Larry,

Your translation is correct but your history is a little off.  The original
was the KDF Wagen -- Nazi propoganda speak for strength through something or
other.  The Volkswagen name didn't happen until the factory was restarted in
occupied Germany after the war.  The Nazi concept was for people to
establish a sort of reverse credit deal where they paid money up front and
got the car later.  The British occupation forces were in desparate need of
transportation when they restarted production and very quickly saw it as a
chance to put Germans back to work.

Chuck

 on 10/18/02 7:01 PM, Automatic digest processor at
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM wrote:
> ------------------------------
>
> Date:    Fri, 18 Oct 2002 19:27:17 -0400
> From:    Lawrence Johnson <larry_avery.johnson@SYMPATICO.CA>
> Subject: Re: Volk (NVC)
>
> David
> "Volk" means "people". We  get our word "folk" from "volk". "Volkswagen" is
> "The
> people's car" (fahrzeug didn't sound so good I guess :-) Using "the people's
> car" was a political decision to get the "people" to put up the money before
> the
> factory was even built. The factory, as it turned out, was used to manufacture
> military vehicles long before the "peoples'" car rolled out.
> Larry
>
> David Beierl wrote:
>
>> I'm wondering if anyone here has a good understanding or reference for the
>> term "Volk" as in Volkswagen...I'm reading something (_Himmler_ by Peter
>> Padfield, MJF Books 1990) that reminds me that "People" seems to be an
>> entirely inadequate translation.
>>
>> thanks,
>> david
>>
>> --
>> David Beierl - Providence, RI
>> http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
>> '84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
>> '85 GL "Poor Relation"
>
> ------------------------------
> ****************************************************************