Great news Bill, I am very glad that not everything ended up at the Dandenong tip in 1968 !
Computers were certainly around in the 1960s. IBM first introduced the vacuum tube 700 Series computer system in 1953, and the transistorised 7000 series in 1961, the world's first 'supercomputer'. The first proper all-purpose mainframe computer system, the IBM System 360 (because it covered all angles) appeared in 1964. This was the computer system used by NASA for the Gemini and Apollo space programs. LNC Industries (the Australian VW agents after 1968) announced in their 1969 annual report that they had bought an IBM mainframe for their North Ryde headquarters.
As Bill has said, records were certainly kept at Clayton - I think they must have had at least some electronic processing - but the records have not survived, except a tiny portion in the hands of enthusiasts.
For Australian 1959-67 Beetles, don't waste your money on German birth certificates.
Phil74Camper Head in the Clouds
2,703 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·
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