Small Wonder : The Amazing Story of the Volkswagen Beetle

by Nelson, Walter Henry

• ISBN13: 9780837601472
• ISBN10: 0837601479
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-06-01
• Publisher: Bentley Pub

Summary

First published in 1965, "Small Wonder: The Amazing Story of the Volkswagen Beetle" is the most successful book of all time on the Beetle. Originally selling over 1.2 million copies, "Small Wonder" is often quoted as the source by many subsequent histories. Now, Bentley Publishers is releasing this new edition, with new foreword by the author, in honor of the new Beetle and the renewed interest in the original Beetle. Given complete access to Volkswagen archives in both Germany and the U.S. at the time of writing, author Walter Henry Nelson gives a highly detailed account of the Beetle's development and success. Nelson gives many behind-the-scenes details and glimpses into the people who shaped the company, providing a rich picture of how and why Volkswagen and the Beetle evolved as they did. Filled with numerous personal tributes and valuable insights, "Small Wonder" provides the reader with a better understanding of the Beetle's "cult car" status.

Table of Contents

Preface to the New Edition	vii	(4)
Acknowledgments for the Revised First Edition	xi
CHAPTER ONE: THE YEARS OF PREPARATION The Volkswagen: the car "nobody wanted," except people; its development summarized. How it all began: the early years of its designer, Ferdinand Porsche. His plans for a "people's car" described. His racing-and luxury-car career at Austro-Daimler, German Daimler, and Steyr. The start of his private design bureau. Stalin makes him a tempting offer. The first two Volkswagen prototypes emerge, only to be killed.	3	(24)
CHAPTER TWO: HITLER AND THE CHANGED ATMOSPHERE The new Reich Chancellor and his interest in small--and big--cars. Ferdinand Porsche meets "the Fuhrer" to discuss racing and the VW. Jakob Werlin, Baron von Oertzen, and the P-car racers. How the German automakers start to oppose the development of a Volkswagen.	27	(24)
CHAPTER THREE: THE NAZIS LAY THEIR PLANS The Nazis form a Volkswagen Development Company. VW prototypes are built and tested--to death? Porsche tours the U.S.A., meets Henry Ford, and recruits engineers. How the Nazis plan to finance their schemes by means of an elaborate "layaway savings" program. The search for a factory site. Count von der Schulenburg fights to save his lands. Plans for an "ideal Nazi workers' city" are announced.	51	(22)
CHAPTER FOUR: THE WAR YEARS Hitler dedicates the factory, names Porsche's car the KdF-Wagen. Construction of the "auto-city" and the factory begins. War breaks out and interrupts it. The VW "jeep" and the amphibious VW are built. The bombers come, the end draws near. Porsche fights to save machinery for the future. As U.S. troops approach, rioting breaks out in Wolfsburg; finally the Americans restore order to save twenty children.	73	(21)
CHAPTER FIVE: YEARS OF IMPROVISATION The British arrive as conquerors and become VW enthusiasts. Why they begin to produce cars and the countless problems they face. Dismantling threatens. What life in Wolfsburg was like between 1945 and 1948. Porsche's own postwar years: interrogations; an invitation to build a Volkswagen for France; arrest and imprisonment; freedom and exoneration. Porsche's association with the Nazis evaluated. His last visit to Wolfsburg.	94	(21)
CHAPTER SIX: NORDHOFF AND THE NEW BEGINNING The past reviewed: could the VW have ever succeeded under Hitler? The man who made it a success, Heinz Nordhoff, introduced: his early life and accomplishments; his fate in the immediate postwar years. Ho the British searched him out and why Nordhoff accepted the job at VW. His arrival and its effect on morale. The VW executives he meets at the plant and their stories.	115	(23)
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE YEARS OF FULFILLMENT 1948 dawns--a crucial year for Germany. The currency reform and its effect. Nordhoff introduces a policy of austerity, resists all pressures to change the Beetle, begins to formulate long-range plans. He makes improvements and introduces trucks. He builds new VW factories. The rise from the ruins accelerates. The story of the "Volkswagenwerk miracle"--how the first ten million cars were built. The man who provided the leadership: Nordhoff evaluated.	138	(34)
CHAPTER EIGHT: COALS TO NEWCASTLE Early efforts to introduce Volkswagens into the United States. The arrival of Will van de Kamp, Geoffrey Lange, and Stuart Perkins. The controversial, colorful van de Kamp meets those who become VW's American distributors. How it all began and how the end of the beginning is reached.	172	(31)
CHAPTER NINE: DETROIT MEETS THE BEETLES The arrival of Carl Hahn in the U.S.A. Herman Bruns and the VW service-and-parts policy. The dealer network is built up, requirements set. Sales rise. How VW survived Detroit's "compact" counterattack. Volkswagen and the "black and gray" markets in Beetles. Stuart Perkins assumes leadership; his contribution and future challenges analyzed.	203	(22)
CHAPTER TEN: A MATTER OF TASTE Volkswagen's first reaction to advertising: who needs it? How and why it all started and how it got as good as it is. The fight among agencies to get the VW account. Why did VW select the agency it did? Just what is honest advertising really? Some examples of VW ads as illustrative of VW advertising policies. What admen and the public think of the ads. What effect have U.S. VW ads had on advertising in general?	225	(19)
CHAPTER ELEVEN: VOLKSLORE The VW breeds a global "Volkslore." The stories of VWs that float and fly and compete in rallies and races. Who are "typical" VW owners? Snob appeal and the development of VW clubs. Volkswagen jokes and anecdotes.	244	(24)
CHAPTER TWELVE: FROM WOLFSBURG WITH LOVE The story of Volkswagen's exports, of VW factories abroad, and of the VW shipping fleet. The Volkswagen's success in Brazil, Mexico, Australia, South Africa, and elsewhere. Ben Pon and how VW's export program started.	268	(7)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: CRAFTSMANSHIP AND THE NEW CARS Wolfsburg, city of the Volkswagen, described--now and when it was first built. The priest who defied the Gestapo. Wolfsburg grows under freedom and prosperity. Those who saved for the car under the Nazis launch their fight with Nordhoff: how it progressed and was finally resolved. Volkswagenwerk "goes public" and finally finds its owners. The new model VWs--what they are like, why were they built, how are they doing, what do they portend? Just how good a car is a Volkswagen?	275	(24)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: POSTSCRIPT 1970: TRANSITION TOWARD TOMORROW Volkswagenwerk AG and the West German economic recession of 1966. Nordhoff's illness. The search for a successor. Enter Kurt Lotz. The death of Heinz Nordhoff and the passing of a generation. Lotz, the new chairman: his early life; rapid rise in business; his family and personal life; his philosophy of the future. Transforming a motor vehicle factory into an international, multi-line corporation. The creation of a new "division": Audi NSU. Changes in management and corporate structure. Research and Development. VW in America since 1966. Management and structure changes at VWoA. Formula Vee racing and the "dune buggy." The VW in other international markets since 1966. "Transition toward tomorrow."	299	(26)
Bibliography	325	(4)
APPENDIX	329	(32)
Table 1: Production	331	(1)
Table 2: Sales, Including Exports	332	(1)
Table 3: U.S. Registrations	333	(1)
Table 4: Capital Investments, Personnel, Payroll	334	(1)
Table 5: Introduction of Volkswagenwerk's Various Models	335	(1)
Table 6: Production Milestones	336	(1)
Table 7: VWoA Retail Sales History through 1997	337	(2)
History of the Volkswagen Beetle (Type 1)	339	(6)
How to Tell the Age of a Volkswagen	345	(16)
Index	361