Ivan Hirst

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Major Ivan Hirst (March 4, 1916 - March 15, 2000), was a British Army officer who was instrumental in reviving Volkswagen from a single factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, into a postwar major automotive manufacturer.

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[edit] Education

Born in Saddleworth, Yorkshire, England. Hirst's family had founded the Hirst Brothers Company, a manufacturer of watches, clocks and optical components in Oldham. Hirst studied optical engineering at the University of Manchester, prior to forming his own company repairing optical instruments.

[edit] World War II

Hirst was commissioned into the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in the 1930s. A Captain on the outbreak of the Second World War, he transferred to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps as a Mechanical Engineering Officer in November 1941 and to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers on its formation in November 1942. He landed in Germany in the summer of 1945 along with his colleague, Colonel Charles Radclyffe, when the British Army took control of the town of Wolfsburg. The original intention was to scrap the factory and use the proceeds as war reparations. But the young Briton found that the factory could be used to produce cars for the British Army. Hence, Hirst and Radclyffe laid the foundations for Volkswagen's successful automotive business.

Much of the machinery had survived the bombing having been stored in various outbuildings. Cars were put together with old-stock and whatever could be found, many using parts from the Kubelwagen until 1946, when the factory was producing about 1000 cars a month.

Hirst was fascinated by the potential of a four wheel drive "Commanderwagon" which he was confident would sell to the French and Canadian foresty industries. He also liked the proven versatility of the Volkswagen chassis as used by Amber Bud, Karman and other coachworks.

Hirst ended the war as a Major.

[edit] Post War Specials

Two of the most significant 'special' cars developed while under the control of the British were the 'Radclyffe Roadster' and a four-seater convertible, both custom-built by Rudolph Ringel. The Radclyffe was a two-seater roadster that was the transport of Colonel Charles Radclyffe over the summer months of 1946. The four-seater convertible was Ivan Hirst's personal transport.

Karmann were asked to build a four-seater, and Hebmüller were asked to make a two-seater roadster. The design of the roadster was not unlike the 'Radclyffe Roadster', with similar hood and side windows, the rear engine cover, however, was a hand-formed panel and not a converted front bonnet as was the Radclyffe version.

[edit] Memories

Hirst had strong memories of his time at Wolfsburg which he would share with his local VW enthusiasts. The one strongest memory he would refer to regularly was the smell of the fish glue used to fix the cardboard headlinings in early cars. In later life he became somewhat more reticent about his involvement, often saying that it was only by chance that he had been involved and that if he hadn't done it someone else would have.

He also told friends that he was in later life haunted by memories of what he had been shown in some of the SS run areas of the Wolfsburg complex.

Being a keen amateur photographer his home was littered with photos taken in the early days at Volkswagen, including one really early photo of a prototype coupe which was very similar to the Hebmüller cars of the early 1950s.

[edit] Presentation of the model cars

Maj. Hirst once showed me a scale model of a VW Beetle that he had been presented with by Volkswagen. He was under the impression that only four such apprentice pieces had been made by VW. The first, a model of a Kdf-Wagen had been presented, during WWII to Adolf Hitler. The second and third models, this time of an early Split-Window Beetle, were presented to Maj. Hirst and another colleague, and the final one was in the Wolfsburg museum. Maj. Hirst's model is now a part of the REME museum collection.

[edit] Later life

Ivan Hirst died on 15 March 2000, aged 84. Just one month earlier, he had appeared in an edition of the British Top Gear magazine, which revealed the story of how Major Hirst revived the Volkswagen car plant. He was also photographed driving a new front-drive, front-engined Beetle in the magazine.

[edit] References


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