Standard Aussie-Built Beetle

Not much to say, but apart from wheels its completely original. 55,000 original miles, had ancient bloody tyres on her so i though id drop the 5spokes on her. Still needs to have higher profile on the back to drop the front.

Got a few plans for her, need to slip a new box in her next week as there is a whine in the diff, maybe some twin carbs on her down the track, but thats about all. Anyway enjoy!

looks awesome. i will be upset if you baja it 🙁

colonel mustard wrote:looks awesome. i will be upset if you baja it 🙁

No chance in hell of that happening 😂 My baja days are over now i have the rural baja 😁

That is a really nice looking bug,

I see you have the same RACT sticker on your quarter window as mine:





I have a period RACT badge, but not sure how to mount it up,


can you show us a shot of your engine and under the front lid if you have a chance please?

Hi Des,

Yea i have a RACT badge to put on the car too bit i dont want to have to drill into the bumper.

My old 62 had one on the panel aswell, seen here:



Oh and the pictures you requested. Still havent had time to put on a set of black plug leads and clean the engine bay.

very nice, thanks

is that a sticker on the back of the fan shroud? to the right of the air cleaner? what does it say?

I wouldnt have an idea wat it means, it looks like something for the jack but why is it on the shroud? Ill take a photo tommorow when i give her a run into the swap meet for you Des.

did you get the bumpers soda blasted or were they like that when you got her?
-M

eraser wrote:did you get the bumpers soda blasted or were they like that when you got her?
-M

G'day Mate,

No thats how the bumpers are meant to be, silver as with the hubcaps. They were really poor these standard models, no chrome on th bonnet, no chrome on the windows, no fuel guage, no headlining around the windows, no glovebox lid, no chrome on running boards, no interior light, and not much else.

Hope this helps,

Cheers Bill

its the tappet adjustment sticker 👍

up till around the time 1300s started there was a sticker there saying use only genuine volkswagen parts but they moved it to inside the glovebox lid around 65-66

old girl scrubbed up well, keep her stock, theres not enough standards left out there like it

Joel wrote:its the tappet adjustment sticker 👍

up till around the time 1300s started there was a sticker there saying use only genuine volkswagen parts but they moved it to inside the glovebox lid around 65-66

old girl scrubbed up well, keep her stock, theres not enough standards left out there like it

Ah that would explain it then, cheers Joel 👍

I nearly walked away from her when i first saw her, she looked tired but a bit of polish, 5spoke mags a heap of 6v globes and a new fuel pump got her sorted.

Had a nice cruise in her today, 43 mile round trip. Ran sweet as, but still gotta get the box done soon. Long trips might seize it.

And its nice to have a little stock bug for once, my main aim is to preserve a bit of aussie history 🙂

Eddie Storer down south has probably without a doubt the best one in Australia. Its simply immaculate. I wonder how many where made?

Nice clean example. Scrubbed up real nice!

As bought:

1963 Empi Radar wrote:

eraser wrote:did you get the bumpers soda blasted or were they like that when you got her?
-M

G'day Mate,

No thats how the bumpers are meant to be, silver as with the hubcaps. They were really poor these standard models, no chrome on th bonnet, no chrome on the windows, no fuel guage, no headlining around the windows, no glovebox lid, no chrome on running boards, no interior light, and not much else.

Hope this helps,

Cheers Bill

Wow never knew that thanks for that, i really like the look of them like that.

eraser wrote:

1963 Empi Radar wrote:

eraser wrote:did you get the bumpers soda blasted or were they like that when you got her?
-M

G'day Mate,

No thats how the bumpers are meant to be, silver as with the hubcaps. They were really poor these standard models, no chrome on th bonnet, no chrome on the windows, no fuel guage, no headlining around the windows, no glovebox lid, no chrome on running boards, no interior light, and not much else.

Hope this helps,

Cheers Bill

Wow never knew that thanks for that, i really like the look of them like that.

Ill admit they grow on me too 🙂

they call it coles cafeteria upholstry.... for good reason to 😂

Nice looking Dub. We’ll have to go for a cruise when I finally get mine back on the road.

Well an update, to make the old girl a bit more comfortable on the open road i have started a few little mods.

Brought my green 63 back from the property last weekend. Have got the 1641 out of it and will be putting it in the pov pack when i put the new box in tommorow. (original had a horrible whine in the diff.) Needless to say the public holiday tommorow will come in handy!

During this she will also be converted to 12v, however with the new engine and electrics, she can be easily converted back to original if wanted. All the original gear will be going on the 63 so if ever down the track i decide to put her back to original, i can.

Heres a couple of pics, more tommorow!

Well the VW gods must have been smiling yesterday, sure enough the gearbox was alright apart from a little grate when you go from 3rd to 2nd.

The 1641 pulls her along very nicely now, all i need is a set of twin carbys 😀

so you have two sweet beetles? jealous.

so do i put a pair of axle stands on your christmas list? 😂

Joel wrote:so do i put a pair of axle stands on your christmas list? 😂

Haha yea Joel they would have come in handy 😂

Will, Let me buy your yellow leads.
Nice bus by the way mate. I love it.

I have decided to buy a beetle. Let me know if you find one.

Hey Joel will you keep the kombi if you get a beetle?

Yeah Im putting it in a shed. Im not making enoguh money at the moment to do it up properly so I'm just putting it away until I do. In the meantime I want a beetle 🙂

wow,
these standard beetles [made in Clayton] are Very rare these days.
MOst were modified back in the 60s.. with
chromed bumpers-hubcaps-strips= blinkers- running board strips.
1/4 windows... headlamp rims etc...

some even had the glovebox lid and interior light added
plus the fuel gauge....

these were a terrible looking car when New...

I used to see a few when walking to school back then...

and they were always advertised as they were the cheapest..

LEE

PS: All My thoughts...
AS I said... VERY rare to see a good one these days..
One of the locals has one... although His may have been originally a CUSTOM with stainless steel bumpers.. ::Lee

68AutoBug wrote:wow,
these standard beetles [made in Clayton] are Very rare these days.
MOst were modified back in the 60s.. with
chromed bumpers-hubcaps-strips= blinkers- running board strips.
1/4 windows... headlamp rims etc...

some even had the glovebox lid and interior light added
plus the fuel gauge....

these were a terrible looking car when New...

I used to see a few when walking to school back then...

and they were always advertised as they were the cheapest..

LEE

PS: All My thoughts...
AS I said... VERY rare to see a good one these days..
One of the locals has one... although His may have been originally a CUSTOM with stainless steel bumpers.. ::Lee

Hi Lee,

Yea they wont win a prize for beauty haha 🙂

A mate has one the same, but his is simply perfectly original. Hey Eddy, post up a picture!

Im suprised with how original she was when i got her. With the modifications ive made (Wheels, 12v, bigger engine) with a good days work she can be returned easy enough. All the bits ive changed over are now on my 63 which is packed away in dry storage. Why ruin an original car by getting rid of the original bits?

There was a restored one on ebay for $15k. Not worth that but it was still nice 🙂


Cheers Bill

Joels72Lowlight wrote:Will, Let me buy your yellow leads.
Nice bus by the way mate. I love it.

I have decided to buy a beetle. Let me know if you find one.

Will do Joel, not interested in two 71's? No engine or box but i think there is a box xomewhere and a heap of parts.

Im meant to be picking them up when i ay you a visit next month but if your keen?

Mmm I may be Will. I'll only want one though. Do you have any pics?
How Much do they want for them?

I absolutely know NOTHING when it comes to beetles. How much effort is it to instal an 1800 box?
I want to use the 1800 box with my 1600 but If not I have a really good 1600 box that will go straight in.
So what suspension does a 71 have? I spose it depends on the model.
Thanks for looking out will.

Cheers Joel.

Nice looking bug you do need to drop the front.

Very nice standard bug, i know those early standards are rare. they are even more basic than my 66 standard! the mechanic i use has a very original looking 62 standard, i had a look in side his and saw the blanks for the interior light and window sprayer :S

Any way very cool car, i under stand the upgrading to 12 volt but hopefully you keep her pretty much stock, it is a piece of history. its not to easy to find an unmolested standard.

Simon

Had my leavers dinner the other night, had the car go down to the local dealership for a tune up as it was running a bit rough. $422 later still running rough. Took it back today to discover a burnt out valve. Looks like a job to do over the coming weeks. 🙅

Man, put the original engine & gearbox back in the car.
Remove the herbie stripes, attach the original bumpers.
Take it back to 6-volt, and put the original wheels and tyres back on the car.
Then advertise the car in Volks World (UK) magazine or on Ebay.
Some nut job in the UK or Europe will pay big Pounds or Euros for an original, and very rare Australian Standard Beetle!
This season's trend in Europe is Standard Beetles!

There were 19180 Standard Beetles produced at Clayton up to the end of 1968 ( Yes 128 were produced in 1968) so where have they all gone.
The Model number was 112.
I have always like the nice clean lines of the Standard.
I have a copy of a factory publication when the Standard was released that I will locate and post.
countrybuggybill

68AutoBug wrote:
nice car Bill...

do You have a glovebox lid?? Fuel gauge? interior light?

there could be painted stripes under the chrome strips too...

Car is worth more with the painted bumpers etc..
also had painted hubcaps and blinker covers ...

cheers

LEE

G'day Lee,

She has nothing of "luxury" thats for sure. Has a plastic cover over the interior dome, have all the silver bumpers, silver hubcaps and the engine all stored away for a rainy day. She will be original again, but until then she will stay as herbie purely for the fun of it!


Bill, That would be great. I wonder how many 68 models are still kicking around?

And here is the 1600 as she sits...

I like what you've done Bill, after all - its about enjoying the car!!! And besides, all your mods are reversible should you choose to take it back to standard later. Nice job 😀

58camper wrote:There were 19180 Standard Beetles produced at Clayton up to the end of 1968 ( Yes 128 were produced in 1968) so where have they all gone.
The Model number was 112.
I have always like the nice clean lines of the Standard.
I have a copy of a factory publication when the Standard was released that I will locate and post.
countrybuggybill

I was sure the CUSTOM 1300 beetle took over from the standard beetle..??
it had stainless steel bumpers, no over riders.. not sure on the color of the hubcaps...
wondering whether they had stainless steel strips instead of the painted lines of the standard beetles..

I know they looked much better than the standard beetle...

a fellow I knew back then had one...

and How in the world did they sell them in 1968???
Must have been Very cheap?? or very good salesman...
Buy the standard beetle and get a Country buggy free...lol

LEE

Many of the ones I've seen still have no interior lamp?? lol
I have one on either side...lol


-

Many years ago at the VW Nationals.. at the soccer place...

there was a white standard beetle, 1967 model, LHD stainless steel bumpers, chromed headlamp rims and hubcaps..
top of front blinkers was painted white... 1/4 window trim was white.. chrome or SS strips up the side...
French number plates... Yellow headlamps.. which He had to change..

Owner had been on holidays in France, bought the car and liked it so much He bought it back with Him...lol

=====================================
another time, at the VW Nationals.. maybe the next year, ?? there was a white standard German made beetle sold by Lanock Motors in Sydney in 1968. AT 1502 rego..
the car had been going some where else?? but it was offloaded from the ship in Sydney.

The Lady who bought it passed away and I believe it was Her Son who had it... He didn't know anything about it, until a friend was driving it and was booked by a policeman...
When the Policeman saw it said 1968....He argued that it wasn't a 1968, and if it was, someone had made it look like an early model.. I remember the 1/4 windows were white, the tops of the blinkers were white, not sure on the VW badge??? no strips.. but did have a glovebox lid... lol
it had been restored... was as new..

LEE