Fun with Maps ISSUE 2025-095

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (May 28, 2025) – In today’s edition of Fun with Maps, we learn a little VW Bug history and some surprising elite auto history too.      

The People’s Car

Volkswagen was founded on May 28, 1937.  As the name suggests, people’s car in English, it started as a low-cost car to drive broad penetration among first time owners, not unlike Ford’s Model T did earlier in the century.

Its original factory, and headquarters to this day, Wolfsburg on the northern German plains, barely made it on the western sector as Germany was divided after World War 2.  Otherwise, you’d see a lot of “Bugs” in Moscow.

Volkswagen first expanded its offerings to other models besides the classic Bug, then started to expand through acquisitions.  Audi joined in 1965, and some others that might surprise you – prestige cars acquired in 1998: Lamborghini, Bugatti and Bentley.  Skoda, a steady mid-price car from the former Czechoslovakia in 1995.  Porsche’s purchase was completed in 2012.

Here is Cary’s map of Lower Saxony, where Wolfsburg is located, from 1801

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.