amd were an important staging post for west-east journeys from Glasgow to eastern and north-eastern Scotland.

Antonine Wall Altar.

The castle was of some importance during the Wars of Independence, when an English garrison was stationed there. Soldiers from this castle were dispatched to arrest William Wallace at Robroyston and escorted him to Dumbarton Castle. The castle may have been attacked by Scottish forces under the bishop of Glasgow - certainly the castle was levelled in this period. The mot surrounded by a ditch can still be seen at the Peel Park.

Modern prosperity came with the construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal through the town in 1773, bringing the town to prominence as an inland port. The establishment of a railway link to Glasgow in the 1820s allowed Kirkintilloch to further develop as an industrial centre for Weaving and a major shipbuilding centre for both canal and ocean sailing. Today, Kirkintilloch is promoted as the "Canal Capital of Scotland", in which added pride has been taken since the completion of the Canal's recent regeneration project.

Another industry of note was iron founding, with the Lion Foundry and Star foundry achieving some repute. The most important products of the Lion Foundry were the famous red postboxes and Phoneboxes, produced in the town until 1984.

Kirkintilloch was a "dry town" for much of its recent history, with the sale of alcohol on public premises banned from 1923 until 1967. I remember having a pint in "The Antonine" in 1969 shortly after the Ban ended. The prohibition on the sale of alcohol had long been demanded by the Liberal Party and the temperance movement, both of which had a strong influence in the town in the early part of the 20th century, largely due to the perceived negative effects of alcohol on the town's inhabitants (some things don't change).

A National Scandal at Wallaces Well

Damage at Wallaces Well

A few days ago I was driving past Wallaces Well, when I noticed this damage,which took place recently.

Since 2003, two large housing developments have been constructed near the well, bringing a huge increase in car traffic. In the absence of proper signposting – or any effective traffic calming measures – the wall around the well has been repeatedly hit by vehicles, resulting in continual damage to the site. The photograph below shows the damage a couple of weeks ago:

Further damage can be viewed at the Robroyston Wallace Monument website on the Wallace's Well page.

As if things weren't bad enough for the well, another huge housing development has been announced which will take dwellings right up to the edge of this historic site, effectively obliterating the last remnants of green space in an area that has been described as being as historically important to Scotland as Bannockburn.

Can you imagine in the US a site of National Historic Importance being treated like this?

Can you imagine condos being built at The Alamo?

For the full story go to  http://discuss.glasgowguide.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=18968

Acknowledgements to "GLASGOW GUIDE"