A HISTORY of the Volks-wagen Beetle – the car saved by Army officer Ivan Hirst, from Marsden – is to be given at Huddersfield University.
The Birth of the Beetle, an illustrated lecture, will be presented by Classic Car magazine founder Jonathan Woods on Tuesday.
Mr Woods has written more than 35 books, including his award-winning Wheels of Misfortune, which charts the decline of the British motor industry.
The Beetle, the world’s biggest- selling car design, was developed by Ferdinand Porsche in 1938 under instruction by the Nazi Party.
Only 800 were produced before the outbreak of the Second World War, when the plant at Wolfsburg, central Germany, became a Luftwaffe repair shop.
The factory was discovered near destruction by instrument maker Maj Hirst and the Allies in 1945.
Maj Hirst, who died at his Marsden home in 2000, and his men revived the plant, producing 1,000 cars a year later.
Saddleworth-born Maj Hirst worked at the VW factory until 1949.
He returned to the Colne Valley in 1976.
The university event has been organised by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Dr John Fieldhouse, an institution panel member, said: “The Beetle has become one of the world’s most iconic vehicles and it has a large and affectionate fan base.”
The lecture takes place at 7.30pm in room CWG/11 of the Canalside West Building on Firth Street
For more information call Dr Fieldhouse: 01484 472 698.
