Vw Beetle

The definitive illustrated history of a true world beater. Discover the full story of the amazing VW Beetle--from pre-war KdF-Wagen to today's New Beetle. The book features a color technical appendix illustrating chronologically the major design modifications made during the Beetle's lifetime. Full-color studio photography of 26 milestone models.

The world's most popular car, Volkswagen-or "the People's Car"-has earned its place in history. The VW Beetle chronicles the development and rise to worldwide popularity of the famed "punch-buggy," invented in Germany in the 1930s. This peculiar history includes the makings of all models, engines, and body styles through 1967-and the key people responsible for its development.

Restoring 1949-1967 VW Beetles to original factory condition in the simplest, most cost-effective way possible is the goal of this illustrated guide. Sections include tear-down of the unrestored vehicle, part evaluation and buying, engine rebuilding and restoring, vintage accessories, and more.

See the entire chronology of air-cooled Volkswagens in The Complete Book of Classic Volkswagens, a beautifully illustrated overview of one of the oldest and best-known foreign car brands in America.

High-performance tweaks for the most popular cars and motorcycles. Tips and techniques from the experts will help you maximize the horsepower, handling, and appearance of your car.

"Your complete guide to all aspects of restoration including chassis, body, engine, suspension, steering, brakes, electrical equipment, interior trim and exterior trim"--Page 4 of cover.

Sometimes achieving big things requires the ability to think small. This simple concept was the driving force that propelled the Volkswagen Beetle to become an avatar of American-style freedom, a household brand, and a global icon. The VW Bug inspired the ad men of Madison Avenue, beguiled Woodstock Nation, and has recently been re-imagined for the hipster generation. And while today it is surely one of the most recognizable cars in the world, few of us know the compelling details of this car’s story. In Thinking Small, journalist and cultural historian Andrea Hiott retraces the improbable journey of this little car that changed the world. Andrea Hiott’s wide-ranging narrative stretches from the factory floors of Weimar Germany to the executive suites of today’s automotive innovators, showing how a succession of artists and engineers shepherded the Beetle to market through periods of privation and war, reconstruction and recovery. Henry Ford’s Model T may have revolutionized the American auto industry, but for years Europe remained a place where only the elite drove cars. That all changed with the advent of the Volkswagen, the product of a Nazi initiative to bring driving to the masses. But Hitler’s concept of “the people’s car” would soon take on new meaning. As Germany rebuilt from the rubble of World War II, a whole generation succumbed to the charms of the world’s most huggable automobile. Indeed, the story of the Volkswagen is a story about people, and Hiott introduces us to the men who believed in it, built it, and sold it: Ferdinand Porsche, the visionary Austrian automobile designer whose futuristic dream of an affordable family vehicle was fatally compromised by his patron Adolf Hitler’s monomaniacal drive toward war; Heinrich Nordhoff, the forward-thinking German industrialist whose management innovations made mass production of the Beetle a reality; and Bill Bernbach, the Jewish American advertising executive whose team of Madison Avenue mavericks dreamed up the legendary ad campaign that transformed the quintessential German compact into an outsize worldwide phenomenon. Thinking Small is the remarkable story of an automobile and an idea. Hatched in an age of darkness, the Beetle emerged into the light of a new era as a symbol of individuality and personal mobility—a triumph not of the will but of the imagination.

The Beetle’s full story, from concept in pre-war Germany through 55 years of production & 22-million sales around the world. Colour features on 21 milestone models. Includes many sidebars & panels detailing Beetle facts, figures, feats, advertising, & more. The complete book of the Beetle.