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Aussie VW magazines

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vw54 Administrator Always Waiting 4 Friday

16,723 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#709460
I also have a few early Trends, 2, 3 and 4 are worthy of mention.
Matt yes i have every copy of Trends as well
I read it on FACEBOOK so it must be true


http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=91278&page=1#pid848630


http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=63561&page=1#pid624099


http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=4832&page=1#pid452603


http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=60650&page=1#pid574409

amazeer Bishop of Volkswagenism

3,029 posts · joined Nov 2005 ·

#709474
my "other" magazines would have started in the late 80's. The only early one I have is a '56 edition with the oval in it. No idea where it is at the moment though. We should have show and tell club meeting where you bring in "a few of my favourite things". Or a new thread to make it national, and that way birchall wont have to charge everyone a security deposit.

Phil74Camper Head in the Clouds

2,703 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#709482
Dave you haven't even begun to show them your stuff. Haven't you also got every issue of VW Greats, VW & Porsche (etc), and Safer Motoring? I've got lots of them, but not all of them. VW and Audi Car was another good (UK) magazine but it was more watercooled than aircooled.

And when it comes to VW magazines, there's nothing like a Gute Fahrt. http://www.gute-fahrt.de/

VWCOOL 23 Windows of Awesome

5,158 posts · joined Jun 2003 ·

#709518
Phil74Camper wrote:Then there were some 'one-offs' or even 'two-offs', put out by other publishers attempting to cash in on the VW enthusiast movement. These were utter crap:
Phil, nice work on the magazine history but jeez calling the two FF&R specials 'crap' is a bit harsh!! Both were a mix of fresh cars and ex-FF&R feature cars and both mags were put together by enthusiasts under the eye of journo/editor Todd Hallenbeck (now Ford's Asia pacific PR dude in Thaialnd) and (then) a keen Beetle owner..

There is a surprising of 'mainstream' Aussie motoring journos who love and own VWs (and Porsches)

Big, big congrats to Craig for the work on VWMA
Pay your debts, CxxT

grumble Son of Jim - Creator of Good

2,672 posts · joined Jun 2008 ·

#709583
Dave your shed must be bloody huge!

Phil74Camper Head in the Clouds

2,703 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#709602
Is 'crap' harsh? Sorry, maybe I should have said 'not very good.' Perhaps if FF&R had persisted with a VW magazine it would have developed into a good one, but then FF&R have since gone right away from VWs.

Actually only the first one was edited by Todd Hallenbeck. The second was by 'FF&R staff', but Dean Evans wrote the editorial. I know Mark Moes (Production Manager) pushed hard for more issues, but it didn't happen. The second issue WAS better than the first - it had writers like Leanne Brkovec, Lance Plahn, Glenn Torrens (your brother Craig?) and Steve Walmsley doing some good things.

Here's some quotes that came from the first FF&R 'Hottest VW' magazine (Todd Hallenbeck, editor). Spot the mistakes:

"Manly valves". "Connoloy leather". "36-hp crank from a Superbug." "Added to this danger is the fact that Volkswagen manufacture their engines cases from magnesium alloy...once ignited magnesium is virtually impossible to extinguish."

"Factory coolers have a habit of impeding air flow to the number three cylinder, commonly resulting in heat-induced cracks around the spark plug bosses."

"There are no conventional gaskets used to seal the crankcase/barrel mating surfaces."

"The semi-auto '69-'70 chassis was the only one factory equipped with front disk brakes and independent rear suspension."

"Looking back to 1970 and the 1600cc powered Bug..."

"(the Golf) will more than likely not become the cult car the Bug has become - it lacks stand-alone individuality."

colonel mustard Son of Jim - Creator of Good

2,829 posts · joined Feb 2009 ·

#709757
the "36hp crank from a superbug" cracks me up.

Phil74Camper Head in the Clouds

2,703 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#709956
OK here's some more rare Aussie VW magazines for the collectors out there.

These are the 'VWA Review' magazines, published by VW Australia's public relations department. These were made for dealership staff to keep them up to date on company developments - it was an in-house magazine, not available to the public.

I have these issues, from 1958 to 1963. They are hard to find - not even sure if Dave has any of these. Any one else have any?

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Phil74Camper Head in the Clouds

2,703 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#709957
At the same time, there was Sydney's LNC Industries, owners of Lanock Motors. Initially they were the NSW VW distributors, and then they became the distributors of VW in all of Australia from 1968 on. They bought VW Australia's distribution and finance companies, and the state distributors in QLD (Annand and Thompson), SA (Light Motors) and WA (Western Motors). They owned the Australian VW business until 1987.

I have the 1961 LNC annual report as shown, plus several of the 'in-house' staff magazines that had some interesting VW stories and photos. In the last one you can see Subarus mentioned - LNC also had the Australian Subaru franchise from 1973 to 1988, which is why they were sold in VW dealers during those years.

I also have the LNC annual reports from 1958-1982, but only as photocopies. The originals can be browsed in the National Library in Canberra, where i found them.

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Phil74Camper Head in the Clouds

2,703 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#710435
These are some more recent 'official' Australian VW newsletters.

The top two are the only issues ever produced of 'Volkswagen Driver', published by the then VW importers TKM Automotive in 'Winter 1997', and 'Autumn 1998'. The first issue was a glossy 16-page effort, while the second used cheap cardboardy newsprint and it was only 12 pages. TKM lost the Aussie VW franchise in 1999.

'Accelerate' was the 'Volkswagen Group Australia Official Newsletter', published from April 2001 to March 2003. There were 12 issues plus a 'Xmas 2001' issue - 13 in all. I am missing issue #1 but I have all the rest. They are usually only one sheet of A3 paper, folded in half.

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amazeer Bishop of Volkswagenism

3,029 posts · joined Nov 2005 ·

#710691
You learn something every day. I was looking at the Wikipedia article on Golfs. Gee there's a lot of information missing there. But I learnt that the Mk1 is still being produced in Suth Efrika. So I went to the VW.co.za and found that they have e-zines if you're interested Phil. http://www.vw.co.za/magazine/ You probably already know this, but being an aircooled tragic the vw company websites wouldnt normally get me in. Only when I am seeing how many lifetimes away I am from being able to afford one.

http://www.vw.co.za/magazine/

Phil74Camper Head in the Clouds

2,703 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#710853
Thanks Chris, yes I knew about the Mk1 Golf still being made in Seth Effrica, called the 'Citi'. They also still make the ute version there. But I didn't know about the e-zine - will check it out. Thanks. The Polos they sell here, and the Jetta now, and the previous Mk4 and Mk5 Golfs, were made in Sth Africa.

OK I'm just about finished posting photos of Aussie VW magazines, as I'm running out of them. This is the current collection of 'Volkswagen Magazine', published by Volkswagen Group Australia. It's a glossy 'coffee table' lifestyle magazine for buyers of current VWs. Apart from stories on the new models, there are travel articles, cooking, celebrity interviews - a bit like a Qantas in-flight magazine for VW owners. It's not bad. A bit hard to get though as it's not on sale at newsagents - VW Australia posts them out to all buyers of new VWs over the last few years (that's not me. I get one for other reasons)

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grumble Son of Jim - Creator of Good

2,672 posts · joined Jun 2008 ·

#710882
Phil 74 you are a wealth of information,it just shows you are never too old to learn something.Well researched Cheers Les