
Thinking Small
The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagon Beetle
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $29.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Suzanne Toren
-
By:
-
Andrea Hiott
About this listen
Sometimes achieving big things requires the ability to think small. This simple concept was the driving force that propelled the Volkswagen Beetle to become an avatar of American-style freedom, a household brand, and a global icon. The VW Bug inspired the ad men of Madison Avenue, beguiled Woodstock Nation, and has recently been re-imagined for the hipster generation. And while today it is surely one of the most recognizable cars in the world, few of us know the compelling details of this car’s story. In Thinking Small, journalist and cultural historian Andrea Hiott retraces the improbable journey of this little car that changed the world.
Andrea Hiott’s wide-ranging narrative stretches from the factory floors of Weimar Germany to the executive suites of today’s automotive innovators, showing how a succession of artists and engineers shepherded the Beetle to market through periods of privation and war, reconstruction and recovery.
Henry Ford’s Model T may have revolutionized the American auto industry, but for years Europe remained a place where only the elite drove cars. That all changed with the advent of the Volkswagen, the product of a Nazi initiative to bring driving to the masses. But Hitler’s concept of “the people’s car” would soon take on new meaning. As Germany rebuilt from the rubble of World War II, a whole generation succumbed to the charms of the world’s most huggable automobile.
Indeed, the story of the Volkswagen is a story about people, and Hiott introduces us to the men who believed in it, built it, and sold it: Ferdinand Porsche, the visionary Austrian automobile designer whose futuristic dream of an affordable family vehicle was fatally compromised by his patron Adolf Hitler’s monomaniacal drive toward war; Heinrich Nordhoff, the forward-thinking German industrialist whose management innovations made mass production of the Beetle a reality; and Bill Bernbach, the Jewish American advertising executive whose team of Madison Avenue mavericks dreamed up the legendary ad campaign that transformed the quintessential German compact into an outsize worldwide phenomenon.
Thinking Small is the remarkable story of an automobile and an idea. Hatched in an age of darkness, the Beetle emerged into the light of a new era as a symbol of individuality and personal mobility - a triumph not of the will but of the imagination.
©2012 Andrea Hiott (P)2012 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Toyota Way (Second Edition)
- 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer
- By: Jeffrey Liker
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Multiple Shingo Award-winning management and operations expert Jeffrey K. Liker provides a deep dive into Toyota's world-changing processes, showing how you can learn from it to develop your own improvement program that fits your conditions. Thanks in large part to this book, managers across the globe are creating workforces and systems that produce the highest-quality products and services, establish and retain customer loyalty, and drive business profitability and sustainability.
-
-
A Must-Read Book
- By Sean Green on 07-30-21
By: Jeffrey Liker
-
Riding the Roller Coaster
- A History of the Chrysler Corporation: Great Lakes Books Series
- By: Charles K. Hyde
- Narrated by: Dave K. Lawson
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The book covers Walter P. Chrysler's life and automotive career before 1925, when he founded the Chrysler Corporation, to 1998, when it merged with Daimler-Benz. Chrysler made a late entrance into the industry in 1925, when it emerged from Chalmers and Maxwell, and further grew when it absorbed Dodge Brothers and American Motors Corporation.
-
-
Interesting
- By Jean on 02-20-15
By: Charles K. Hyde
-
Power Play
- Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century
- By: Tim Higgins
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tesla is the envy of the automotive world. Born at the start of the millennium, it was the first car company to be valued at $1 trillion. Its CEO, the mercurial, charismatic Elon Musk has become not just a celebrity but the richest man in the world. But Tesla’s success was far from guaranteed. Founded in the 2000s, the company was built on an audacious vision. Musk and a small band of Silicon Valley engineers set out to make a car that was quicker, sexier, smoother, and cleaner than any gas-guzzler on the road.
-
-
Good, but you've heard these stories before
- By Daniel on 08-18-21
By: Tim Higgins
-
Storied Independent Automakers
- Nash, Hudson, and American Motors
- By: Charles K. Hyde
- Narrated by: Mike McCartney
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hyde investigates how the relatively small corporations struggled in a postwar marketplace increasingly dominated by the giant firms of Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, which benefited from economies of scale in styling, engineering, tooling, marketing, and sales. He examines the innovations that kept the independents' products distinctive from those of the Big Three and allowed them to survive and sometimes prosper against their larger competitors.
-
-
Detailed and well researched, but dry.
- By Live for Music on 01-22-15
By: Charles K. Hyde
-
Into Thin Air
- A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
- By: Jon Krakauer
- Narrated by: Philip Franklin
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive, personal account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of Into the Wild. Read by the author. Also, hear a Fresh Air interview with Krakauer conducted shortly after his ordeal.
-
-
Audio version RUINED with new narrator!
- By Shannon Ellis on 02-06-16
By: Jon Krakauer
-
Go Like Hell
- Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans
- By: A. J. Baime
- Narrated by: Jones Allen
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the early 1960s, Ford Motor Company, built to bring automobile transportation to the masses, was falling behind. Baby boomers were taking to the roads in droves, looking for speed not safety, style not comfort, and Ford didn’t offer what these young drivers wanted. Meanwhile, Enzo Ferrari lorded over the European racing scene, crafting beautiful, fast sports cars that epitomized style.
-
-
Goldern age of racing
- By Dan R. on 01-26-15
By: A. J. Baime
-
The Toyota Way (Second Edition)
- 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer
- By: Jeffrey Liker
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Multiple Shingo Award-winning management and operations expert Jeffrey K. Liker provides a deep dive into Toyota's world-changing processes, showing how you can learn from it to develop your own improvement program that fits your conditions. Thanks in large part to this book, managers across the globe are creating workforces and systems that produce the highest-quality products and services, establish and retain customer loyalty, and drive business profitability and sustainability.
-
-
A Must-Read Book
- By Sean Green on 07-30-21
By: Jeffrey Liker
-
Riding the Roller Coaster
- A History of the Chrysler Corporation: Great Lakes Books Series
- By: Charles K. Hyde
- Narrated by: Dave K. Lawson
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The book covers Walter P. Chrysler's life and automotive career before 1925, when he founded the Chrysler Corporation, to 1998, when it merged with Daimler-Benz. Chrysler made a late entrance into the industry in 1925, when it emerged from Chalmers and Maxwell, and further grew when it absorbed Dodge Brothers and American Motors Corporation.
-
-
Interesting
- By Jean on 02-20-15
By: Charles K. Hyde
-
Power Play
- Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century
- By: Tim Higgins
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tesla is the envy of the automotive world. Born at the start of the millennium, it was the first car company to be valued at $1 trillion. Its CEO, the mercurial, charismatic Elon Musk has become not just a celebrity but the richest man in the world. But Tesla’s success was far from guaranteed. Founded in the 2000s, the company was built on an audacious vision. Musk and a small band of Silicon Valley engineers set out to make a car that was quicker, sexier, smoother, and cleaner than any gas-guzzler on the road.
-
-
Good, but you've heard these stories before
- By Daniel on 08-18-21
By: Tim Higgins
-
Storied Independent Automakers
- Nash, Hudson, and American Motors
- By: Charles K. Hyde
- Narrated by: Mike McCartney
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hyde investigates how the relatively small corporations struggled in a postwar marketplace increasingly dominated by the giant firms of Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, which benefited from economies of scale in styling, engineering, tooling, marketing, and sales. He examines the innovations that kept the independents' products distinctive from those of the Big Three and allowed them to survive and sometimes prosper against their larger competitors.
-
-
Detailed and well researched, but dry.
- By Live for Music on 01-22-15
By: Charles K. Hyde
-
Into Thin Air
- A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
- By: Jon Krakauer
- Narrated by: Philip Franklin
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive, personal account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of Into the Wild. Read by the author. Also, hear a Fresh Air interview with Krakauer conducted shortly after his ordeal.
-
-
Audio version RUINED with new narrator!
- By Shannon Ellis on 02-06-16
By: Jon Krakauer
-
Go Like Hell
- Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans
- By: A. J. Baime
- Narrated by: Jones Allen
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the early 1960s, Ford Motor Company, built to bring automobile transportation to the masses, was falling behind. Baby boomers were taking to the roads in droves, looking for speed not safety, style not comfort, and Ford didn’t offer what these young drivers wanted. Meanwhile, Enzo Ferrari lorded over the European racing scene, crafting beautiful, fast sports cars that epitomized style.
-
-
Goldern age of racing
- By Dan R. on 01-26-15
By: A. J. Baime
-
Fins
- Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit
- By: William Knoedelseder
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook chronicles the birth and rise to greatness of the American auto industry through the life of Harley Earl, an eccentric six-foot-five, stuttering visionary who dropped out of college and went on to invent the profession of automobile styling, thereby revolutionized the way cars were made, marketed, and even imagined. Harleys Earl’s story qualifies as a bona fide American family saga. It began in the Michigan pine forest in the years after the Civil War, traveled across the Great Plains on the wheels of a covered wagon, and eventually settled in Hollywood, California.
-
-
Great report of amazing history but could do without the WOKE lean..
- By joshua Shaw on 07-02-22
-
Land Rover
- The Story of the Car That Conquered the World
- By: Ben Fogle
- Narrated by: Rupert Farley
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As quintessentially British as a plate of fish and chips or a British bulldog, the boxy, utilitarian Land Rover Defender has become an iconic part of what it is to be British. It is said that for more than half the world's population, the first car they ever saw was a Land Rover Defender. It mirrors many of our national traits, stiff upper-lipped and slightly eccentric.
-
-
Amazing! Great sub-stories
- By Daniel Caballero on 04-30-24
By: Ben Fogle
-
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece
- A Novel
- By: Tom Hanks
- Narrated by: Tom Hanks, Peter Gerety, Natalie Morales, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the legendary actor and best-selling author: a novel about the making of a star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film...and the humble comic books that inspired it. Funny, touching, and wonderfully thought-provoking, while also capturing the changes in America and American culture since World War II.
-
-
I could never stay married to an actor,
- By PattyQB on 05-11-23
By: Tom Hanks
-
Elon Musk
- Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
- By: Ashlee Vance
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spirit of Steve Jobs and Moneyball, Elon Musk is both an illuminating and authorized look at the extraordinary life of one of Silicon Valley's most exciting, unpredictable, and ambitious entrepreneurs - a real-life Tony Stark - and a fascinating exploration of the renewal of American invention and its new makers.
-
-
The best of competence porn
- By Tristan on 08-20-16
By: Ashlee Vance
-
Tractor Wars
- John Deere, Henry Ford, International Harvester, and the Birth of Modern Agriculture
- By: Neil Dahlstrom
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before John Deere, Ford, and International Harvester became icons of American business, they were competitors in a forgotten battle for the farm. By the turn of the 20th century, four million people had left rural America and moved to cities. With the tractor, a shrinking farm population could still feed a growing world. Tractor Wars is the untold story of industry stalwarts and disruptors, inventors, and administrators racing to invent modern agriculture - a power farming revolution that would usher in a whole new world.
-
-
Really enjoyed this book having grown up on a farm with these tractors.
- By Lyle on 06-23-23
By: Neil Dahlstrom
-
Faster, Higher, Farther
- The Volkswagen Scandal
- By: Jack Ewing
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A shocking exposé of Volkswagen's fraud by the New York Times reporter who covered the scandal. In mid-2015 Volkswagen proudly reached its goal of surpassing Toyota as the world's largest automaker. A few months later, the EPA disclosed that Volkswagen had installed software in 11 million cars that deceived emissions-testing mechanisms. By early 2017 VW had settled with American regulators and car owners for $20 billion, with additional lawsuits still looming.
-
-
Solid writing, a bit dry
- By S. Yates on 07-03-18
By: Jack Ewing
-
Titan
- The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 35 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist. Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world’s richest man by creating America’s most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded "the Octopus" by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America.
-
-
He makes Bill Gates look like a Pauper!
- By Rick on 11-04-13
By: Ron Chernow
-
The People's Tycoon
- Henry Ford and the American Century
- By: Steven Watts
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 29 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How a Michigan farm boy became the richest man in America is a classic, almost mythic tale, but never before has Henry Ford's outsized genius been brought to life so vividly as it is in this engaging and superbly researched biography. The real Henry Ford was a tangle of contradictions. He set off the consumer revolution by producing a car affordable to the masses, all the while lamenting the moral toll exacted by consumerism.
-
-
50% Longer than it needed to be.
- By Chris on 04-06-13
By: Steven Watts
-
Dear Reader
- The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il
- By: Michael Malice
- Narrated by: Marcus Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No country is as misunderstood as North Korea, and no modern tyrant has remained more mysterious than the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il. Now, celebrity ghostwriter Michael Malice pulls back the curtain to expose the life story of the "Incarnation of Love and Morality". Taken directly from books spirited out of Pyongyang, Dear Reader is a carefully reconstructed first-person account of the man behind the mythology.
-
-
Great book
- By Rodney on 05-24-17
By: Michael Malice
-
The Forgotten Man
- By: Amity Shlaes
- Narrated by: Terence Aselford
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's difficult today to imagine how America survived the Great Depression. Only through the stories of the common people who struggled during that era can we really understand how the nation endured. In The Forgotten Man, Amity Shlaes offers a striking reinterpretation of the Great Depression. Rejecting the old emphasis on the New Deal, she turns to the neglected and moving stories of individual Americans, and shows how they helped establish the steadfast character we developed as a nation.
-
-
a story of forgotten times
- By Debb Robinson on 10-11-07
By: Amity Shlaes
-
Age of Ambition
- Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
- By: Evan Osnos
- Narrated by: Evan Osnos, George Backman
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval. In Age of Ambition, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control.
-
-
Come back when you have a warrant!
- By Neuron on 11-06-15
By: Evan Osnos
-
We Don't Know Ourselves
- A Personal History of Modern Ireland
- By: Fintan O'Toole
- Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
- Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In We Don't Know Ourselves, Fintan O'Toole weaves his own experiences into Irish social, cultural, and economic change, showing how Ireland, in just one lifetime, has gone from a reactionary "backwater" to an almost totally open society - perhaps the most astonishing national transformation in modern history. O'Toole narrates the once unthinkable collapse of the all-powerful Catholic Church, brought down by scandal and by the activism of ordinary Irish. He relates the horrific violence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which led most Irish to reject violent nationalism.
-
-
Relentlessly Negative
- By John on 06-02-22
By: Fintan O'Toole
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Thinking Small
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Everett Morris
- 03-21-25
Clarity and history
As one that has been interested in the Beetle, I find knowing as much as I can about it, I find this very good and brings clarity to the story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bradford Mercer
- 03-13-23
Exceeded my expectations--by far.
This is the story of a car, yes; but more importantly, it is the story of unintended consequences, passionate drive, creativity, family, management, and team work. It is about people, all kinds of people, fascinating people. Very well written and very well narrated.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Raymond Bing
- 04-02-23
A process of story more than a story of process
Great book and the story I needed to hear about the little car that has effected us all. A true human interest, aiming to rip your heart out.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- E. Van Eckert
- 04-28-20
Great Book - but missing a chapter
Am really curious why chapter 4 is not included. The audio jumps from chapter 3 to chapter 5.
Until it's included, you should warn that this is an abridged edition.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brad
- 11-14-24
Great History story.
I liked everything about this learning experience. I thank the autor for her research and sharing it all.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tim
- 02-07-14
Iconic Car
The Volkswagen Beetle is an iconic car around the world. No matter where you are, what language you speak, you always know a VW Bug when you see one on the road or in the junk. "Thinking Small"is an excellent read about Volkswagen. Very interesting history behind the wheel. I've read my fair share of Adolf Hitler and the war, but I would never discover his story and Volkswagen if I didn't decide to get this book. It was very enjoyable and informational to listen to.
The book almost reminded me of Don Draper and his agency in Mad Men. I know its a weird comparison, but if you read the advertising marketing campaign for Volkswagen, I couldn't help flashing back to many episodes of Mad Men.
The story of the Beetle has this power flower love affair. I like cars and consider myself a gear head even though I never popped a hood in my entire life. Andrea Hiott wrote this book like a documentary novel. The history of the Bug is good, but she also explained on hoe everything worked in the rear engine car.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brad
- 09-13-23
fantastically informative.
I absolutely loved this book. the story was informative. love love love love it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael miller
- 10-02-12
book is a history lesson
great book but it would be much better if audible included the photos which are in the hardcover edition--interesting to see the vw bug in 1938 and how little it has changed from the ones sold in the 1960's
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Will
- 01-17-19
good thorough history of the Bug
Very in depth look at the entire history of the Beetle and all those that played a part in making it come to fruition. Very interesting.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CoastRange
- 02-02-23
Fantastic!
Much more in depth than I would have imagined and a great listen. The author has created a book as timely and as timeless as the car itself.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!