1972 15 Million Commerativekey ring

Does any one know where i can get one?
Is there a club or group of 72 owners?

Good Luck. Iv got one but its staying with my Commemorative Beetle. Try eBay, I saw one a few years ago for sale.

Thanks Mate. Yes i have been looking at Ebay. I will check out the day of the volkswagen in November.
My 72 15 mill is a semi -auto which to me make it a bit special. Whats colour is yours?

A friend one under the back seat of a 1500 Beetle, he gave it to me and I still have it

Mines still has its shiny & original Honey Brown paint . Its a 1300 beetle, with 70,000miles. no 176/1500. If yours is a semi auto, I would think you have a very rare car.

werent they all supers? not 1500 or 1300s
my super is on of them.

To the best of my knowledge the 1300 finished with the introduction of the 12volt system in 1968 and then the S bug,we sold about 4 of the 15millionth S bugs in Taree area,I think the 1300 went into production when VW sold the factory to Nissan in around 1974. These 1300's were fitted with the swing axle and drum brakes.

They were definitely not 1500 beetles But mostly super beetles and a few 1300s. The 1300s where not as popular in general compared with the more upmarket supers.

Do you want to sell your keyring Steve? I am in the market.....Thanks Rob

Someone must have a 15 million key ring i can buy? Help ! I have got $
Thanks Rob

grumble wrote:To the best of my knowledge the 1300 finished with the introduction of the 12volt system in 1968 and then the S bug,we sold about 4 of the 15millionth S bugs in Taree area,I think the 1300 went into production when VW sold the factory to Nissan in around 1974. These 1300's were fitted with the swing axle and drum brakes.

Yes the 'original' Australian 6-volt 1300 model finished in 1968 when the German 12V 1500 model was introduced.

However in 1970 VW Australia introduced a 'budget' version of the 1500 Beetle, which was the same body and mechanicals except for the earlier 1300 engine and drum brakes. The 1300 and 1500 Beetles were sold side by side.

in 1971 the 1500 Beetle was replaced by the 1600 Superbug, and the 1300 was upgraded to a twin-port 1300. The Superbug at $2,144 was pitched to the 'deluxe' market, while the 1300 was the 'budget' or 'economy' model - but was priced at $2,085. The Superbug outsold the 1300 by about 8 to 1 - and no wonder, since buyers only needed to find another $59 to upgrade to the bigger model.

Both Beetles were sold together from 1971 to 1975. The 1300 was discontinued halfway through 1975, and its place on the Melbourne assembly line was prepared to take the Golf. The Superbug was discontinued in late 1975 and replaced by the 'bitsa' 1600 Beetle for 1976.

Nissan bought the share capital of Motor Producers Ltd (the VW-owned operators of the Melbourne plant) in October 1975 and took ownership and operation of the plant from 1976. VW assembly continued under Nissan ownership for 1976 only (Beetle, Transporter, Golf, Passat).

All the details are here: http://www.clubvw.org.au/history006

This is the Australian ad about the Commemorative model:

Are you sure that there is a '75 1300?

Does anyone remember what brand the redwall tyres were? Were they crossplies or radials?

I can remember the tyres with the red stripes but not the details.

Well the FCAI list 462 sales for the VW 1300 in 1975 (down from 957 in '74), but I think they would still have been '74 models using up the last of the parts at Clayton until production ended (mid-year). It would then have taken a few months in late '75 to convert part of the line, ready to assemble Golfs.

Did ANY Australian Beetles come new with radials? I thought they were all cross plies, even the '76. If the '72 Commem Bug had red-wall radials, I reckon the ad would have said so - but it's just 'red-wall tyres.' I'm sure the Passat came with radials - and I remember the late Kombis came with Uniroyal Steel Cats.

My '74 Sopru had Uniroyal Steel Cats. The imports ('77-'79) had Continentals
My '70 1500 had BFG Air Ride (I think)
'71 1300 had Dunlop B7+.

I thought that after the Com Beetle all 1600s had radials???? or was that high back seats?
Carter would know as he had a near new Beetle.

What years did Australian Beetles have blue spark plug leads?

Hi

My 72 Super had Dunlop B7+ tyres on it.

I remember a roadtest of the last 76 Beetle that was in Modern Motor I think and the car had cross plies on it, radials would have made the car so much better for the test.

Steve

Phil74Camper wrote:Well the FCAI list 462 sales for the VW 1300 in 1975 (down from 957 in '74), but I think they would still have been '74 models using up the last of the parts at Clayton until production ended (mid-year).

Those stats don't mean anything as far as model years. My '74 Kombi was first sold/registered in April '75. So that would show as a '75 model.

1303Steve wrote:Hi

My 72 Super had Dunlop B7+ tyres on it.

I remember a roadtest of the last 76 Beetle that was in Modern Motor I think and the car had cross plies on it, radials would have made the car so much better for the test.

Steve

It must be high backed seats that I'm thinking of. I often get them confused.🤪

On the contrary, they are a record of what was actually sold (in reality). Sure your Kombi was a 1974 year model, but if it wasn't actually sold until 1975, then that's when it was counted. How else could they possibly do it?

Who knows how many of the 35,000-odd VWs sold so far this year are 2013, 2014 or 2015 models according to their VIN? Who cares? They are only recording how many cars were actually sold, by actual customers, in the calendar year.

In 1977 the FCAI recorded 130 sales of the VW 1600 Beetle. We know perfectly well that they were left-over 1976 models, but they weren't actually sold until 1977. How else should they record this info? They wren't sold in 1976 so why should they be counted then?

Likewise they record 96 Golfs in 1981, and 3 in 1982. Again, they are earlier year models that weren't sold until later. The figures are real enough.

Perhaps the dealer could fit radials pre-delivery (at extra cost) if that's what the customer ordered? I'm fairly sure they first came off the Clayton line, originally, with cross plies. Or original owners may have soon upgraded to radials.

Phil74Camper wrote:Perhaps the dealer could fit radials pre-delivery (at extra cost) if that's what the customer ordered? I'm fairly sure they first came off the Clayton line, originally, with cross plies.

I think you're correct there.

Or original owners may have soon upgraded to radials.

Most Volkswagen owners were to tight to get better tyres.

Can anyone tell me where this copy of a brochure or advetisment came from?

Are you referring to the ad (above) that I posted on the 16/9? It came from a newspaper of the time, which is why the picture quality is shite. I don't remember what paper, but I think it was the Sydney Daily Mirror.

I have never seen an Australian brochure specifically for the Commemorative Bug. As it was limited to just 1,500 vehicles, there may not have been one. Phill will correct me if I'm wrong.

I can only remember the newspaper ads.