This
book chronicles the development of the Volkswagen Golf, a car that
would ultimately surpass the ubiquitous Beetle in production numbers
and become one of the most popular automobiles in history.
The replace the Beetle, Volkswagen finally settled on a water-cooled,
front mounted engine and front-wheel drive configuration. Mechanically,
the car was all German influenced by Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Porsche.
The body design of the first successful cars came from the Italian
designer Giugiaro.
Included are many interesting
photographs from the VW archives that document the many early designs
and prototypes that developed into today's Volkswagen models.
From the 1.5-liter Rabbit of 1975 to the 240hp R32, the Golf has gone
through several major changes in the last 30 years. The widely imitated
front-engine, front-drive design has changed little, however.
Through
management crises and model changes, the Volkswagen company has persevered
to become one of the most successful car makers of all time. The beetle
may have brought the company up, but it was the Golf that saved it.
