Oldest Beetle?

I wonder, who here owns the oldest Beetle on the forum?

Does anyone own a split window, pre 54 Beetle?

Would love to see some pictures!!!

IN2VWS wrote:There are at least 30+ splits in Australia.

I'd imagine the rarest of these would be a RHD example?

isn't there an 82e or two in australia?

At Vic's web site, http://www.vicsbahn.com/homePage.htm
he shows he has a '47 which is supposedly for sale.



It's decsribed as a "1947 Type 1, rolling shell."
More pics here: http://www.vicsbahn.com/beetles.htm

Regards,
Steve

theres a vw collector here in ballina with a 47 or 48 split its LHD tho but still driven to work on a regular basis

Not quite as old as those but there's this one around in Adelaide. I think it still gets driven regularly and have seen it at a couple of shows. I might be going out on a limb here, but I think it's a '51 😀 I have a pic of the rear somewhere but it's not been scanned.

EDIT: What is an 82e?
IN2VWS - I love your bug! 😎

EDIT: What is an 82e?

KdF Wagen, the pre 1945 car

this drives around my hometown is LHD,i know pics are crappy ,they were taken with a phone

That would appear to be a 4x4 Typ877 Kommandeurwagen ?

its only 2wd😵

pod wrote:its only 2wd😵

ah thanks, from the raised suspension it looked like a 4x4, with the deep cut tyres.

very butchered oval

someones tried to make a type87 replica out of it

Yep. Oval

IN2VWS wrote:There are at least 30+ splits in Australia.
Nathan has a 1949, and I think Vic in Sydney has a 46 or 47.

Thats hard to believe seeing they weren't sold here...
and they rusted badly in Europe with the salt used on the roads..

LEE

Check out the pre1953 registry on the samba , shows at least 30 listed for australia

Yes I would think there would be more than 12 in NSW. Graham Lees used to have quite a few of them. He used to have the remains of one of the two 1946 Beetles bought to Australia by the Army after the war. One was destroyed, but the other somehow survived and was found as a wreck on Flinders Island, of all places. It was on display at the 60th Anniversary of the Beetle show at Penrith in 1998, I think it was. Not sure where that one is now.

Ray Black also has an excellent collection of old VWs. He owns a genuine 1944 Kubelwagen (see http://www.netro.com.au/~vwcc/kubel.htm), a genuine 1944 Schwimmwagen (http://www.netro.com.au/~vwcc/schwim.htm) and a high quality replica of an 82e Kommanderwagen. This car is a 1954 body shell (converted to split window), on a County Buggy chassis. See http://www.netro.com.au/~vwcc/rb82e.htm . Ray also has 1952, 1953 and 1954 Beetles, and a 1954 Cabriolet. Steve Muller has a 1952 Cabriolet (http://www.netro.com.au/~vwcc/sm52.htm).

The famous 'Oldest VW In Australia', the 1946 Beetle brought to Australia in 1951 by Therese Haenel, still exists. Volkswagen Australasia found in 1961 when they were promoting the 100,000th Australian-made VW. They gave the Haenels that 100,000th VW in exchange for the '46, which was used for promotion for a number of years. LNC Industries retained the car when they took over the Australian franchise in 1968. In the 1970s it was put on display at Green's Motorcade at Leppington. It was sold in the 1980s and went to the Gold Coast. Today, however, it can be seen at the York Motor Museum in WA, home of the Peter Briggs collection. http://www.yorkwa.com.au/Motor.Museum/index.htm

Hi Phil thanks for all the links and information,


very good reading

theres a vw collector here in ballina with a 47 or 48 split its LHD tho but still driven to work on a regular basis

Joel hes got the 47 under resto ive seen it at the panel shop its looking good

I think the earliest bug would be the 44 or 45 model that Mr Lees dragged out of the bush a few years ago i think it came from Phillip Island way in Vic

the body shell has been restored but i dont think there was too much left of the chassis and running gear

I believe it got sold a while back was paint red and had side panels in cream

Yeah there is more here than you think, but as most have been personal imports they are dotted all over the place with out much trace.
Most are listed on theSamba.com register.
Check out this one just found in Lithuania.
A very good read with pictures that point out the very early fetures.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=340552

Yes have been reading that tread with much interest, hopefully someone can bring the old girl back to its former glory.

I would expect that someone in the states with a very large cheque book will take this one on.

But the guy in Lithuania probably will want some ridiculous sum for the car thinking its valuable without taking into account the amount of work required.

Remember this car is a 1938/9 prototype and was handbuilt and had many features never found on production models, so most of it will have to be fabricated from scratch.

I found the ad for the Army's disposal of the VWs they brought to Australia in 1946. They describe them as '1940' models (!). The Army subjected one of them to rigorous local testing; remember that the Australian 9th Division encountered the Kubelwagen in North Africa during the war, and Army was very impressed with them. The Army was actually interested in making the Kubel (not the Beetle) in Australia, which was one reason the government tried to get some of the VW factory as war reparations. Needless to say, nothing came of that.

It was one of these two that Grahame Lees found, mostly wrecked, on an island in Bass Strait in the 1990s. He has since sold most of his collection so I don't know what happened to it since. Maybe Vic owns it? Anyone know?

Hard to imagine an older Beetle than these ones ever coming to Australia, or an older VW of any sort for that matter. Even the Kubels and Schwimmers here are usually 1944 or so.

The amount of equipment disposed of after war was mind boggling. Just ask any guys that are into restoring WW2 aeroplanes.

I wonder, who here owns the oldest Beetle on the forum?

I think the earliest bug would be the 44 or 45 model that Mr Lees dragged out of the bush a few years ago i think it came from Phillip Island way in Vic

just checked my records about this car and it was built 16 Nov 1945

does anyone know who has it nowdays was paint red with cream side panels