Volkswagen: Model Documentation: Beetle to 412, Including Transporter (Boxer Engine Models) [Paperback]

Joachim Kuch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2003 | ISBN-10: 0837600782 | ISBN-13: 978-0837600789

The idea of building a car for the people was not new, but the success of such models has always been limited. At least until 1946, when the Volkswagen factory began building the first Beetles for public consumption. From then on the car just ran and ran.

"Volkswagen Model Documentation" begins by telling the history of Volkswagen after the war, how the British under Major Ivan Hirst rescued Porsche's concept from the rubble, and how Heinrich Nordhoff then steered the company to worldwide success.

Joachim Kuch then examines in detail the genesis and history of each Volkswagen model, beginning with the Beetle and Cabriolet (Types 1 and 151), through the Karmann Ghia (Type 14), Thing (Type 181), Transporter (Type 2, including air and water-cooled Campmobile and Westfalia), Type 3 (Notchback, Squareback, Fastback, Ghia), Type 4 (411, 412), and 914 (4 and 6 cylinder). Also included are separate sections detailing the important dates, changes, and milestones in each model's production run.

Packed with photographs, quotes from press and test articles of the time, and information from internal Volkswagen documents, "Volkswagen Model Documentation" tells the comprehensive story of all the Volkswagen boxer-engine models.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Bentley Publishers (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0837600782
• ISBN-13: 978-0837600789
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,201,812 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book, poorly organized, January 7, 2002

By 

J. Adney (Madison WI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Volkswagen: Model Documentation: Beetle to 412, Including Transporter (Boxer Engine Models) (Paperback)

I've now gone thru most of this book and I have to say that overall, I have very mixed feelings. The author clearly put a lot of work into researching the data to present here, but it is often not presented in a way that makes it easy to follow. There are also a number of places where statements are made which I believe are clearly wrong.

While the emphasis of the book is on the history of the various VW type 1, 2, 3 & 4 models and all their variations, changes, and improvements over the years, this information is seldom presented in a consistent way. Models are often discussed before we are introduced to them, and sometimes we are never introduced. There is continuing confusion between model year and calendar year, to the point that conflicting statements are made on different pages and only a knowledgable reader will know which to believe.

The book appears to have been written originally in German, so some of the problems may be in the translation, which may have been by someone with little knowledge of cars or VWs. There are numerous German language references, with careful English translations, but there are also a few terms which appear to be simple direct translations without regard to what the normal English language term might be. Most of the writing is fine, but there are a few places where a good editor's touch would have been useful.

A regular feature of the book is a table of changes for each model. This would be a wonderful thing if it were arranged by model year (when VW went by model years) rather than calendar year. These tables would also be more useful if they occurred with the text discussing that model, rather than a few pages later, after the discussion of the next model has already begun.

Nevertheless, the author does a good job of presenting the development of VW from the pre and post WW II years thru the end of the air cooled era, the crises they weathered, and many of the personalities involved. There are loads of interesting facts, as well as photographs I've not seen elsewhere, which would be of interest to many VW fanatics.