What if Porsche accepted?

simssss

What if Ferdinand Porsche in 1932 would have accepted the offer of Stalin to modernise Russia. He got offered to kinda build russian industry to western standards with a "blank check".

Quotes in french :
(...)Il se rendit à Kiev, Koursk, Nijni-Novgorod, et Odessa et continua jusqu'au Caucasse et la Crimée. Il vit des fabriques d'automobiles et des fonderies, des turbines et des blindés, des tracteurs et des avions, et des usines à n'en plus finir


A son retour de Moscou, on lui présenta un contrat.
S'il le signait Porsche pourrait disposer de tout le pays, de l'industrie automobile et de la fabrication de chars, de la production d'électricité et de l'immense capacité de travail de la population. Il deviendrait le ''constructeur en chef" de la Russie.

Source : Roger Von Frankerberg, Histoire des grandes marques : Porsche , 1960(german or english), 1968 (french traduction)
 

simssss

Cook said:
English translations?
Click to expand...
He visited usine and plants in many place in russia. Many who would not be open normally to western visitors ( tank plant, foundry etc. )

Then when he got back from Moscow.
He got a contract. Where it said roughly that he could control all russian heavy industry (cars, tank, plane, hydroelectric turbine) & used the big capacity of production of worker. And get a title of Builder-in-Chief.
 

Color-Copycat

Shitty french translation, par moi

He visited Kiev, Koursk, Nijni Novgorod, and Odessa and continued until the Caucasus and the Crimean. He saw automotive factories and something and turbines and something, and tractors and planes, and unfinished factories.

On his return to Moscow, they presented him with a contract. If he signed, Porsche would have organized the entire country, the automotive industry, production of something, production of electricty and the immense labor capacity of the population. He would have become the "chief constructor" of Russia.
 

simonbp

Given the fate of most proficient Soviet engineers of the period was the Gulag, I somehow doubt being "le constructeur en chef" would live up to the job description...
 
TheMann

TheMann

Well, he wouldn't have helped Hitler, that much is for sure. He'd almost certainly have crashed into Stalin at one point, and much of the improved industrial capacity would have been destroyed during WWII.

That said, Porsche was above all else a transport and engineering man. (And a fucking genius at that.) His help, along with other German industrialists he would have brought along, would have undoubtedly have massively improved the state of Soviet industry before WWII, which would probably have helped him somewhat. The problem I can see is also nationalities. It's gonna be bad for propaganda purposes to have a German helping build your industrial capacity when you are fighting Germany.

No Volkswagen Beetle. Porsche as an automaker would probably still make it (Dr. Porsche's son Ferry was running it directly for most of the time) and perhaps even be established in the USSR post-war, or if Stalin kicks Porsche to the curb, maybe he takes it to wherever he goes to - America, Britain, Australia.....
 

simssss

Color-Copycat said:
Shitty french translation, par moi

He visited Kiev, Koursk, Nijni Novgorod, and Odessa and continued until the Caucasus and the Crimean. He saw automotive factories and something and turbines and something, and tractors and planes, and unfinished factories.

On his return to Moscow, they presented him with a contract. If he signed, Porsche would have organized the entire country, the automotive industry, production of something, production of electricty and the immense labor capacity of the population. He would have become the "chief constructor" of Russia.
Click to expand...
and unfinished factories -> more like endless or many many others.
to Moscow -> from Moscow
production of something (char )-> tanks

Good job :)
 

simssss

TheMann said:
Well, he wouldn't have helped Hitler, that much is for sure. He'd almost certainly have crashed into Stalin at one point, and much of the improved industrial capacity would have been destroyed during WWII.

That said, Porsche was above all else a transport and engineering man. (And a fucking genius at that.) His help, along with other German industrialists he would have brought along, would have undoubtedly have massively improved the state of Soviet industry before WWII, which would probably have helped him somewhat. The problem I can see is also nationalities. It's gonna be bad for propaganda purposes to have a German helping build your industrial capacity when you are fighting Germany.

No Volkswagen Beetle. Porsche as an automaker would probably still make it (Dr. Porsche's son Ferry was running it directly for most of the time) and perhaps even be established in the USSR post-war, or if Stalin kicks Porsche to the curb, maybe he takes it to wherever he goes to - America, Britain, Australia.....
Click to expand...
Porsche Cars were modified beetle at first (356 ).
The VW idea come from hitler : a small affordable car who can seat 4 for 1000 mark but the design is from Ferdinand Porsche.
 
TheMann

TheMann

simssss said:
Porsche Cars were modified beetle at first (356 ).
The VW idea come from hitler : a small affordable car who can seat 4 for 1000 mark but the design is from Ferdinand Porsche.
Click to expand...

That's true, but the reasoning for that was Porsche's ethos with regards to cars, that a sports car is ideal transportation for almost everyone all the time. (He's right in most regards, but cars are usually bought for the times when you do need practicality) The Porsche 356 was based on Volkswagen components because that is what he could easily get in post-WWII Germany. I have little doubt that if Porsche had been based in the UK the 356 or something like it would have used Austin, Morris or Ford England components, or Chevrolet, Ford or Chrysler components if it was in America. The Allard J2X and Lotus Seven were along the same lines - indeed, Colin Chapman and Ferdinand Porsche shared much in common with regards to design philosophies.
 

The Uchronian

simssss said:
What if Ferdinand Porsche in 1932 would have accepted the offer of Stalin to modernise Russia. He got offered to kinda build russian industry to western standards with a "blank check".

Quotes in french :
(...)Il se rendit à Kiev, Koursk, Nijni-Novgorod, et Odessa et continua jusqu'au Caucasse et la Crimée. Il vit des fabriques d'automobiles et des fonderies, des turbines et des blindés, des tracteurs et des avions, et des usines à n'en plus finir


A son retour de Moscou, on lui présenta un contrat.
S'il le signait Porsche pourrait disposer de tout le pays, de l'industrie automobile et de la fabrication de chars, de la production d'électricité et de l'immense capacité de travail de la population. Il deviendrait le ''constructeur en chef" de la Russie.

Source : Roger Von Frankerberg, Histoire des grandes marques : Porsche , 1960(german or english), 1968 (french traduction)
Click to expand...

One downside to this would be that Porsche might've been captured by the Nazis at some point had the invasion of Russia been even marginally successful like it was for a time OTL.

@simssss: Actually, that's not really true. Porsche had the idea of building his own car for some time, going back to around 1930, I believe. Contrary to the statements of some people{including many neo-Nazis I would suspect} all Hitler did was promote the project, and nothing more, and in fact, the good Dr. actually had to leave Germany right around the time WWII was getting started.

@TheMann: Not sure if I can entirely agree with you on the 'No Beetle' part. Granted, whatever car he ends up making might be substantially different from OTL's Beetle, but it'd probably still have a rear engine.

And then there was his part-time coworker{only for a brief time, though, I think} Josef Ganz who had actually made a similar design back all the way back in 1928 it seems: http://jalopnik.com/#!120493/volkswagen-beetle-icon-of-the-age-not-developed-by-ferdinand-porsche {BTW, he had to leave Germany himself in 1933........wonder what happened to him?}
 
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Rickshaw

One benefit might be that the Nazis intern him for being a suspected Communist sympathiser. This would result in Germany building tanks and cars that worked.
 

BlairWitch749

Banned
Rickshaw said:
One benefit might be that the Nazis intern him for being a suspected Communist sympathiser. This would result in Germany building tanks and cars that worked.
Click to expand...

His tiger tanks where complete garbage, as where a lot of the TD"s that came out of the Porsche factory... the turret powering system on the Porsche tiger was insane even by Nazi V-3 standards of stupid
 
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