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Small Wonder: The Amazing Story of the Volkswagen Beetle (Volkswagen) | 
 enlarge | Author: Walter Henry Nelson
Publisher: Bentley Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $11.42
You Save: $6.53 (36%)
New (14) Collectible (2) from $11.42
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 160043
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 378
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0837601479
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.222
EAN: 9780837601472
ASIN: 0837601479
Publication Date: June 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Book Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Too corporate June 13, 2007
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" December 16, 2004
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
"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.
 Extremely insightful on a car that shaped the industry. May 2, 2003
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
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...
Small Wonder- Great result November 14, 2002
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
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.
The amazing story of the VW is still applicable in 2001 October 25, 2001
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
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