Volkswagen Beetle - Type 1, The Traditional Beetle

Osprey AutoHistory Series.

It would come as no surprise to anyone to say that the Volkswagen Beetle was the world's most familiar and popular car. Since its production in the late 1940s with its traditional kafer-like shape, approaching 20 million have been made and you can be forgiven for thinking that because of its widespread popularity no true car enthusiast ought to be interested in it. Real enthusiasts are interested only in the rare, exotic or just expensive, surely. Not so. In spite of its history it has become interesting and collectable. Early versions are now rare and costly, special versions such as the Hebmuller Drop Head Coupe, even more so. Here is a potted Beetle history which concentrates on the pre-production history in the late 1930s, and early post war production, the car's model development and Bill Boddy's personal experiences with a number of cars in the nineteen-fifties. No book of this size can hope to tell the 'full' story of such a car, but this history sports many fresh photographs, some in colour, and succeeds in adding even more to the Beetle enthusiast's data bank, with specification details and subsequent major model change between 1955 and 1976. No Wolfsburg dashboard glove box, nor VW buff's bookshelf, should be without it.