In this period Volkswagen's publicity and advertising material was among the very best issued by any motor manufacturer. Following the Beetle's launch brochures in the late 1930s, the 1950s saw extraordinarily strong artwork images from the brush of Bernd Reuters and other artists, depicting Saloon, Cabriolet and Transporter in such a way as to suggest more streamlined, spacious and powerful VWs than the reality. In the '60s the American advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach took over, combining stark photography with sharp, witty text and endowing the Beetle with a cult status that took production to over a million for the first time, but VW's new Type 3 and Type 4 models were failing to impress the public, and only the arrival of the Golf saved the day. Author Richard Copping has a vast collection of VW material and in this book he provides a selection of some 400 of the most striking or interesting images used by the company to sell us its products, taking in every model and variant. The accompanying text guides us through the changing styles of the publicity material as well as through the range of vehicles and thus through the story of Volkswagen in the period.

Author Biography

With the best part of thirty VW titles to his name, ranging from Beetle books to Buses and Golfs, Richard Copping is regarded as a leading author and marque expert on matters Volkswagen in Britain and beyond. His credentials are impeccable, having learned to drive using a VW Beetle, he has owned Volkswagens ever since. A Concours judge, an avid collector of VW literature, and particularly so the oldest and rarest brochures, Richard has a monthly column in Volkswagen Camper and Commercial magazine, as well as regularly contributing features about some of the best VWs to be seen out and about.