The origins of the Volkswagen date back to 1930s Nazi Germany, and the project to build the car that would become known as the Beetle. Hitler was good at marketing his government to the German people, he commissioned several large projects to win their favour, one project was to build a car that everyone could afford. The project fitted with a proposal by car designer Ferdinand Porsche. The intention was that ordinary Germans would buy the car by means of a savings scheme, which around 336,000 people eventually paid into. Prototypes of the car called the KdF-Wagen (German: Kraft durch Freude = strength through joy), appeared from 1936 onwards. The car already had its distinctive round shape and air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine.

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Today cars are designed by hundreds of people working only with computer design tools, but in 1957 Sir Alec Issigonis with a design team of eight set out with pen and paper to design one of the worlds most loveable cars. Instructed by BMC to design an affordable car which could safely seat four adults and that used very little petrol and be economical to build. The Mini was BMC’s answer to the VW Beetle and was just as innovative.

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The Fiat 500 was the name given to two very different and popular cars dating back to 1936. The first Fiat 500 named the Topolino (meaning mouse) was one of the smallest cars in the world at the time of its production. Three models were produced until 1955 all with minor mechanical and cosmetic changes. Nearly 520000 models of the Topolino were sold. In 1955 the mid size rear wheel drive Fiat 600 was launched by Fiat that would become the design basis for the new Fiat 500,  the 500 Nuova (or new). Often called the bambino it was one of the most popular cars to ever leave Italy and has become an Italian cult icon.

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