World War II left a razed Germany that needed to rebuild from 1945. With the support of the ally capitalist bloc, German growth was fast and for years it moved in spectacular figures. In spite of everything, there was an entire society that had to recover his life and get out of poverty caused by war.
They say that despite that panorama, Ferdinand Porsche saw the opportunity to throw a car that nobody thought: A sports. Yes, most of the society was immersed in a reconstruction but there was also an elite that He continued to demand the luxuries of yesteryear. Putting a sports car on the market was imperative to resurrect Porsche and, at the same time, allowed a part of society to distinguish against the rest.
In Motor journalism They collect that the company’s mandamás stressed what the guidelines should be. Liberated from every position in 1948 (he had been arrested in France in 1945 and accused of collaborating with the Nazi regime), they say he mentioned the following words:
“At that moment I looked around and I didn’t find the car I dreamed, so I decided to build it myself“
That car was the Porsche 356, which gave wings again to the company. In those years, Germany was focused on rebuilding and was more evident than ever the saving philosophy of its citizens. Protestantism and difficulties During and after World War II they had defined the character of the Germans.
Despite this, Ferdinand Porsche decided that the time had come to launch a car that would be iconic: the Porsche 911. A sports car that threatened all German austerity. It was the culmination of reconstruction after World War II.
When you think about war, you also have to think about the reconstruction. Ferdinand Porsche began to shuffle what they should do once it was already imperative. But in Peugeot they already started thinking about her, even before the contest had ended.
They were moments of reflection and trying to understand how we were going to live once the greatest war in the history of Europe would end. And the French were clear that something should change in our way of moving. So, they presented the Peugeot VLV.
Yes, the first completely electric Peugeot.
Thinking about the future
When in the mid -twentieth century a World War relieves another there is a problem: fuel is scarce. And if the fuel is scarce, perhaps the time has come to go to the electric car.
Aware that autonomy was scarce but some needs were imperious, Peugeot proposed in 1941 An electric car as a vehicle for medical emergency services, pharmacy personnel or emails. It was, in reality, an option cut from the Peugeot 201 from which it derived.
In this case, they had cut the back to make a kind of convertible with canvas hood. But, without a doubt, the most curious part was the rear, with two small wheels that, not to make sure they are there, make the car more a tricycle than a four -wheel car.
The motorization that moved the Peugeot VLV was born a few years before. Already in the 20s they began to turn the idea that ended up seeing the light with a 12 V engine that delivered 3.3 hp. With them he managed to reach a maximum of 36 km/hy with a battery that consisted of four packages could travel a maximum of 80 kilometers.
The figures, in fact, seem particularly good for the time. The secret was in a body manufactured in aluminum that guaranteed a very contained weight. The Peugeot VLV stayed at 365 kg. A prodigy that used a marketing strategy of our time. The classic Leon that has always accompanied Peugeot was replaced by a ray on the front.
However, his life was brief. As soon as 377 units were built before Vichy’s collaborative government ordered the end of its production in 1943. The official discourse He pointed out that money should not be dedicated to the research and development of vehicles that were not purely essential.
If you want to see a unit, the Peugeot Adventure Museum In Sochaux (France) there is a restored one.
Photo | Peugeot and La Adventura de Peugeot Museum
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