The VW Beetle: A Production History of the World's Most Famous Car, 1936-1967 [Mass Market Paperback]

Once you move on to Part II you can follow changes that turned the little car from Wolfsburg into a world-beater. Years 1945 - 1967 are covered with meticulous detail to even the smallest change. Each year is broken down by chassis numbers, engine numbers and the actual dates that the Beetle was produced. A paragraph discuses the particular production year in general and it is further detailed month by month with all the modifications and improvements that took place. I.E.. August 4, 1955 - Chassis/Unit Number 1-0929746 - The generator pulley is secured with a 31mm bolt instead of a 36mm bolt, making the 36mm ring wrench obsolete and allowing the spark plug wrench to do double duty. After reading this book you'll be able to go up against almost any VW historian in the world. This book is an amazing accomplishment that you just won't be able to put down.

(1) Price says Beetle production ended in Germany in 1974 to make way for the water-cooled Volkswagens. Wrong! Production ended in 1978 with a special edition Beetle for the British market called the Last Edition. The standard Beetle was imported from Germany into the US through the 1977 model year. Furthermore, assembly of the Super Beetle-based Cabriolet continued at the Karmann factory (Germany) through January 1980. In fact, no Beetle was ever officially imported into the US from Mexico.

(2) Price says the Mexican-made La Grande was imported from Mexico. As stated above, no Beetle was ever officially imported into the US from Mexico. Furthermore, La Grande was a special edition Super Beetle for the US market in 1975. No Super Beetles were made anywhere but in Germany.

(3) Price lists the Bus, the Fastback and the Squareback as Beetle-based. Anyone worth their salt would not lump a Type 2 (Bus, Transporter, etc.) or a Type 3 (Fastback, Squareback, etc.) as being Beetle (Type 1) based. In fact, the original intent for the Type 3 was to phase out and replace the Beetle.

(4) In another photo, Price states these cars are obviously not intended for the US market because they have the so-called elephant's feet tail lights and a flat windshield. The standard Beetles of 1973-77 had flat windshields and the extra large tail lamps.

I would disagree with Price's premise of Hitler and Porsche being the two most important figures in VW history. I would place Major Ivan Hirst ahead of Hitler since (a) it was Hirst's duty to get the factory up and running so it could eventually be given back to Germany (oh, and it was offered to Henry Ford who rejected it, by the way) and (b) no Volkswagens--NONE--were built while Hitler was alive. KdF-wagen prototypes and war vehicles were built during Hitler's life. Volkswagen didn't actually start until after WWII despite the lineage to KdF and NSU.

And I found all this just leafing through.

But then again, what would one expect when the title of the book states "1936-67"? No wonder VW Trends has such a narrow focus most of the time.

Find a book by Seume, Meredith, Koch, et al if you want an accurate history.