9780837616957 - Battle for the Beetle di Ludvigsen, Karl (3 risultati)

Condizione: Good. Book is in Used-Good condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain limited notes and highlighting.

Trade paperback. Condizione: Very good. xii, 466, [2] pages. Foreword by Ivan Hirst. Endnotes. Bibliography. Illustrations. Art Credits. Index. About the Author. Karl E. Ludvigsen (born April 24, 1934) is a journalist, author, and historian of the automotive industry and motor sports. He graduated Cum Laude from Phillips Exeter Academy, and attended both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying engineering, and Pratt Institute where he matriculated in industrial design. Ludvigsen began his automotive writing and editing for MIT's Tech Engineering News in 1953. He has served as technical editor of both Auto Age and Sports Cars Illustrated, east coast editor of Motor Trend and editor of Car and Driver. As an author, co-author or editor, Ludvigsen has some four dozen books to his credit. Four Ludvigsen books concern the Chevrolet Corvette, one of them that was credited with sparking the Corvette hobby. He has written three times about Mercedes-Benz, twice about its racing cars. His books on the latter subject have won the Montagu Trophy (once) and the Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot Award (twice), both recognizing outstanding automotive historical writing. In 2001 he again received the Cugnot award from the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH) for his book about the early years of the Volkswagen, Battle for the Beetle. In 2002, he was named a Friend of Automotive History by the SAH, the Society's highest award. The Volkswagen was the showpiece of the achievements of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. Backed by the Führer himself, it struck fear into the hearts of all who owned and managed Europe's car industry. Designed to 'out-Ford Ford', the Beetle would dwarf their efforts with its low price and high production. After World War II what was to be the fate of this odd bug-shaped car and its colossal bomb-battered factory? Legend has it that the victors underestimated the potential of the car that would become the automotive icon of several generations, indeed the world's most-famous and most-produced automobile. Karl Ludvigsen's interviews and researches in British, German, American, Australian and Belgian archives prove the contrary. His hitherto-untold story of why and how they didn't get the factory makes revealing and engrossing reading. History buffs and followers of World War II and its aftermath will relish the way Ludvigsen depicts afresh the creation of the VW by renowned and "untouchable" engineer Ferdinand Porsche, the building of its factory by Hitler crony Robert Ley, 'a notorious womanizer who drank too much,' and the wartime career of the huge Wolfsburg plant as the prime contractor for the jet-powered V-1 flying bomb, the world's first successful cruise missile. Car enthusiasts who consider themselves well-read will be absorbed by Ludvigsen's disclosures of the national and company mindsets that affected their respective attitudes toward the radical Volkswagen. Most astonishing are his revelations of the deep interest of Ford in the VW factory. Far from rejecting the VW plant, Ford proposed that it be merged with its existing German operations. But the executive charged with the mission (Ludvigsen reveals his identity) failed to follow through. Ludvigsen traces the Beetle's impact on the world of autos, from the Chevrolet Corvair and Hino Contessa to rear-engined Fiats, Skodas and Hillmans. We learn why the most startling decision made by VW chief Heinz Nordhoff was not to change his car's design. And we are brought right up to the 1998 launch of VW's New Beetle. For those who wish to comprehend its amazing impact on the auto market, Battle for the Beetle is the essential source. Later printing or Edition (originally published and copyrighted in 2000).

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