The Lego Group was founded in 1916 by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark when he bought an already existing woodwork shop. During the years of economic depression in the late 1920’s, Ole Kirk began producing miniature versions of his products as design aids. This inspired him to begin producing toys in 1932: wooden pull toys, piggy banks, cars and trucks. The name LEGO was first used in 1934. It was a contraction from the Danish phrase leg godt, meaning "play well."
In 1947, they obtained samples of interlocking plastic bricks produced by the company Kiddicraft. In 1949 they began producing similar bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks" and renamed later in 1953 in Lego Mursten, or "Lego Bricks."
Starting in 1955, LEGO started to produce Volkswagen models. In 1955 the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, gave LEGO the task to produce a promotional model that could be given to potential customers and buyers of the VW Beetle as a present. The scale VW was made with a plastic body with cut out windows and good details of front and rear hood, door seams and rear oval window with air louvers. The chassis and bumpers were diecast metal and white rubber tires were used. A plastic window insert was used and has the shape of the oval window and the chassis stamped LEGO. The LEGO VW was later released with the larger rear window as well.
