The Volkswagen Bus Book

Malcolm Bobbitt is the author of more than twenty marque histories and general automotive books, a number of which have appeared as foreign language editions. As contributor to several periodicals and newspapers, his work and photographs have appeared worldwide. A member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, Society of Automotive Historians, and the Society of Authors, Malcolm is acclaimed for his books on Volkswagen, including an earlier VW Bus book published in 1997 by Veloce. Married to Jean, Malcolm s activities include public speaking, classical music, collecting motoring ephemera and getting behind the wheel of his early British-built CitroA n DS.

Introduction & acknowledgements 1) A Dutch Affair traces the origins of the Transporter and Dutchman Ben Pon s influence on the project 2) Shaping the Transporter getting the vehicle into production 3) Technology & Evolution details the various modifications made to the vehicle range in terms of styling and engineering 4) The Variants looks at the different commercial applications to include pick-up, van and microbus 5) Fifty years plus & traces current production of the classic Type 2 Transporter in Brazil 6) Home from home discusses the Transporter as the ultimate camper and provides information to the diverse number of converters and their products 7) The Type 2 ethos surfing, overland treks, the hippy scene and more 8) Living with a Transporter buying advice in respect of the split-screen Bulli, the Bay window models and the later series; restoration; general maintenance requirements and day-to-day running of a Type 2 model 9) The custom scene comments about customising a Transporter and what needs to be done to ensure a reliable vehicle that meets with safety legislation; a look at the many weird and wonderful custom conversions 10) Setting the trend a brief exposAe of early rivals to the Bulli, and how the Transporter influenced the development of other Appendix 1: Production and sales figures Appendix 2: At-a-glance chronology Appendix 3: Specifications to all models Appendix 4: Clubs Appendix 5: Specialists Appendix 6: Bibliography