Custom VWs - Beetles, Bugs, Kit Cars & Buggies (Colour Family Album)

Authors: Andrea & David Sparrow, Hardbound, 96 Pages, ISBN: 9781901295047, 1st Edition, 1998

When we were taking photographs and gathering information for the Colour Family Albums on the Beetle and the Volkswagen Bus, we visited lots of VW events around Europe, and found plenty of beautiful Beetles - original and restored - that perfectly fitted the bill for those books. We also came across a wonderful array of customised Beetles which were just too special to ignore. Some were specific makes of Buggy or Roadster, others individual customisations. The imagination and creativity that had gone into building them, and the attention to detail, were quite remarkable.

This cannot always be said of customised cars. Nor can it always be said of marque devotees that purists and customisers live together in perfect harmony: VW owners, however, seem to have found a good balance.

This book does not set out to catalogue every customisation, alteration and addition. Some of these cars are well known; others are not. Some are based on standard customising products, others are the highly individual work of an enthusiastic owner. Some are sophisticated, others downright silly. What they all have in common is the much-loved Beetle as their base.