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Title: VW Transporter & Microbus Specification Guide 1950-1967 by David Eccles ISBN: 1-86126-509-3 Publisher: Motorbooks International Pub. Date: 01 August, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Eccles Bus Book
Comment: Lots of facts and production info. Reads like a series of VW mag articles (i.e.- lightweight) Many great color photos, but too many of the more interesting ones are postage-stamp size! The author had a pretty good thing going here, but at only 95 pages, came up about 15 pages short of a really good VW Bus book! To his credit, there are no pages wasted on chopped, lowered, hand painted or "Cal-Look" bullis!There are a few better VW bus books avail....before you'll need to buy this one.
Rating: 3
Summary: Interesting, but a little on the light side...
Comment: This book tends to wander towards historical review and anecdotal commentary - a common ground that seems well travelled by now. I would like to have seen Mr. Eccles differentiate this title more. If he had, this would be a nice addition to a library of books.
I expected the content to include more specifications as the title of this book implies - and there is much more that he could have covered that currently is only available from alternative sources. For example, the "Without Guesswork" series is out of print (which includes nearly all the specs you would find useful) and he fails to include color swatches (which was a major disappointment for me).
The pictures in this book are on the small side. And there are details in the photographs that are not pointed out or discussed. For example on some models, you see original equipment features that make you wonder what they are - and no reference to them in the text. Many of the pictures are too small and muddy, detail is lost that would be very nice in larger view. As a coffee table book, this book would have benefited from a larger format for better reproduction of pictures.
There are no model-specific production figures. Nor is the information about pricing of options complete. I inferred from the text and illustrations that you could not purchase a deluxe from the Brazilian factory - but I should not have to guess, this is a specification guide.
I did find the information about optional equipment interesting - but have no idea what these items might look like, there are no illustrations to accompany some of his references. He assumes that the reader has been attending European VW shows - and is familiar with some of the busses, people and groups he references. Not everyone knows the Bulli Kartei.
Further, Mr. Eccles refers to documentation - and it would have been nice for him to include a portion of that documentation if he found it interesting enough to note. For example, when speaking about unique models like the Binz, he refers to optional equipment brochures. I would have liked to have seen a page as an example.
I think on a book like this you should not worry that your English audience doesn't know German. I think it is interesting what the models were called in German, like Sondermodell - and I would also include a translation to add interest.
I found some of his stories generalized - as he misses some unique features of the vehicle that are shown in the pictures. This is almost as if he is writing a review of a picture someone sent him, rather than him having seen the bus in person and spoken with the owner.
On the plus side, he does have some nice stories about unique models. But again, this is more appropriate for a historical book than a specification guide. I did find a reference to the destination code that I have not found elsewhere - my bus was exported to Central America (ZA).
Overall, I was a bit disappointed in this title - but found it an interesting read after I got over the initial disappointment.
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Title: Vw Bus Custom Handbook by Laurence Meredith ISBN: 1870979478 Publisher: Veloce Publishing Pub. Date: 01 June, 1994 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Volkswagen Bus (Enthusiast Color Series) by William M. Burt ISBN: 0760313199 Publisher: Motorbooks International Pub. Date: 01 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: VW Bus Type 2 : Camper, Van, Pickup, Wagon by Malcolm Bobbitt ISBN: 1901295370 Publisher: Veloce Publishing Pub. Date: 01 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive 19 Ed: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot by John Muir, Peter Aschwanden, Tosh Gregg ISBN: 1566913101 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: 09 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: How to Modify Volkswagen Bus Suspension Brakes & Chassis for High Performance (Speedpro Series) by James Hale ISBN: 1903706149 Publisher: Veloce Publishing Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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