Volkswagen Books

A great book. I laughed all the way through the stories. Highly recommended.

It was a fun book filled with great stories about a great little. I hope to see a follow up to this one.

As a VW lover, I always searched for books about the cars. Rather than a repair manual. I often refer to Bug Tales as Chicken Soup for the VW Lovers Soul. The stories are heartwarming, funny and oh-so true, VW lovers will read this book and relate. So many times you will nod your head in agreement, recalling all of the times you dealt with the same trials and tribulations with your VeeDub. Mr. Klebahn has perfectly captured the essence of the VW and their owners. And what a wonderful gift he has made for everyone who has ever owned or loved a Volkswagen.

My first car was a 1962 VW Convertible and I owned two other bugs and a Karmann- Ghia, I've been a car enthusiast all my life. This book is a snorer. 25% of the book is as follows: "I always thought Bugs were cool." "I decided to buy one." "I found one." "I bought it." "I drove it for several years." "I loved it." "I had some not particularly interesting incidents while I drove it." "I had to sell it." "I miss it." There are, maybe, five or six mildly interesting stories most of which could be told about any car. Few of the VW specific stories are of interest.

It was a waste of money and time and it makes me suspicious of any reader reviews. From now on I'm going to be very suspicious of 5 Star reviews.

I learned 3 things after reading "Bug tales"; most people "name" their beloved Vw, everybody has a Vw story of some sort to tell and always take a throttle cable with you where ever you go! This has got to be one of the most interesting collections of Vw stories ever compiled. You never know what is going to happen next. I laughed, I cried and was always surprised at the things that can happen in, around and on top of a Beetle! What makes this book so nice is the author is a Vw fanatic like the rest of us and contributes a couple of pretty wild stories of his own. Like the time the throttle cable broke on his friends bug. Paul ended up sitting on the back bumper working the throttle while his buddy yelled "shift!" when he changed gears. Believe it or not they made it to the repair shop that way!

You'll love this book even if you don't own a Vw! "Four air cooled cylinders up" to the authors Paul Klebahn and Gabriella Jacob! END

This is a nice reference manual for the aircooled VW owner . Very helpful .

This is the manual the dealer sold to repair shops to work on the air-cooled VWs. It is the only repair manual you will need. We resale the manual in our VW repair shop for our VW owners.

Bentley manuals are the gold standard for VW repair. Absolutely the best VW service manual. A must for EVERY veedub garage.

The Volkswagen Official Service Manual Super Beetle has a lot of info.
Has some good NEWBY info.

In response to the first review. If you are to stupid to take an engine out of a VW please do not buy this book. Take your car to a qualified mechanic.

This book was excellent on doing on what I wanted to on a VW.
Since reading it I shall be able to finish my car.

It is a book with mostly general info, not much of a true restoration book such as what head light was used for this year, good general vw shop book.

This is an excellent book for anyone starting a Volkswagen restoration project, even for those with a Karmann Ghia and not a Beetle. The pictures were plentiful and very detailed. Definitely one of the best books I've seen on this topic, and a fun read as well.

Book was in good condition and has some good info.

Very nice text for working/restoring a Volkswagen Beetle, and even other air cooled relatives (mechanicals, headliner, door overhaul, and others). It is almost full color, which is a treat. The only problems I have with it is it is a soft cover (can get damaged easier) and some aspects are left to the experts. Oh, and it is in British English, which is not really a problem, and makes the text more interesting. ;-)

I loved Volkswagens ever since I was a lad of twelve, and so had a natural interest in this book. It starts off well enough - the story about the car's development in Nazi Germany was fascinating - but I soon tired of the excessively corporate style in the later years (details about various VW executives and their industrial philosophies) and didn't bother to finish it.



They used to give these out when you bought a Bug in the 1960's.

"Small Wonder" Review

The book "Small Wonder" was a very descriptive book about how the Volkswagen car as we know it today came about. It started when Ferdinand Porsche designed the "peoples car." When the car first came into production people didn't want such a different looking car. Some people thought it was ugly. There were a couple of different prototypes for the first VW car. A few were not excepted. The one that finally made it was different then the other ones because it had a window in back and a little different front end.
The cars were tested day after day. The cars were run until they didn't run any more. They kept running the cars until every problem was fixed. There were a lot of problems with the cars. Some were more serious then others. VW came out with 5 different cars first. They were the k, s, ss, ssk, sskl. . They were less powerful then most cars today . although smaller cars today have around the same amount of horse power and the cars are lighter.

I personaly do not like the book because of how detailed it is . If it was less detailed and more of a story then it would be more of what I like to read. If you like books that are really detailed and have a lot of facts then this is a good book for you. Also if you would like to know the history of the Volkswagen then it is also a good book for that.

In 1969, after I had purchased a new VW, the dealer sent me "Small Wonder" by Walter Nelson. I have just finished reading this book once again, 22 years later, and the book is as applicable in todays society as it was back when it was first published. This book is not only about the Volkswagon car. It contains a good deal of history surrounding pre-war Germany, the rise of Hitler to power, WWII, and reconstruction of the bombed out factory with American assitance following the war. Any person considering a sales career should read and study this book.

Just what I was looking for, and then some. This book starts at the very beggining, with the Beetle's mentor and VW's founder Dr. Porsche. (Did you know he was Czeck?)
It follow's the company's history (which is to say, the car's history) with just the right amount of coverage to its amazing journey from WWII to the car's EOP (end of production) in Puebla, Mexico. The cronology of this book is excellent. Worthdly of a movie script, this book is extremely enganging. As you read its history, names like Ford, Peugeot, Renault amongst others keep poping up narrating each one's influence on the company's history. (Did you know H. Ford II was offered the factory, for free?)
The only thing that I'd wish from this book was to have the author do either a follow up or a revised update. This book finishes with the beetle's last production car, but the company has certantly not. I wish I could get more info from the company's developement from that point forward, including the launch of the new beetle among other superb new VWs...

On of the world`s most informative and well resourced books on the VW history.Gives an insight to the early vehicle development,political hurdles that had to be overcome as well as the generic industrial resistence that was present.H.Nelson, a gifted author,not only writes about the "first row" people but also about production personnel and production techniques.
Sales and marketing development & especially how the U.S. market was won not only fascinates the VW buff but everyone who ever had anything to do with the automotive industry.

It was a gift for my son. He liked it very much. He just bought a 1979 VW Minibus.

It's great just like any of the other Bentley manuals I have owned. Very informative, great for the novice, yet technical enough for a pro.

When I first bought my '76 VW Westy, I purchased just about every kind of book i could find on them. This is the one I keep turning back to when I need to fix something. It has the most breakdowns and photos of any book i've found on the subject. It's broken down into categories but doesn't have an index, which is the only strike i have against it. Whatever you need to know is proably in there if you can find it.

Fantastic. But everyone knows that already! This is THE go to book if you are working on transporters. Beautiful exploded diagrams for even engine tin. Really great resource.

This manual is straight to business and a must have for any Bay window bus owner. Unlike the Muir manual this lacks the fun comments and is very down to business. All the information is there and fairly well laid out sorted by the different systems on the bus.

If for no other reason this is a must have just for the exploded diagrams of parts and the torque specs of ever single nut and bolt on the entire vehicle.

I have a VW Cabriolet 1989 and this is an excellent item, Must have for car owner. Detailed description of almost everything and pictures and images that really help!!

If you have this book it is an incredibly handy tool to have around in the garage or just in the house. Anything you need to know is in here.

This manual contains all the information you are likely to need to work on these cars. Detailed maintenance information, including the recommended maintenance schedule, is included.

I have had a Bentley manual for every VW I have owned in recent years, don't waste you money on anything else. This is the most complete and easy to read service manual you can buy.

I had purchased the Haynes manual at a local auto parts store earlier. But it was not focused enough on the Cabriolet. This book cost twice as much, it's true, but it covers details in the Cabriolet that were just not available in the other book. So if your time is worth more than 5 bucks an hour you will be ahead paying the extra money.

Most of the info needed to keep your VW diesel running, in an fairly-easy-to-understand format. No Bosch VE injector pump internals info at all, hence the four star rating.

I do my own work on the my car. It is a hobby. It is nice to be able to get the machine back together after you take it apart. It is even nicer when it runs again. This book helps me do just that.

This is one of the most complete but concise repair manuals I have ever used. Having been a mechanic for many years, I have had to make use of repair manuals constantly. Most are lacking in some aspect; not this one!

This is the most complete book on the vw diesel models Just about everything you might ever need to know is here. Well worth its price if you are serious about keeping your vw diesel.

I have been curious about automotive repair since I own a rabbit with 303,000 miles and counting. I needed to replace the rear struts and wheel bearings, glow plugs, lights, and oil pump. The book covers all areas well with very good details and drawings. However, for the glow plugs it says something stupid as "it's like changing a spark plug" and that was it. No it's not. It's pure hell. You have to remove the injector lines and hoses and the first 2 injectors to have some work space and replace the heat shields on the first 2 injectors when putting it back. Other that I have really enjoyed this book.

The VW Beetle: The New Custom Handbook wasn't for me.

I would recommend this book to anyone trying to define its preference on a beetle style.

Mostly pretty pictures of bugs but it gave me some great ideas on what I can do to mine. There is very limited information on how to actually customize anything but there is a lot of information about what can be done. For example: It gives you all the information on which bumpers look great with each style of VW but it will not tell you what you would need to do to install one.

I Own a copy of this book and have read it Cover to Cover many times, It is not so much a technical book, but more set around Showing you what can be done and what has been done with the VW beetle, If you are starting out a resto Project This is definitly the book for you.

This book will definitley get the creative juices flowing when you are trying to decide how you want your beetle restoration to turn out. It covers all the popular "looks", from the ageless Cal-look to the modern german look, as well as buggies, bajas and replicas.

A definite must have for a beetle fan.

If your a first time re-builder, or an old hand with Volkswagen Beetles/Ghias this manual is indispensable. It lays the car apart bit by bit in its pristeen condition, prior to the bath of oil, grease and road grime in its future. The photos are easy to see (if only the parts on my '68 were as clean) and close enough to determine the true shape. The only draw back to Bentley's Service Manual is the dependence on the official VW tools that probably don't exist outside of Germany or a hard core Bug builder's garage. It gives no alternative to using the tools listed, which could be frustrating for the novice. The main reason for having this book in your garage library is for he easy cookbook manner in which it is laid out and for the original specifications for the vehicles.

Everywhere on the net, I read this is the "service manual" to have... Unfortunately not enough info for me. I needed a specific tolerance, (end play for rear axle, for rear drum to disk brake conversion) and it didn't list it. I would have passed on it had I known it didn't have what I was looking for.

This is a well written book. Easy to understand instructions and how to sections. Covers all areas to do it yourself.

The Volkswagen Beetle and Karmann Ghia Service Manual had some good tips for me.

Just spend a little more on this book, than the other publications, because it is ten times more usefull. I wish I had bought it first.

A must if you are thinking about doing maintenance on your car.
Also includes fault codes if you have a scanner/Vag Com.

My Jetta with a 1.6 l engine, 75 kW gasoline, is not described in the book. Therefore, I will not use the manual much for maintenance and repair.

The manual was excactly as shown and shipped to me quickly. Very information and helpful when doing routine maintenance.

I have a 5005 New Jetta and my local VW shop was going to charge me over $200 just to change out my air filter. I decided to try and do it myself. I bought this manual for about $50 and I'm able to change the air filter and whole lot more. This manual explains everything from changing out wiper blades to engine overhaul in easy step by step instructions and clear pictures/diagrams. If you not to timid to try and save a few hundred dollars I would defiantly buy this manual.

This guide is thorough and well laid out. After reading the routine maintenance portion I realized that all of the tasks required were easy to perform by a shade tree mechanic such as myself. This will save me thousands of dollars over the life of this car considering my last service cost was in excess of $350 dollars. The most complicated task I saw for the 10,000 service that I had performed was the oil change! Of note - most products you'll need to use for service have to be ordered on-line or directly from VW including the oil.