Cars - Germany: Illustrated History Books & Guides

Deutsche Cabriolets 1945-2020

The convertible is the original form of the automobile. Initially seen as a cheaper alternative to the closed sedan, it soon became a luxury item. Iconic models like the Mercedes Benz 300 SL or the BMW 507 became coveted symbols of the 1950s, before manufacturers like Ford, Opel, and VW made open-top driving affordable for the masses.

Pages of the book "Deutsche Cabriolets 1945-2020"

This richly illustrated chronicle provides a comprehensive overview of all convertibles built in Germany, from the post-war VW Beetle to the futuristic Audi R8 and the current Mercedes-Benz SL-Class.

Product details

Author:	Werner Oswald, Halwart Schrader, Eberhard Kittler, Joachim Kuch
Details:	512 pages, 10.6 x 9 x 1.38 in (27 x 24 x 3.5 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	500 b&w and color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2024)
ISBN:	9783613044418

Kult-Karren - Unsere Autos der 60er, 70er und 80er

The cars of our childhood have a special place in our hearts - and that will always remain the case. Whether it is a VW Beetle, a Trabant or a W123: all of these vehicles are now cult. They do not necessarily have to have been expensive or technically sophisticated to evoke fond memories. Over 500 photos present the most beautiful and unforgettable vintage and classic cars that were built between the construction of the Wall and the time of reunification.

Expertly described and lovingly portrayed, the book allows you to relive the car dreams of days gone by. It includes legends from Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the USA and many other countries.

Product details

Author:	Joachim Kuch
Details:	224 pages, 12.2 x 9.25 x 0.79 in (31 x 23.5 x 2 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	550 b&w and color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2022)
ISBN:	9783613044791

Deutsche Autos - Legendäre Modelle seit 1945

Starting with the cars of the economic miracle period through to the current vehicle generations, this ultimate standard work shows the most important models and series of German car manufacturers from the last eight decades. Inspiration, engineering skills and the pursuit of ever more modern, more powerful and at the same time safer vehicles have given the market a fascinating variety of models since the Second World War. Unforgettable designs such as the Messerschmitt Kabinenroller or the BMW Isetta, the Porsche 911 or the S-Class from Mercedes-Benz set important visual and technical milestones in vehicle development. And progress continues unabated ...

Pages of the book "Deutsche Autos - Legendäre Modelle seit 1945"

Updated new edition of the top seller (more than 70 000 copies sold)
More than 500 German car types
Legends and classics of automotive history

Product details

Author:	Roland Löwisch, Joachim Hack
Details:	256 pages, 10.8 x 8.9 x 0.94 in (27.5 x 22.5 x 2.4 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	many color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Heel-Verlag GmbH (D, 2021)
ISBN:	9783966641470

Die Deutsche Autobahn - Erlebnis, Mythos, Lebensader

It is an economic driver, an export hit, a dream road and a permanent construction site: the German Autobahn. A visually stunning look at all its facets!
This illustrated book goes in search of what really goes on over 13 000 kilometers across Germany: from the history of the creation of our Autobahn to the spectacular architecture and the breathtaking landscapes along the routes to the people "behind it all": from truckers to toilet cleaners.

Product details

Author:	Karl Johaentges
Details:	192 pages, 11.4 x 10.6 x 0.83 in (29 x 27 x 2.1 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	210 b&w and color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Frederking & Thaler (D, 2021)
ISBN:	9783954163434

Gehen Sie mit der Konjunktur - Die Fünfziger rollen weiter

A look into the family album of the Federal Republic: Alexander F. Storz shows pictures from the time of the economic miracle, when every car made its owner proud.
Parked on the side of the road, sometimes dirty and dented, sometimes overloaded, sometimes optically refined with dubious success or badly neglected, but in any case an exquisite panopticon of everyday automobile life on the streets.

Here the 1950s come to life once again from the perspective and through the camera lens of those who experienced them. Authentic everyday shots of a time of optimism and boundless optimism.

Product details

Author:	Alexander Franc Storz
Details:	200 pages, 10.6 x 9.25 x 0.71 in (27 x 23.5 x 1.8 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	327 b&w and color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2021)
ISBN:	9783613044050

Deutsche Autos 1885-1920

Before the First World War, there were at times more than 170 manufacturers bringing automobiles onto the German market. Hardly anyone knows their names anymore, but Halwart Schrader takes his readers on a journey back in time to the Schnauferl era.

Pages of the book "Deutsche Autos 1885-1920"

It is dedicated not only to the beginnings of familiar brands such as Daimler, Benz and Opel, but also to the almost forgotten ones such as Brennabor, Dürkopp, Adler & Co. There are also explanations of technical terms from the ancient car era, data tables and almost 800 photos and illustrations: the opulent documentation of a long-gone era and a wonderful addition to the series.

Product details

Author:	Halwart Schrader
Details:	480 pages, 10.4 x 9.1 in (26.5 x 23 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	800 b&w and color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2020)
ISBN:	9783613043138

Gasolin: Nimm Dir Zeit - und nicht das Leben

The petrol stations with their distinctive architecture and the old pump with the red and white Gasolin logo were widespread and well-known in Germany until the 1970s.
Some people will certainly still remember the Gasolin advertising slogan "Take your time - and not your life", which was emblazoned on many trucks. However, hardly anyone will know that the history of the Gasolin company goes back to the 1920s.

The author Ulrich Biene has meticulously examined contemporary documents and old photos and researched the history of the Gasolin brand.
In this book he provides information about the history of the brand from its beginnings to relics that can still be discovered today. The company history is rounded off with images that have in part never been published before.

Product details

Author:	Ulrich Biene
Details:	120 pages, 9.7 x 6.9 x 0.67 in (24.5 x 17.5 x 1.7 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Delius Klasing Verlag GmbH (D, 2020)
ISBN:	9783667119346

Deutsche Autos 1920-1945

This new edition presents "German Cars" in a concise form, with modern design and many new colour photos. It is based on the renowned standard work by automotive historian Werner Oswald.
His precise style and extensive expertise remain unchanged, as he explains the development of the German automotive industry from the early 1920s to the end of the Second World War.

The book shows which companies sold, produced or assembled vehicles in Germany during this period. Oswald includes not only major manufacturers but also many small and almost forgotten brands.

The presentation combines clear technical information with careful historical and economic context, creating a compact reference volume that offers both an overview of key models and insights into lesser-known parts of automotive history.

Pages of the book "Deutsche Autos 1920-1945"

Product details

Author:	Werner Oswald
Details:	592 pages, 10.4 x 9.1 in (26.5 x 23 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	1204 b&w and color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2019)
ISBN:	9783613041424

Von Käfern, Trabis und Kavalieren der Strasse - Wie West- und Ostdeutschland mobil wurden

With the oil crisis of 1973 and the emerging environmental movement, the 1970s took the carefreeness out of driving. While in the West many cars were literally rusting away, in the GDR they remained an object of longing that people had to wait a long time for.

The urge to drive to the West was all the greater when the Wall fell in 1989. Since the Mercedes stars of the West were now within reach, the fall of the Wall also marked the end of Eastern brands and models.

Alexander F. Storz guides the reader through the automotive history of the West and the East. Using private photos from the 1950s to the 1980s, he captures real life on Germany's streets.

Product details

Author:	Alexander F. Storz
Details:	224 pages, 10.4 x 9.1 in (26.5 x 23 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	300 b&w and color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2019)
ISBN:	9783613041660

Deutsche Autos 1945-1975

With "Deutsche Autos", the main work of the legendary car chronicler Werner Oswald is finally being republished in a condensed form, with a modern, attractive design and new color images.

Pages of the book "Deutsche Autos 1945-1975"

What has not changed is his inimitable style and his unrivalled expertise, with which he tells the story of the German automobile industry from its beginnings to - in this first volume - the mid-1970s.
He meticulously lists everything that left the factory halls of the German automobile manufacturers during this period, creating clarity down to the last niche model.

Product details

Author:	Werner Oswald
Details:	520 pages, 10.4 x 9.1 in (26.5 x 23 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	700 photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2018)
ISBN:	9783613041028

2 Takte - 4 Räder : Die Geschichte des Zweitaktmotors im Autobau

Siegfried Rauch was the Nestor of German automotive journalism in the post-war period, having worked intensively on two-stroke construction as technical director and development engineer.
An unfinished manuscript dealing with this highly interesting technology was found in his estate.

Pages of the book "2 Takte - 4 Räder : Die Geschichte des Zweitaktmotors im Autobau"

After years of intensive research, Frank Rönicke has now revised, updated and completed Rauch's last book - a precise and detailed technical documentation that describes the invention and development of the two-stroke engine and how it found its way into German automobiles.

Product details

Author:	Siegfried Rauch, Frank Rönicke
Details:	184 pages, 10.4 x 9.1 in (26.5 x 23 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	245 b&w and 34 color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2016)
ISBN:	9783613038622

Motor-Kritik-Testbuch: Reprint der Originale von 1938 und 1939 - 108 Auto- und Motorradtests

In the pre-war period, Motor-Kritik was THE specialist magazine for technically interested car and motorcycle drivers. Until he had to vacate his post during the Nazi era, the editor-in-chief was Josef Ganz, the legendary designer, advocate of light and safe cars and designer of the "Volkswagen" called the May Beetle.
However, Motor-Kritik also continued to provide its readers with extraordinarily thorough car and motorcycle tests.

Pages of the book "Motor-Kritik-Testbuch: Reprint der Originale von 1938 und 1939 - 108 Auto- und Motorradtests"

In this volume you will find a reprint of the two large test books that appeared shortly before the Second World War. This has resulted in a unique reference work in which you will find all the technical data, consumption and comparison values, prices and driving reports for the common four- and two-wheelers of the late 1930s.

There are a total of 108 test cards, as well as information about the magazine, about editor-in-chief Ganz and about the car and motorcycle scene of those days.
A treasure trove not only for fans and connoisseurs - the Motor-Kritik test book is both a contemporary document and a unique collection of data.

Product details

Author:	Josef Ganz
Details:	264 pages, 10.4 x 6.9 x 1.06 in (26.5 x 17.5 x 2.7 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	380 photos and drawings
Language:	German
Publisher:	Heel-Verlag GmbH (D, 2015)
ISBN:	9783958431522

So rollten die Siebziger - zwischen Prilblumen und autofreien Sonntagen

The seventies were not least characterized by two oil crises, which had far-reaching consequences for the automobile industry in particular.

Pages of the book "So rollten die Siebziger - zwischen Prilblumen und autofreien Sonntagen"

After his successful review of automobiles in the fifties and sixties, the author Alexander Franc Storz now turns to the seventies, tells of the "car-free Sundays" and how these in no way tarnished the relationship between the Germans and their "favorite child, " lovingly shows and describes the everyday cars as well as the rare exotics, and gives atmospheric accounts of everyday life on the road, of traveling and of camping.

Product details

Author:	Alexander Franc Storz
Details:	176 pages, 10.4 x 9.1 in (26.5 x 23 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	100 b&w and 149 color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2014)
ISBN:	9783613036338

Automobile in den 30er Jahren - Aufnahmen aus dem berühmten Bildarchiv Dr. Paul Wolff & Tritschler

Hardly any other technical development has changed our lives in the last 100 years and had such a lasting impact on them as the automobile, which - after its first major use during the First World War - developed into the modern means of transport in the 1920s and 1930s.
However, at that time it was still a luxury item of high social importance that only a few wealthy people could afford.

This period of rapidly developing individual transport before the Second World War was captured in countless, unique Leica photographs by the photo studio Dr. Paul Wolff & Tritschler in Frankfurt (M), which are unparalleled and document all areas of road traffic in the twenties and thirties: for example, the development stages of the automobile; manufacturing, automobile exhibitions, car advertising, the first car vacations, automobile tournaments, beauty contests, automobile racing and exhibitions.
Werner Schollenberger supplements his brief texts with a biography of Dr. Paul Wolff and the subject of photography.

Product details

Author:	Werner Schollenberger
Details:	144 pages, 8.25 x 11.8 in (21 x 30 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	382 b&w photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	EK-Verlag GmbH (D, 2013)
ISBN:	9783882558982

Deutsche Kleinwagen 1945-1960 (Typenkompass)

This reference book presents all microcars manufactured in Germany between 1945 and 1974, including models from Goliath, Kroboth, Lloyd, Messerschmitt, DKW and Trippel.

Pages of the book "Deutsche Kleinwagen 1945-1960"

Each type is presented with a photo, a historical description and a technical sheet.

Product details

Author:	Hanns-Peter Baron Thyssen-Bornemissza
Details:	128 pages, 8.1 x 5.5 in (20.5 x 14 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	124 b&w and 23 color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2012)
Series:	Typenkompass
ISBN:	9783613034631