Volkswagen Bug Book [Hardcover]

Dan Ouellette (Author), Quellette (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1999

For everyone who ever drove one, crammed into one, or plays Punch Buggy when one drives by, here comes "The Volkswagen Bug book." Filled with 200 photographs of everybody's favorite car, this book is a high-design trip back to when the Beetles cruised the highways, Flower Children roamed the streets, and Love and Bug were forever linked.

Author Dan Oullette combed the archives of the official Volkswagen museum in Wolfsburg, Germany, for the best historical photos. Back home, he collected photographs of remarkable, vintage VWs as well as some less-than-pristine-but-nevertheless-lovable models.

"The Volkswagen Bug Book" is filled with personal anecdotes, detailed history, and little-known facts about the car that zoomed into America's heart. For new Bug owners, there is a chapter devoted to Bug II.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Angel City Press; 1st. Edition edition (May 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883318009
• ISBN-13: 978-1883318000
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 9.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,195,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT CAR ! GREAT BOOK!, May 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Volkswagen Bug Book (Hardcover)

OK, so I got an advance copy. I can't help it if I got it at a book convention. I couldn't resist. This is a wonderful book. There's not a spec or motor description to be found. This book is all about the love of the Bug. And the history. and the advertising. But most of all about the way people get attached to their Buglets and drive 'em forever. And everyone who drives one has a story. Even the people who don't drive them have a story. This book features incredible design and pictures that I, a bug lover, have never seen before. And for Beetle 2 nuts, there's plenty of attention paid to it. The author has one of each. I think that's hilarious. His writing style is even funnier. Bug somebody to buy it! I'm thinking of actually buying one to give to my dad for Father's Day. After all, he bought me my first bug and we repaired it together. He'll like this bit of Bug nostalgia.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I really like this one!, August 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Volkswagen Bug Book (Hardcover)

I read about this in the New York Times and the LA Times, so I figured it was worth the buy. And it was! It's a very different approach to the Bug -- more about the people who buy it than the car itself. Ouellette is a great writer. somewhere between Gore Vidal and Garry Trudeau. A must for the Bug library.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Literate Love Song to the Bug, July 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Volkswagen Bug Book (Hardcover)

Not since ancient Egyptians bowed down to scarabs has such a devout cult worshipped a bug -- the Volkswagen Beetle, that is. Under-powered, unglamorous, a complete oddity when it first arrived in the U.S., somehow the VW Bug won the hearts, minds, and automotive budgets of thousands, and eventually hundreds of thousands of Americans. In this delightful "family album" of a book, Dan Ouellette has captured, in apt, economical prose and a witty selection of pictures, all the rapture and counter-cultural fun that Bugs brought to life on the road. His book may be the best record yet of the car that shocked Detroit and changed the way we relate to the automobile. It's a timely reminder that the affection Bugophiles feel toward the cars they have (or used to have) is powerful enough to jump over the generations and embrace VW's new Beetle. Poster boy Che Guevera decorated countless college dorm rooms, but the Bug brought a real revolution to our garages. If you love cars, design, history -- or the Bug -- you'll want this book.