Standard Superior

Standard Superior was an automobile marque, used from 1933-1935 by "Standard Fahrzeugfabrik" of Germany, founded by Wilhelm Gutbrod. These small cars were designed by Josef Ganz and featured rear-mounted two-stroke engines. The original prototypes were designed in 1920s, and produced by Bungartz in Munich.

After World War II, the same company made Gutbrod cars.

Relationships with Volkswagen Beetle

The original prototype had all the then novel features of the later Volkswagen Beetle, such as the swing axles, the "boxer" motor and air cooling.

Some claim these were the inspiration for the Volkswagen Beetle.ref|netwerk

According to the report, as a Jew, Ganz was deprived of his patent rights, which were later illegally passed to Tatra, whose management had impeccable Gestapo connections. Ganz himself, after an odyssey of escaping through numerous European countries, had landed in Australia. The name Volkswagen was stolen by Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring who saw Ganz's VW prototype at an exhibition.

References

# [http://www.netwerk.tv/index.jsp?p=items&r=deze_week&a=201638 Was Volkswagen's creator Jewish?] (a Dutch website)
# [http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/gossip/did-josef-ganz-not-ferdinand-porsche-create-the-beetle-120494.php Did Josef Ganz, not Ferdinand Porsche, Create the Beetle?]
* [http://www.ganz-volkswagen.org/book_project.htm history of Ganz-Volkswagen]