VW (air-cooled): Books - History and Models

The Complete Book of Classic Volkswagens : Beetles, Microbuses, Things, Karmann Ghias, and More

The classic air-cooled Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is regarded as one of the most important and well-engineered vehicles of the twentieth century. It was the most popular imported car in America in the 1960s, and before that it enjoyed a humble beginning as "the people's car" in its native Germany.
In its heyday, the rounded Beetle was produced at a rate of more than one million per year. Today, with more than 23 million cars built, the Beetle holds the record as the most-produced passenger car of all time. But the Beetle is only one part of The Complete Book of Classic Volkswagens.

This book encompasses the evolution of the popular Beetle as well as other variations of Volkswagen's air-cooled cars, vans, and trucks. Thoroughly illustrated, this is an invaluable reference to Volkswagen's collectible and iconic cars.
The rest - from Type 2 vans, pick-ups, and campers to the Type 113 "Super Beetle" - is included here. If you're the owner of a Volkswagen or if you just love their iconic look and you're interested in their evolution, this book deserves a place on your bookshelf.

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Volkswagen Cars 1948-1968

The story of the VW Beetle along with other air cooled variants. Using an excellent mix of period and modern pictures by acknowledged VW photographer Ken Cservenka, Richard Copping skilfully traces the history of the German 'people's car' from 1948 to 1968.

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Volkswagen - The Air-Cooled Era in Colour

The incredibly popular sixties design classics, with their enduring appeal, the original air-cooled Volkswagen cars and Transporters are fully explored in this fascinating book.
A unique picture-led chronicle of the Volkswagen story through the fifties and sixties, this book makes extensive use of the artwork from contemporary promotional literature for a real 'retro' feel. A must have for motoring enthusiasts and VW devotees alike.

Features
- Re-lives the spirit of the fifties and sixties
- Includes rarely seen and valuable archive material
- Includes substantial sections covering the VW of the moment - the Transporter
- Unique format and retro style of presentation
- Includes the VW 1500/1600 models which are rarely covered in print
- An interesting text that questions long held opinions
- A collectable treasure in its own right for all VW enthusiasts.

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VW Advertising - The Art of Advertising the Air-Cooled Volkswagen

From the '50s to the '70s Volkswagen's publicity and advertising material was among the very best issued by any motor manufacturer. Following the Beetle's launch brochures in the late 1930s, the 1950s saw extraordinarily strong artwork images from the brush of Bernd Reuters and other artists, depicting Saloon, Cabriolet and Transporter in such a way as to suggest more streamlined, spacious and powerful VWs than the reality.

In the '60s the American advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach took over, combining stark photography with sharp, witty text and endowing the Beetle with a cult status that took production to over a million for the first time, but VW's new Type 3 and Type 4 models were failing to impress the public, and only the arrival of the Golf saved the day.

Author Richard Copping has a vast collection of VW material and in this book he provides a selection of some 400 of the most striking or interesting images used by the company to sell us its products, taking in every model and variant.
The accompanying text guides us through the changing styles of the publicity material as well as through the range of vehicles and thus through the story of Volkswagen in the period.

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Histoire complète des Volkswagen classiques

The Volkswagen Beetle is one of those rare legendary models that have left their mark on the history of the automobile. Its incredible career also makes it the car that has remained in production the longest, from its humble beginnings as a "people's car" in Germany in the late 1930s until 2002 and the definitive end of its production in Mexico.

In total, more than 23 million Beetles have left the assembly lines in several countries, not to mention other legendary air-cooled Volkswagen models, including the famous Combi, Minibus and Karmann-Ghia.

All these models and a few others are described in detail in "Histoire complète des Volkswagen classiques", a true reference work for knowing everything about these collector's cars that have become icons of the 20th century.

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VW Personenwagen mit Heckmotor und Luftkühlung 1938-2003 (Typenkompass)

This reference book presents all air-cooled models produced by Volkswagen between 1938 and 1985.

It presents the VW KdF, Beetle, Kübelwagen, Schwimmwagen, the 1500 and 1600 (Typ 3), Karmann-Ghia, 411/412 and other models.
Each type is presented with a photo, a historical description and a technical sheet.

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Die klassischen Volkswagen: von Wolfsburg in die Welt

The classic Volkswagens are the air-cooled cars that developed from the humble beginnings of the first "Beetle" (VW Type 1) and became the epitome of the German economic miracle, especially during the 1950s and 1960s. Whole vehicle classes such as panel vans and minibuses, convertibles and coupes, notchbacks, hatchbacks and station wagons were derived from the original concept.
The classic Volkswagens conquered not only Germany and Europe, but the whole world and especially North America, where the "Beetle" or "Bug" blossomed into the most popular import vehicle.

"Die klassischen Volkswagen" traces this success story. Lavishly illustrated, the book by the American classic car expert John Gunnell shows how the air-cooled Volkswagen conquered the world from Wolfsburg and how the Americans took the initially ridiculed, spartan exotic cars to their hearts.
The period between the Second World War and the first oil crisis is brought back to life in the motor press and advertising materials. All model years have their place here.

German edition of the book "The Complete Book of Classic Volkswagens".

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