Bug: The Strange Mutations of the World's Most Famous Automobile

Phil Patton

Simon and Schuster, 2002 - Technology & Engineering - 248 pages

The in-depth history of a mass produced, affordable car that began in 1930's Germany and took over the world to became an icon The BUG story is of Nazi propaganda, brilliant innovations in automotive design, and of its strange and startling transformations into cultural icons as varied as Ken Kesey's magic bus, 'Herbie' in Disney's The Love Bug, and Charlie Manson's dune buggy... The Volkswagen was a project dear to Adolph Hitler's heart, and in his first public appearance as Chancellor, he promised a 'real car for the German people', a mass-produced car that would be as affordable as a motorcycle. But after the war, the Bug moved beyond Germany with a revolutionary advertising campaign and a huge potential market, becoming a phenomenal success. Phil Patton tells the fascinating story of how the Bug was designed and developed in the 1930s by the legendary German automotive designer, Ferdinand Porsche, and how it became an icon, wholly removed from its Nazi past. And in 1998, executives from Germany unveiled the New Beetle, whose only assembly plant is in Mexico. Patton shows how a whole new strategy was devised for the company - selling cars is show business.

Contents

• Section 1: 1
• Section 2: 7
• Section 3: 39
• Section 4: 67
• Section 5: 79
• Section 6: 121
• Section 7: 141
• Section 8: 149
• Section 9: 165
• Section 10: 169
• Section 11: 185
• Section 12: 203
• Section 13: 217

About the author

Phil Patton was born Lewis Foster Patton in Durham, North Carolina on March 23, 1952. He received a bachelor's degree in English and history from Harvard University in 1974 and a master's degree in comparative literature from Columbia University in 1975. He worked briefly as a fact-checker for Esquire and as the editor of Delta's in-flight magazine, but decided to become a freelance writer. He wrote about technology and design for several publications including Art in America, Esquire, Smithsonian, Architectural Digest, and Wired. For many years he wrote on design for the Home section of The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine. His first book, Razzle-Dazzle: The Curious Marriage of Television and Professional Football, was published in 1984. His other books include Open Road: A Celebration of the American Highway, Made in U.S.A.: The Secret Histories of the Things That Made America, Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51, Bug: The Strange Mutations of the World's Most Famous Automobile, and Michael Graves Designs: The Art of the Everyday Object. He taught in the design criticism program at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and helped develop several museum shows, as either a curator or a consultant. He died from complications of emphysema on September 22, 2015 at the age of 63.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Bug: The Strange Mutations of the World's Most Famous Automobile
• Author: Phil Patton
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2002
• ISBN: 0743202422, 9780743202428
• Length: 248 pages
• Subjects: Technology & Engineering / Automotive; Technology & Engineering / Industrial Design / Product; Transportation / Automotive / Foreign / History; Transportation / Automotive / General; Transportation / Automotive / History