On this date, March 7, 1934, Hitler delivered the opening speech at the Berlin auto show

On this date, March 7, 1934, a politician delivered the opening remarks at the International Automobile and Motorcycle Exposition in Berlin. That politician's name was Adolf Hitler.

In his speech, Hitler prattled on with justifiable national pride about the construction of the Autobahn, and the invention of the automobile and the engine, all attributable to German engineers. And while boasting about Daimler and Benz, he set the stage for a new vehicle that the average German could afford: "The German Government desires that the German Volk take an animated interest in motorized vehicles, and it follows that the economy must design and build the right vehicle for the German Volk," which foreshadowed the creation of affordable transportation for the masses. In June, just a few months after his Berlin speech, Hitler contracted Ferdinand Porsche to design a car for the Volks—a Volkswagen—that would cost only 1,000 Reichsmarks.