1954 Oval

Hi Everyone,

First of all, please don't have a go at me!

I live in North Wales and have just bought a 1954 Aussie Oval.
It's been in the UK for over 8 years now (and no, it hasn't rusted to bits) and I bought it privately.





To begin with, I wasn't sure whether it was German or an Australian ckd, however, after doing a bit of reading around (which is how I found this site) I realised that the MKA number under the vin plate meant it was a ckd. The German build date was in April 1954 and the MKA number is 1468. I've sent off for the certificate from Wolfsburg just to see if it tells me anything else, but I'm pretty sure that the engine is also the original.

Anyway, if anyone can help me, I 've got a few questions ..

1. Were the colours of these early ovals the same as the German ones? I've seen a list of some Australian colours for 1954 such as 'Mandalay Ivory' and Glenburnie Grey'.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa28/in2vws_com/in2vws/VW%20Paint/in2vws_AU_Paint_01.jpg

I'm not sure what mine is , but there is a close-up below. In some lights it looks light grey and in others it looks beige?



2. Specs for 1954 Beetles only show cloth interiors, whereas mine came with a grey/blue leatherette interior that I'm almost 100% certain is original, as its trimmed up the b-post as well and no way does it look like it's ever been changed. Was it like this for all Aussie Ovals ?



3. Is there a register of old Australain VWs or is there a way to find out any details of previous owners etc ?

4. I've been trying to buy the book 'A History of Volkswagens in Australia' but can't find it on Amazon or any other online bookshop. Does anyone know where I could get a copy or if there are any other good books on VW in Australia, especially the early days ?


I really appreciate people taking the time to look at this thread and if anyone can help, I'd be most grateful.

Diolch yn fawr!

Martin

show cloth interiors, whereas mine came with a grey/blue leatherette interior that I'm almost 100% certain is original,

yep thats the origional material for here in Aussie

no theres no aussie previous owner history unless someone recognises the car

the book will be hard to find new as its out of print i suggest Ebay and expect to pay a tidy sum

very nice ride you must be very happy that's like money in the bank what are your plans leave it or rat what ever the outcome good luck

Very nice oval dude.
We're all pretty nice people over here, I don't think anyone'll have a go at you👍

Very nice oval. I would personally lose the indicators front and rear and setup some subtle motorbike ones hanging from the bumper mounts.
Seats should be a H pattern stitching and interior looks like mine in the pics. Sorry I cant help with body colours.Good Luck,
Turbo54

Thanks a lot guys. I was in the process of selling my '55 Split whjen I saw this at the Stanford Hall show. Plenty of people were looking at it and it was up for what I thought was a cheap price. I took the chance of phoning the guy when I got home - expecting it to have gone - but he hadn't sold it, so .... 😍

The indicators are original Hella ones. They look, er... different, and they at least work until I can get something better rigged up.

The plan for this summer is to just drive it about and enjoy it. I do want to get the engine and box rebuit soonish just to be on the safe side and to know that it's mechanically spot on.

The bug is incredibly solid and hasn't had any welding. All the panels are original, including the wings, doors and heater channels. There's a bit of surface rust here and there, but no rot. The only negative bits are that the carpet is shagged, there's some big dents in the floorpan, the rear valance has been cut for the later exhaust and the front has had a little bump - but nothing that can't be easily sorted.

The plan will be to give it the full resto eventually as it'll only deteriorate in the UK climate if I don't. This is why I'm trying to get to the bottom of the what colour it should be etc and what the history was with the early ckd/Martin and King built ones. The hope is, I suppose, that the indicators may ring a bell with a few people and some of its previous history might come to light.

I know it was owned by G. Diener, so maybe I should start emailing all the Australian Dieners I can find on Google and see what happens! 🤪 😀 In the UK, our vehicle and licensing agency will give a list of former keepers, but I don't know if the same thing is true for over there. Besides, I don't know what the Australian licence plate was either.

is there any old registration ( MOT ) stickers on the glass they will tell you the state in aussie

vw54 wrote:is there any old registration ( MOT ) stickers on the glass they will tell you the state in aussie

Unfortunately, the only documentation I've got with it is the original handbook with Mr. Deiner's name on it amd a few bit of UK paperwork.

The owner did have some other stuff, such as the birth certificate, but he was moving house and couldn't find them at the time. I'm waiting for him to send them on.

The only clue I could see on the whole car was that the regulator had a yellow Bosch sticker on it with 'Gallaghers Autos' written on it - the rest of the writing was too feint to make out.

There's a few more pics of it in my Flickr account if anyone wants a look!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8628562@N06/

Anyone know what sort of build date MKA 1468 would have been in 1954 ?

Was it the 468th car built (with the 1 at the begining not counting like on German bugs) or the 1,468th (although I though t there were only 1,385 vehicles produced in 1954 ?

For the book write to Rod Davies

rdavies52@optusnet.com.au

There are still copies available

Does the 54/55 have a single outlet of the left of the exhaust? Mine is MKA 4658 and it looks like the right side on the valence is hacked out.

Pastit wrote:For the book write to Rod Davies

rdavies52@optusnet.com.au

There are still copies available

Does the 54/55 have a single outlet of the left of the exhaust? Mine is MKA 4658 and it looks like the right side on the valence is hacked out.

The valence on mine shouldn't have cutouts for the exhaust. Unfortunately .....



Thanks for the email address for Rod Davies. I'm off to mail him now!

hey martin..
i have the exact looking beetle in my garage ATM..
but it has been painted in white about umpteen years ago..
anyways mine too has the cut outs for the pea shooters..
the reason: they stopped making the single period lower pipe - so the exhaust shops just merrily hacked away to retro fit the late model exhausts..
mine is the same colour interior and carpet as well..
exterior colour i was informed was the grey.. mine was the same
pity the holes have been chopped into the guards for the indicators 🙁
+ what the switch for on the RHS of the dash??
cheers h

Pastit wrote:For the book write to Rod Davies

rdavies52@optusnet.com.au

There are still copies available

Does the 54/55 have a single outlet of the left of the exhaust? Mine is MKA 4658 and it looks like the right side on the valence is hacked out.

You are talking about 2 different books. Rods book is "Volkswagen in Australia - The Forgotten Story", which is available (mine turned up a few weeks back - a good read & I love the box).
The other book is "A History of Volkswagens in Australia", which was put out in the 60's by VW Australia. As said, it is almost made from unobtainium. I last saw one of eBay a few months back, I can't remember what it went for - it was around ~$40±$20

h wrote:hey martin..
i have the exact looking beetle in my garage ATM..
but it has been painted in white about umpteen years ago..
anyways mine too has the cut outs for the pea shooters..
the reason: they stopped making the single period lower pipe - so the exhaust shops just merrily hacked away to retro fit the late model exhausts..
mine is the same colour interior and carpet as well..
exterior colour i was informed was the grey.. mine was the same
pity the holes have been chopped into the guards for the indicators 🙁
+ what the switch for on the RHS of the dash??
cheers h

Got any pics?? I'd love to see its 'twin' ! Any idea what the original colour was? What's your MKA number??

The button to the right of the steering wheel is for the horn. Obviously, in the past it was far easier to drill a pigging hole in the dash rather than fix it properly! 🙅

The only thing missing on the car is the arm rest for the passenger on the door card. There's just an outline where it was!


BTW - Love the phrase 'unobtanium' !

I've emailed Rod and I'm going to order his book when I get back from hols (off to France in the T25 tomorrow!) With the extra dvds and postage, it worls out at about 75 quid!

I've just been looking at the key fob that came with the original spare keys (I don't know if the fob is original, but it's old!)

The writing on it is very feint, but I think it says:

C. L. Eckermann LTD
Authorised Ford Dealer (Definitely says FORD!)
(The next word is too feint to read, but I think the two letters might be TA ?)

Anyone got any ideas about it ? Would be great to know whereabouts it had been.

Well, I sent off for the birth certificate for my Oval before I went away and came back to receive this email:

Dear Mr Edwards,

i am sorry to say that we have only a few information about your vehicle.

it is a typ 114, that says, it is a VW Sedan Deluxe right hand drive

it was built at 23 April 1954

and left factory at 26 April 1954 to "Regent Motors", Melbourne-Australia.

That is the only one we found.

I belive it is to less for a birth-certificate, so i send it by mail and we will send you your money back.

We hope for your understanding.

Yours faithfully
Roswitha Hendel
Stiftung AutoMuseum Volkswagen


I had been hoping it would have told me the colour and some Mcode options, but there we go!

I also received my cpoy of the Rod Davies book , 'The Forgotten History...' What a superb book! Although it didn't tell me the colour of my oval, the quality of the pictures and layout is excellent. Thanks for recommending it to me. The dvds that came with it are superb too.