Number of 1976 Beetles produced?

Hi guys

Does anybody know exactly how many 1976 Beetles were produced in Australia?

Thanks
Regards
Greg

Phil can probably tell you exactly but its around 1200

Thanks Joel,

Who's Phil?

Lateral wrote:Thanks Joel,

Who's Phil?

😎

Smiley face Greg?

Phil Matthews, aka Phil74camper on here, he wrote the Australian vw history book.

I wasn't too far off, 1159 76 beetles made, last one built on the 15th of July.

That would be the Martini Olive one Hamiltons owned.
I've got a unique cars somewhere with a story about it.
sold for 30k in 1993 with 80kms on the clock.

Thanks Joel

I hear about the Hamiltons car.....

Ours was built 5/76

Ken

We have had two. Bertie (below) built 5/76, stock standard, almost no-one wanted him...
And brutus built 6/76, modified, so far unwanted, may be going to crusher. Both were first reg. in Oct. 1976 (and neither has been out of reg., yet).
1976 -- So rare (relatively), but so "unknown" - so not really appreciated.
I think this article (bottom) was about the Martini Olive one mentioned above (can't remember which Mag. it was in; have the whole article if anyone would like a copy of it)..
PS. (Joel) I thought none were built after 30th June 1976...?

Having owned a '76 myself, I think it a shame there aren't more being preserved, and they aren't more coveted like ovals.

Thanks Brutus

Are you serious about "Brutus"?

Don't send it to the crusher, I'll take it off your hands...

Greg! Just leave Brutus where it is , the price is dropping down close to where I will no longer be able to resist


😁😏

No probs Daimo!😂

I'd love a copy of that article, please.

Ken

Me too

BRUTUS wrote:I think this article (bottom) was about the Martini Olive one mentioned above (can't remember which Mag. it was in; have the whole article if anyone would like a copy of it)..
PS. (Joel) I thought none were built after 30th June 1976.

Yep that is the car, the article I've got is from an early 90s unique cars when Hamiltons bought it but I forgot about the VW australia article on it, I reckon I would have that mag somewhere.

Sounds like Brutus will live for another day.
Good Stuff,.. great to hear👍

I'm a big fan of the 76. My first was inherited from my mother who owned it since new. It now resides in VW heaven after T-boning a Mitsubishi Colt that backed out of a driveway in front of me. My second is still in a million bits waiting for some more attention.

Article. Unfortunately was not used to scanner at the time, copied each page separately, so if you'd really like a good (set of) copy(s), please send your e-mail address to me. Can try to PM, but would be limited to one page at a time (7 pages in all).

More of Article...? No?, Cannot seem to attach any more pages for some reason. They show up as being here when edited -- but I can't see them later. If you can see them in THIS post, please let me know!

Please send e-mail address (by e-mail) for set of copies as pdf of all pages.

We have reserved brutus for Greg or Daimo.

Yes, everyone needs at least two of this model. One as a stocker for daily driving (or show if you must), and one for competition... And maybe another as a spare.

There used to be an olive one exactly as the one in pictutes above, at the bottom of a gulley at Mitchells Pass in the Blue Mountains, NSW back in the late eighties. Such a shame!

Breaks my heart hearing stuff like that...

Motor Producers Ltd's Australian assembly records for 1976 no longer exist. The factory was already owned by Nissan, who bought the Clayton works the year before, so the 1600 Beetle (and the Passat, Golf and Kombi) were all assembled under Nissan control.

However the FCAI collected sales data for all makes, which we have summarised (Volkswagen only) at the VW history pages at http://www.clubvw.org.au/history006

1975 - 462 VW 1300s, 1,930 VW 1600s, 4,113 Passats and 8,974 Transporters sold in Australia.
1976 - 1,159 VW 1600s, 4,429 Golfs, 3,945 Passats and 6,198 Transporters sold in Australia.
1977 - 130 VW 1600s, 2,831 Golfs, 1,150 Passats and 2,393 Transporters sold in Australia.

Unfortunately there is no way to tell now how many of the 'VW 1600s' sold in 1975, and 1976, were Superbugs and how many were the '76 model - there was no exact 'cut-off' point. The Superbug was discontinued in late 1975 but who knows whether there were any left-overs sold from dealerships in early 1976? Also, you can see that there were 130 leftover 1976 models sold in 1977. They were unwanted by the public then, and unsold 1976 Beetles sat for months at Clayton and in dealership yards. Even though assembly ended in July 1976, as Joel has said, it took at least another 9 or 10 months to sell them all.

See if you can find a copy of MODEN MOTOR magazine May 1977 on Ebay - there is a tribute to the last Australian Beetle sold (almost a year after it was built!)

So what was the car made of? It looks like a 1302S with 1303L rear guards, and 1300 standard front panels and the dash I am not sure of at all. How close was this to what the Mexican beetle was?

Cool pics! I had a quick double-take though, the "manual" says a ground clearance of 6"...........obviously that's to the shock mount tube, coz there is no way that pan is 6"off the deck! 😂
Goes to show how much my '73 has sagged from stock.

There must be something wrong with me though, coz the awful baby-poo colours of the 70s, like Honey Brown and this Martini Olive, are starting to grow on me.......

helbus wrote:So what was the car made of? It looks like a 1302S with 1303L rear guards, and 1300 standard front panels and the dash I am not sure of at all. How close was this to what the Mexican beetle was?

They were a throw together parts bin end of production deal.
The bodies were just the pov spec 1300 Beetle and the engine and gearbox were left over Lbug with the 1500 discbrake front end

Joel wrote:

helbus wrote:So what was the car made of? It looks like a 1302S with 1303L rear guards, and 1300 standard front panels and the dash I am not sure of at all. How close was this to what the Mexican beetle was?

They were a throw together parts bin end of production deal.
The bodies were just the pov spec 1300 Beetle and the engine and gearbox were left over Lbug with the 1500 discbrake front end

Wasn't the 1300 a swing axle? so why the move to IRS for the last year of the body? seems like a fair bit of work to use up the remaining IRS transmissions, or did they fit the torsion bar frame head to the Super floorpan?

Does anyone know how they were promoting the '76 against the Supers at the time or was it a pricing exercise?

Wayne.

The 1300 pov spec was it still swing axle before that?

Cool car with 1300 front panels, 1500 beam and IRS rear. Chuck on some 1302S rear guards and tail lights that is what I would do.

Euro_67 wrote:Wasn't the 1300 a swing axle? so why the move to IRS for the last year of the body? seems like a fair bit of work to use up the remaining IRS transmissions, or did they fit the torsion bar frame head to the Super floorpan?

Does anyone know how they were promoting the '76 against the Supers at the time or was it a pricing exercise?

Wayne.

Yep the 1300s were swingaxle, they probably had an excess of IRS gearboxes and rear ends, its not hard to weld the IRS boxes into the floorpans when they are assembling them but like you say it could have also been beam frame heads fitted to Lbug pans.

THe Superbugs had stopped production a year before hand but Beetle sales had well and truely slumped by then and as Phil was saying they were getting a huge back log of unsold Beetles as everyone was buying Golfs instead.

Mine was built in August 74 and didnt sell new till mid Jan 75 and it only slowed worse from there.
the 76 bugs stopped production in July and were still unsold well into the following year.

what was the sticker price?

BTW, anyone recall "Fire Bug" or "Hot Jade"?

Hi

I used to see firebug sitting in a carport near Kareela shops

A lot of later bugs that were built in the Nissan factory were poorly put together

Steve

Probably put together by Chinese workers and should have had Made in China stamped on them😂😂😂😂

The good news now is that looking at ours, they have been in enough bingles to have been put back together properly, almost🙅

The doors on ours close as good as any modern car, the gaps are all good, the exception is the odd mudguards with the RHR wheel protruding out of the guard by 15mm.

Great read for my early morning cuppa,..
thanks for posting the articles.

In 1976 the 1600 Beetle was listed at $4,140. The Golf LS, which was also assembled by Nissan (and also badly), was $4,360 for the 3-door and $4,490 for the 5--door.

The Australian 1300 models were always swing-axle. Only the 1500 semi-auto, the Superbug (S and L) and the '76 1600 were double-joint. The Australan factory built its cars from CKD kits from Germany. As the 70s progressed, sales of Nissans increased greatly while VW sales slumped. The Datsun 1600, 120Y and 180B were all built in the Clayton factory alongside the VWs, and by 1974 VWs were less than 30% of the factory output. There would have been many crates full of excess unused VW parts to use up by 1976.

There is a Modern Motor road test of a Beetle from 1975 that mentions the many faults that that particular Nissan-built VW had - unbalanced brakes, loose wheel, poorly set idle and running on, misaligned headlights, loose trim - and a cigarette butt in the engine bay, neatly painted over.

The Golf, Passat and Kombi became fully imported in 1977, which fixed the Australian Nissan quality control problems - but bumped up the price to unrealistic levels and killed off sales. All VW car sales ended in 1981.

The 76 was always a great little daily driver. I've had a few of them over the years and they were always lithe and nimble, quick little buggers. The are a fair bit lighter that the super & L bugs, and accelerate faster. I would argue without that extra weight they handle better as well. Most VW hillclimb drivers seem to choose a 76 or the 68-70 semi auto which also has the 'IRS' as their VW of choice.

As far as I know, the Aussie 76 is the only Beetle sold anywhere in the world with the unique combination of front wheel discs, balljoint front end, double jointed axles and a manual gearbox. That makes it pretty unique for what was basically a model made up by VWofA to use up the remaining Beetle parts.

This is my 76. Genuine low miles, all original paint and very straight and rust free, just trying to track down a nice original straight bumper for it, then its going back into service as my daily 'beater'

Also had blinkers relocated to the bumpers which created "one year only' (for Australia) front guards.

DOKA Dave wrote:As far as I know, the Aussie 76 is the only Beetle sold anywhere in the world with the unique combination of front wheel discs, balljoint front end, double jointed axles and a manual gearbox. That makes it pretty unique for what was basically a model made up by VWofA to use up the remaining Beetle parts.

Theres a 76 Beetle around here that is a Jap import.
Its identical to an aussie one except its fuel injected, air conditioned and has the unique Japanese "overspeed" speedo typical of JDM cars in the 70s and 80s.

I think it *may* have been swing axle though, the guy who owned it in the 90s is a member on here and may chime in if he reads this but it was definitely disc brake.

Last try (I can't see the attachments, if they are there).
Totally agree with DOKA - light, nimble, very quick little BUGger! Unless you're a Strutter, this is the one to make you Beam.

I bought one - 1976 flat screen beetle...
It got a good paddock run!!
😂

Blinkers on the 'guards, not in the bumper?
Perhaps a late model 1300

Thats what i thought...
But the VIN plate says 5/76...

Its just been in a front ender and fixed with early parts.

You can see its got the FI apron, badgeless decklid and late rear bumper and mounts.

the only model beetle without a VW or Volkswagen badge anywhere on the outside.
I have one for sale in WA if anyone is chasing one, registered and roadworthy. definitely a regrettable sale.

Uber Kafer wrote:the only model beetle without a VW or Volkswagen badge anywhere on the outside

Excluding the hubcaps of course 😉

adlbeetle66 wrote:Thats what i thought...
But the VIN plate says 5/76...

No it doesn't. That's the compliance plate and it means bugger all.

What is the VIN/chassis number?

Saw the Martini Olive "last 1976 to come off the production line" yesterday. Owned privately, never registered and now has 112 klms on the clock. Before anyone gets excited it is not for sale. Cool car

Cheers.......Wayne

DOKA Dave wrote:Also had blinkers relocated to the bumpers which created "one year only' (for Australia) front guards.

Not quite. The 1975 1303 L bug (curved windscreen) had the blinkers in the bumper, too. "Two years only" for Aussie models.

Are flat screen front guards and curved screen front guards the same?

Willie wrote:

DOKA Dave wrote:Also had blinkers relocated to the bumpers which created "one year only' (for Australia) front guards.

Not quite. The 1975 1303 L bug (curved windscreen) had the blinkers in the bumper, too. "Two years only" for Aussie models.

No L bug guards are different to standard bug.

the 75 Lbug guards are a 1 year only part as was 76 standard bug but only in Aus,
Overseas Lbugs in had those guards from 75 to 79 and standard bugs from 75 to 2003 excluding North America.

So Lbugs discontinued in 75,I have bug with a curved screen, strut front,indicators in bumper and this chassis number,136031XXXX,checked a online a few sites and it dated as 6/76

That is not the chassis number you found, its the model number.
136031 is Aus spec RHD 1303.
Heres the same number on mine and it's mid 74 😉

This is a clipping from WHEELS magazine, April 1976. It's announcing the end of the Superbug, replaced by the '76 model.

Interesting as local assembly of the Superbug ended at the end of 1975; there must have been many hundreds of unsold Superbugs in dealer lots at that time. As Joel has said earlier, VW buyers were getting the Golf and Passat instead.

And this is part of the 'new car' model listing at the back of the same issue, April 1976. As you can see, the 1300 Beetle is already gone but it still lists the 1600 Superbug. In reality, the Superbug was already gone too and it was only old stock in dealers by that stage. WHEELS magazine was just a few months behind the news; not surprising I suppose as by 1976 air-cooled VWs were unwanted.

Can anybody tell the the following regarding the thermostatically controlled vent flap in the rear engine lid?:

1. Was this in any US or European models?
2. Does anybody know where I can lay my hands on a complete working setup?

You'll be hard pressed finding a new one unless you have a NOS score.

They were only on Aussie 75-76 Beetles and for some wierd reason only Bugs sold in California got them after 74 in US, all other states there didnt get them.

Thanks Joel,

I wonder if they were made specifically for VW or are from some other car??

Joel wrote:

Willie wrote:

DOKA Dave wrote:Also had blinkers relocated to the bumpers which created "one year only' (for Australia) front guards.

Not quite. The 1975 1303 L bug (curved windscreen) had the blinkers in the bumper, too. "Two years only" for Aussie models.

No L bug guards are different to standard bug.

the 75 Lbug guards are a 1 year only part as was 76 standard bug but only in Aus,
Overseas Lbugs in had those guards from 75 to 79 and standard bugs from 75 to 2003 excluding North America.

Yes - the front guards are different; however I was referring to the indicators in the bumper.. Both '75 & '76 models got the indicators in the bumpers, not just the '76 as originally indicated.

I'd love a '76 in the garage to keep my '75 company........

Lateral wrote:Thanks Joel,

I wonder if they were made specifically for VW or are from some other car??

They are bug specific, one of US strict emissions laws only for California, guess they figured a hot climate like Aus they would be beneficial to fit them as well.

Thanks Joel,

Apparently they were also on Brazilian beetles..