Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet

Malcolm Bobbitt is a freelance writer who mainly chooses to write about automotive subjects. With several books to his credit, he also contributes to a number of magazines. An avid motoring enthusiast, Malcolm owns two classic British-built Citroens, a Traction Avant and an early DS, as well as a Fiat 500c Topolino. Living in Cumbria on the edge of the Lake District, the author's other interests include walking, travel, industrial and transport archaeology, classical music, fine wines and collecting motoring books.

A(c) Malcolm Bobbitt & Veloce Publishing Acknowledgements 4 Introduction 6 1 FROM MAYBUG TO BEETLE 7 Ancestry 7 Project 12 10 The Ganz affair 11 Enter Karmann 12 Strength through joy 13 Wolfsburg, war and the KA belwagen 18 The post-war period and the first Cabriolets 24 Karmann and Volkswagen approval 28 2 THE CABRIOLET EVOLVES 34 Early modifications 42 Production increases 48 A new generation of Cabriolets 56 Into the last decade 60 3 LIVING WITH A BEETLE CABRIOLET 81 Buying advice 81 Specialist advice 84 Customising the Cabrio 85 4 THE BEETLE REBORN 89 Concept 1 91 Cabrio conversions 96 Appendix 1 Production figures 99 Appendix 2 Original specifications 100 Appendix 3 Colours 102 Appendix 4 At-a-glance chronology 103 Appendix 5 Specialists, suppliers, clubs & bibliography 104 Index 110 A(c) Malcolm Bobbitt & Veloce Publishing