Hi Paul, fantastic effort, the covers look great. Yes you are a probably right, the Australian market is probably too small to support two air-cooled VW magazines at the newsagents. While Craig's VWMA is going really well, there have been lots of other earlier magazines that have folded after a few issues. VW Power, the Geoff Paradise 'Volkswagen Australia' series, VW & Porsche Power, Aust VW Scene, Aust VW Magazine, etc etc. Even VW Australia's own magazine from the 1960s, New Horizons, folded after only 4 issues. I once described and catalogued them all, and you can read the summary here :
http://www.clubvw.org.au/oldart013#cul11
Sadly the number of air-cooled VWs on our roads is steadily shrinking. The last Type 3 was sold here in 1974, the last Beetle in 1977 and the last air-cooled T3 Kombi in 1984. In 1987 the Bureau of Statistics' vehicle registration survey recorded 170,000 Volkswagens on Australian roads, the survivors of the 420,000 or so sold up to that point. Almost all were air-coolers. Since then the number dropped to less than 25,000 by the mid-1990s, and less than 10,000 by the mid-2000s. Today there are probably less than 5,000 left, so we are a declining market in terms of numbers participating, even if our individual enthusiasm is as strong as ever.
There is a market opportunity for an Australian 'modern', or water-cooled, VW magazine. VW sells over 50,000 new vehicles here every year nowadays, so there are plenty of potential new customers who may not have any interest (yet) in the classic air-coolers. And of course there are also plenty of air-cooled VW owners who also drive and love modern VWs (I'm one). Maybe something to consider.
Good luck with the Kombi Life magazine. The Brits do well with their 'VW Camper' magazine, so hopefully you can capture similar enthusiasts here.
Glad you're including T4 and T5 Transporters, as they are all the same family. However please note that only T1, T2 and T3 Transporters are 'Type 2'. After 1965 all these have a '2'-based code in their chassis number or VIN to indicate their type - 21 for panel van, 22 for Microbus, 23 for Kombi, 24 for T3 pickup, 25 for T3 van/microbus, 26 for pickup, 27 for ambulance. But the T4 Transporter is a model '70', and the T5 is a '7H', so they're not Type 2s. Interestingly however the Crafter is a '2E', the Caddy is a '2K' and the Amarok is a '2H', so really they ARE VW Type 2s as well!
If some of the stories come from the UK, I hope you'll edit all the references to T3 Kombis being 'Type 25s' or 'T25s'. Yes the full-body T3 is a model 25 from the VIN, but the single and double-cab pickups are Type 24s. There is no such thing as a T25 pickup -it's a T3 pickup.
Also I HATE the term 'bay' or 'bay window' and refuse to use them. T2 Kombis have panoramic windows, not bay windows, which are mullioned, multi-paned and multi-sashed. VW never used the term. It was a pure invention by UK journalist Lawrence Meredith, who worked for VW Motoring in the late 1980s. He wrote some books about Kombis in the early 1990s and first used the term then. They were published by BAY BOOKS ! It was his sneaky way of promoting his publishing company, and unfortunately it has stuck. But I won't use it.
I edit Club VW Sydney's magazine Zeitschrift. You are welcome to download old issues and reuse any articles and photos you wish, so long as you acknowledge where they came from - 'Zeitschrift, Club VW Sydney'. Download old isses here:
http://www.clubvw.org.au/zeitschrift
