Service & Owner's Manuals

The literature shown on this page is not for sale; it's all from my personal collection. Robert Bentley factory manuals are available from numerous sources, such as Robert Bentley Publishers and eAutomobilia.com. Owner's manuals are harder to find, but can be obtained on the secondary market - swap meets, ebay etc.

If you need help finding anything, let me know. I can usually point you in the right direction.

 

Factory Manuals

Volkswagen Workshop Manual, Types 11, 14, and 15: 1952-1957 (Beetle and Karmann Ghia) 
by Volkswagen of America, Softcover, 8 3/8 by 11 in., 704 pages, over 1300 figures, illustrations and diagrams, Volkswagen Part No. LPV 800 136, ISBN 0-8376-0389-7, value= $110.00 still available new as a reprint

Volkswagen Workshop Manual Types 11, 14, and 15 -1958-1960 Beetle and Karmann Ghia
by Volkswagen of America, Softcover, 8-3/8 in. by 11 in., 1016 pages, over 1400 figures, illustrations and diagrams, Volkswagen Part No. LPV 800 137, ISBN: 0-8376-0392-7, value= $110.00 still available new as a reprint

Volkswagen 1200 Workshop Manual: 1961-1965 Type 11, 14, and 15 (Beetle and Karmann Ghia incl. Coupe Convertible) by Volkswagen of America, 8 1/2 by 11 in., 1364 pages, 1622 illustrations and diagrams, 10 pgs of electrical wiring diagrams, Volkswagen Part No. LPV 800 121, ISBN 0-8376-0390-0, value= $110.00 still available new as a reprint

Volkswagen Beetle and Karmann Ghia Official Service Manual Type 1: 1966-1969 by Volkswagen of America, 8 1/2 by 11 in., 512 pages, 959 illustrations and diagrams, 6 pgs of wiring diagrams, Volkswagen Part No. LPV 997 169, ISBN 0-8376-0416-8, value= $40.00 still available new as a reprint

Volkswagen Super Beetle, Beetle and Karmann Ghia Official Service Manual Type 1: 1970-1979
by Volkswagen of America, 8 1/2 by 11 in., 466 pages, 720 illustrations and diagrams, 27 pgs of wiring diagrams, Volkswagen Part No. LPV 997 109, ISBN 0-8376-0096-0, value= $40.00 still available new as a reprint

Volkswagen Types 1,2,3,4: 1969-1979 Official Factory Microfiche Archived on CD-ROM
including Type 181 (Thing)

by Volkswagen of America, 2 CD-ROM set, Windows 98/NT/2000/ME/XP
ISBN: 0-8376-0827-9
Price: $99.95 

In a word: disappointing, I'm sorry to say.
It literally looks like they photocopied a manual (on a crummy copier) and converted it to PDF. The image quality is poor, with nothing in the way of grayscale, to the point where in many cases they're unusable. Nowhere near the quality shown in their paper manuals. The text is not OCR'd, so you cannot copy and paste it, obviously so nobody infringes on their copyright. (fair enough). As well, the platform is created in such a way that you cannot run the program without the CD in the drive, it cannot be installed on more than one computer, and you cannot loan it to your buddy.
Wiring diagrams are black and white, which is too bad, since most of the point is to illustrate wire colors.
Much of the info appears to be missing. For example, I was all excited when I saw it had a section on "Type 1 / Model 14 window installation". This manual contains nothing of the sort. Clicking that phrase links to a description of "clip mouldings", and that's all. It has a photographed sequence on a Thing window, but not for Ghia. I'm sure I'm not mistaken as to what "Model 14" means.
For the life of me I couldn't find any information on rear wheel bearings at all, and I can site other examples too...
Upshot: Save your money, and buy the paper version.

1969 Volkswagen Technical Guideline Manual

for use by dealership service departments. 

1970 Volkswagen Technical Guideline Manual

for use by dealership service departments.

 

Owner's Handbooks

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1956 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1957 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1958 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1961 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America
Softcover, mint condition original = ~$50.00

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1965 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL PAGES courtesy of Ronald Schellberg

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1966 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1969 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America
Softcover, 5 1/4; in. by 8 1/4; in., mint condition original = ~$50.00

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL PAGES

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1970 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America
Softcover, 5 1/4; in. by 8 1/4; in., ISBN?, mint condition original = ~$50.00

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1971 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America
Softcover, 5 1/4; in. by 8 1/4; in., ISBN?, mint condition original = ~$45.00

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1972 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America
Softcover, 5 1/4; in. by 8 1/4; in., ISBN?, mint condition original = ~$40.00

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1973 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America
Softcover, 5 1/4; in. by 8 1/4; in., ISBN 0-8376-0628-4, c.v.= $25.00 reprint available new, mint condition original = ~$30.00

Volkswagen Type 14 (Karmann Ghia) 1974 Owner's Manual by Volkswagen of America
Softcover, 5 1/4; in. by 8 1/4; in., ISBN 0-8376-0632-2, c.v.= $25.00 reprint available new, mint condition original = ~$30.00

Aftermarket Manuals

Haynes 1954-1979

Chilton's 1970-1981

 

 

Other Service Related Literature

1958 parts book

Every single piece of the car cataloged and shown in exploded diagrams. In invaluable resource for restoration.

1972 parts book

ETKA - Elektronik Teile Katalog

Software used by VW/Audi dealers in place of the old parts book. Highly recommended! It will usually have all VW & Audi parts shown in exploded diagrams with tables of part numbers. You can usually find bootleg copies on ebay.