It’s even more familiar than you’d think at first blush. The Nazis literally used preorders of the Beetle to fund their war effort, grifting their own citizens in the process.
Nobody from the thousands of subscribers ever received the car. In 1939 war started and VW production switched to Kubelwagen and other military vehicles. Many subscribers kept paying till 1945 believing in final victory and not wanting to lose the money they invested in the program so far. In 1950 group of subscribers sued Volkswagen demanding compensation. After 12 years of a trial, they received a credit towards a new VW that amounted to ~12% of a price of a base VW model, or 5-times less in cash.
It’s even more familiar than you’d think at first blush. The Nazis literally used preorders of the Beetle to fund their war effort, grifting their own citizens in the process.
https://www.krause-papierwerke.com/post/kdf-wagen-savings-booklet