In 1938, Adolph Hitler laid the foundation stone for the Volkswagenwerk factory in "KdF Stadt" (after the war renamed Wolfsburg), Germany, and mass production of the Volkswagon Type 38 KdF Wagen (Kraft durch Freude, or Car of Joy through Force), began. It was designed by Porsche and Erwin Komenda (1904-1966), based on the 1932 prototype Kleinauto.Factory construction was halted in 1939 as war began. Only 210 KdF Wagens were built, and only privileged Nazi officials got them. After the war, Volkswagenwerks in Germany, largely destroyed in 1944 by bombing, was offered for sale to, among others, the Ford Motor Company. The offer was declined by Henry Ford II, as "not worth a damn". http://www.idsa.org/whatis/100yr/kleinauto.htm