The Volkswagen Beetle might be one of the most popular cars in the world, with its distinctive look setting it apart from the competition. But you don't see many Jews owning one, due to its history with one Adolf Hitler.

Alas, Hitler had a lot to do with the Beetle's creation. He wanted a car to be built for the German masses, much like the Model T was for Americans (speaking of virulent antisemites...) Even the name "Volkswagen" literally means "people's car". These Germans are anything but subtle.

Here is where it gets fuzzy; the first Beetle was produced in 1938. Eight years earlier, Josef Ganz, a Hungarian-born engineer, designed a prototype that was very similar. By 1933, the oxymoronic Standard Superior car was already in production in Germany.

Hitler saw the model and apparently liked it... but didn't like its Jewish inventor. Ganz was arrested, released, and got out of Germany. By then, Hitler hired Porsche to design his "people's car". Now, there is absolutely no evidence that Ganz's car was a direct influence on the Beetle, but...

Just look at it!