What is Fahrvergnugen?

[vdubdezl]

I found this excerpt when reading Don Vorhees' Book of Totally Useless Information. (1993) I thought it was very interesting! Sorry couldn't figure out how to put the two little dots over the "u" in Fahrvergnügen. Hey the alt 0252 worked!! Thanks!!!

During the lat 1980s and early 1990s, it was impossible to sit down and watch a little television or open a magazine without seein the word "Fahrvergnügen." It became a part of the latest VW advertising campaign. Although Fahrvergnügen is a really neat-sounding word,VW doesn't actually explain what it means, if anything. Is it a real word or simply a european-sounding marketing word created by some German advertising executive?
Volkswagen's present-day slick advertising and stylish looking European autos had much humbler beginnings in prewar Germany.
In 1934, car designer Ferdinand Porsce was directed by the **** government to create a small "peoples-car" or Volks-wagen. His new creation, the beetle, was introduced in 1939. The rear engined, air-cooled, simple, and inexpensive little car quickly became one of the most popular cars ever produced. By 1972, the VW Beetle topped the Model T in total sales, with over 15 million sold, and became the best selling car of all time.
The truly remarkable thing about the Beetle was that relatively few changes were made over the years, and its basic design stayed the same. The Beetle model was discontinued in the US in 1977, when it was replaced by the Rabbit. The Beetle, however, still continues to be produced in Mexico and total sales have surpassed $20 million.
In the late 80s VW's marketing philosophy began to change and they introduced finely engineered European models that were more fun to drive. In order to present this new image to the American consumer, the company came up with a new advertising word-- "Fahrvergnügen." Volkswagen's advertising agency, while seeking something unusual, catchy, and meaningful, came across the word "Fahrvergnügen" in a VW engineering manual at the Wolfsburg, Germany, factory complex. While the word literally translates into "the pleasure of driving" (from the German "fahr," meaning drive and "vernügen," meaning pleasure), the engineers were using it to describe what they call the VW "fingerprint"..."that unique sense of control and road feel that the driver experiences behind the wheel of a Volkswagen."
Whether or not VW cars do indeed have Fahrvergnügen, you will have to judge for yourself. The company must be doing something right, however. Volkswagen is now the fourth largest auto maker in the world. Not bad for a company that had its humble beginnings producing the buglike "peoples-car" in prewar Germany.


I hope everyone enjoys this story! Lee

[JASONP]

Das intresting ya!

[laundryeater]

I wondered about this word too. I think we still have the window decal that says it in our 1990 Vanagon that my family bought through the old European delivery. I had seen it before from a window decal we got in the 80s. I was just a little kid back in those days. My brother and my sister told me that one day I took a Fig Newton and threw it as far as I could into our yard, pointed to it, and said, "Far-Fig-Newton."

[BrentRN]

Lifted from Wikipedia:
Fahrvergnügen was an advertising slogan used by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen in a 1989 U.S. ad campaign that included a stick figure driving a Volkswagen car.
That German term means "driving enjoyment" in English (from fahren, "to drive", and Vergnügen, enjoyment). One of the tag lines incorporating the word was: "Fahrvergnügen: It's what makes a car a Volkswagen."
In addition, the slogan was adapted into a radio jingle in which a female voice identified as "Helga" spoke:
Fahr. Verg! Gnü. Gen.
Say the word!

[oilhammer]

It was listed as a standard feature for my 1991 Jetta.

Some mistakes in that above quote.

The Beetle sedan ended US sales after 1977, the convertible went through 1979. But the Rabbit (Golf elsewhere) came out here in 1975, and was sold alongside the Beetle here. However, Beetle sales dropped through the floor post-'74, despite some special edition versions being offered here. '74 was also the last year the German Beetle was built in Wolfsburg, with later German built units being done at Emden.

[Sprocket]

Didn't Mexico stop making the Beetle in 2003? I know they still make the "New Beetle".

[NarfBLAST]

One of the TV commercials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdQY_BZE2uE

[aja8888]

I was living and working in California when VW bombarded us with "Fahrvergnugen" on a daily basis. One of the engineers I worked with said that he thought the word was commonly used when you saw a VW broken down on the freeways of LA.

Reportedly, the sad soul that was stuck in (and causing) a massive traffic jam on the 101 in Burbank was heard telling the cop that the car had just lost its "Fahrvergnugen" and that was why the car was stuck in traffic.

[Mike in Anchorage]

Danke. Das ist sehr gut!

[catmandoo]

Originally Posted by vdubdezl

I found this excerpt when reading Don Vorhees' Book of Totally Useless Information. (1993) I thought it was very interesting! Sorry couldn't figure out how to put the two little dots over the "u" in Fahrvergnugen.

During the lat 1980s and early 1990s, it was impossible to sit down and watch a little television or open a magazine without seein the word "Fahrvergnugen." It became a part of the latest VW advertising campaign. Although Fahrvergnugen is a really neat-sounding word,VW doesn't actually explain what it means, if anything. Is it a real word or simply a european-sounding marketing word created by some German advertising executive?
Volkswagen's present-day slick advertising and stylish looking European autos had much humbler beginnings in prewar Germany.
In 1934, car designer Ferdinand Porsce was directed by the **** government to create a small "peoples-car" or Volks-wagen. His new creation, the beetle, was introduced in 1939. The rear engined, air-cooled, simple, and inexpensive little car quickly became one of the most popular cars ever produced. By 1972, the VW Beetle topped the Model T in total sales, with over 15 million sold, and became the best selling car of all time.
The truly remarkable thing about the Beetle was that relatively few changes were made over the years, and its basic design stayed the same. The Beetle model was discontinued in the US in 1977, when it was replaced by the Rabbit. The Beetle, however, still continues to be produced in Mexico and total sales have surpassed $20 million.
In the late 80s VW's marketing philosophy began to change and they introduced finely engineered European models that were more fun to drive. In order to present this new image to the American consumer, the company came up with a new advertising word-- "Fahrvergnugen." Volkswagen's advertising agency, while seeking something unusual, catchy, and meaningful, came across the word "Fahrvergnugen" in a VW engineering manual at the Wolfsburg, Germany, factory complex. While the word literally translates into "the pleasure of driving" (from the German "fahr," meaning drive and "vernugen," meaning pleasure), the engineers were using it to describe what they call the VW "fingerprint"..."that unique sense of control and road feel that the driver experiences behind the wheel of a Volkswagen."
Whether or not VW cars do indeed have Fahrvergnugen, you will have to judge for yourself. The company must be doing something right, however. Volkswagen is now the fourth largest auto maker in the world. Not bad for a company that had its humble beginnings producing the buglike "peoples-car" in prewar Germany.


I hope everyone enjoys this story! Lee

this must be old.isn't vw the number 1 car maker in the world nowdays??my 92 jetta had a "nugen" sticker in the back window.last i saw the car it was still there.

[NarfBLAST]

For me, Fahrvergnugen is being limp mode free for over one year now. Thanks TDICLUB!

[JASONP]

Also didn't VW stop making Type 1 beetles in 2000

[esteeze]

Interesting post... thanks!

[Sip'n Diesel]

"Donnie, what is fuhgeddaboudit?"

[vdubdezl]

the article was in 1993....so they might be number one now.