A Hilarious, Hippy trippy book!
Title: "How to Buy a Used VW in Europe, Keep it Alive and Bring it Home"
Written by: John Wilkes
Illustrated by: Inge Vogt
Published: 1973
Pages: 145
Summary: This excellent book was written in a similar fashion to that of John Muir's "Complete Idiot Book" (a.k.a. How to keep your Volkswagen Alive). It delivers exactly what the title says (though perhaps only useful for the time period of the early 1970's) and so much has changed since then (currencies, customs, even entire countries).
Although the information contained in this book is quite DATED for the period, it's definitely a great read and a rare surviving window into the nomadic "hippy" lifestyle of the early 1970's. (The cover shows a cartoon of a barefoot couple hitchiking in Germany with a 'splittie' bus stopping to give them a ride HA!)
The illustrations are quite fun to look at, they are somewhat caricaturish in nature but very detailed and thoughtful with respect to the VW's and their surroundings. They're at least as much fun as the Muir book's illustrations though a bit different.
The author delivers one of the best and most true lines I've ever read in a VW book when he mentions John Muir's book and even recommends purchasing a copy! He basically says (paraphrasing) Muir's book is already the standard for VW repair manuals therefore he will not attempt to re-write what Muir has already so expertly written!
Lots of other fun details too, like how to read want ads for VW's written in German newspapers, where to camp, what to do about insurance, how to build a custom bed for a VW bus, where to go for help in various countries, various Euro auto clubs (like ADAC), etc.
This book still pops up occasionally on Internet auction sites and used bookstores so keep your eyes peeled! My local public library used to have a hardback version but I guess they purged it! I managed to find a paperback verison on line.
How to Buy a Used VW in Europe Keep it Alive & Bring it
- SeeBlauKafer
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What a rare book that one is! My friends and I found a whole stash of them in a used bookstore, still brand new! My favorite part is his high praise for the original split window Beetle with its 25hp engine. He said you could buy one for as little as $20! He shows disdain toward each incremental displacement increase.
- SeeBlauKafer
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Hi Baron, Yes I seem to recall a quote from that book regarding splits similar to " ... these are getting hard to find, but if the moon and stars are aligned correctly you might get lucky." Or words very close to that.Blue Baron wrote:What a rare book that one is! My friends and I found a whole stash of them in a used bookstore, still brand new! My favorite part is his high praise for the original split window Beetle with its 25hp engine. He said you could buy one for as little as $20! He shows disdain toward each incremental displacement increase.
Our public library used to have a copy and my father and I would occasionally venture in to check it out. One day we stopped by to find it was no longer available! I hate I missed the book purge on that one. I was eventually able to get a paperback version from an online auction.
'66 Type I