VW Magazine Australia Issue#31

Hi All,

Issue#31 of VWMA is currently at the printers. A preview can be found at www.vwma.net.au, however the subs and drags links are still being developed. This should be finished by the end of the week.

Cheers
Craig

Looking forward to another great read! Congrats for keeping her running well into the issues! Been growing from strength to srength over the past 8 years! 👍

wow july 2011 volksworld has the same cover car👍

Super Amped 🙂

Since the Ghia ran an 8.85 second pass for the quarter, the owner Peter Kohmann had been selecting VW publications to offer them the story and photos of the car. I was fortunate that Peter is a reader of VWMA, so I was chuffed to be included. Pretty cool!

looking forward to the article .
great mag never miss it👍

Yeh, I just read it for the the articles, more pictures please

L469 wrote:wow july 2011 volksworld has the same cover car👍

Awesome car for the cover...

That's great your mag was selected Craig!!..but I am biased 😁
Looks to be another great one.
Cheers
D

The re-vamped VWMA website is now up and running, although subs and drag info are still yet to be finished (another couple of days). A preview of issue#31 is available as well as a look back at issue#30. Over the coming months more content will be added, including sold-out issues in an online format.

www.vwma.net.au

Awesome received my copy last night and was happy to see RAWS article with my photos printed 🙂

Received my copy last night and the design looks great, nice work Craig.

Kevin

hi Craig
I am still not receiving magazines after you sorted out past issue not arriving. did not get issue 30 so maybe not going to see 31?

Send me a PM etc and I'll give you my details 👍

gotta love the blue square in the nationals write up (just a little biased)

that is 2 days I will not get back... and I am really happy about that.... a great read, thank you Craig.

any of you guys with subscriptions got your magazine yet?❓

I have.

Yogie

Yep, mine was here when I got home. :-)

VWMA Editor wrote:Since the Ghia ran an 8.85 second pass for the quarter, the owner Peter Kohmann had been selecting VW publications to offer them the story and photos of the car. I was fortunate that Peter is a reader of VWMA, so I was chuffed to be included. Pretty cool!

Great read.

go the Holley carb 😂

The subscription page is up and running, and the Warwick drags next week. Apologies for the delay, but if you have visited the site recently you will appreciate the amount of work Rawdy has put into transforming the layout. The website uses the latest html coding (not old Flash technology) and can now be instantly viewed on handheld devices, tablets and browsers.

Another fantastic issue Craig.

Don't be afraid to go look at the latest T5 Dual-cab. The engine is not a 'sedan type 4 cylinder', it has been specifically designed for the Transporter range. The old 2.5 five has been retired as it does not meet the latest Euro emission laws. It made 128 kW and 400 Nm. The current 2.0 four - with twin turbos - makes 132 kW and 400 Nm. You also get a choice of 6-speed manual or 7-speed DSG.

I loved the article on the B1 Passat - it's actually a facelifted B1 (1977 and later) as the earlier Aussie-made ones had the large lozenge headlights and 1.5-litre engines (see photo). The taillights are also different from the Aussie ones. This one would have been fully imported after the Clayton factory was sold to Nissan and VW assembly ceased - the factory didn't close.

You wrote "However, the early Passat models suffered the same fate as other VW concepts developed in the shadow of the popular Beetle - it wasn't initially embraced by the VW buying public. If not for the VW enthusiasts like Jodie McPhee, the B1 would have been discared on the forgotten pile."

Sorry, but that is just nonsense. The Australian sales figures of the time tell a different story. In 1973 VW sold 7,551 Beetles/Type 3s in Australia, well down from the 12,241 sold in 1971, and the 8,566 sold in 1972. Air-cooled sales were already in permanent decline.

In 1974, when the Passat was released, VW sold 3,411 of them. Air-cooled sales were 957 1300s and 2,025 1600s - the Passat was already ahead. In 1975 VW sold 4,113 Passats - 20.6% more - but only 462 1300s and 1,930 1600s. VW buyers were warmly embracing the newcomer, not pining for the Beetle.

In 1976 it was 3,945 Passats, 4,429 Golfs and just 1,159 1600 Beetles. The Beetle's time had passed; in fact Beetle production ended in July 1976 and the last ones weren't sold until the following March. Unsold Beetles clogged dealer yards for months, no one wanted them. They were obsolete.

After that VWs became fully imported, and the models were priced off the local market by LNC Industries. By 1981 a Passat diesel cost more than a 6-cylinder Commodore. It wasn't that Aussie VW buyers didn't like the new range; they just couldn't afford them, and that's a different issue. Really the model was locally killed off before it had a chance to establish itself. We didn't see the Passat again until the B4 model in the mid 1990s.

The Passat has passed 16 million sales and will pass the Beetle's 21 million total within 10 years.

Hi Phil,

I'm glad you enjoyed the read.

My comments about the Passat were directed more towards its longevity as an enthusiast's car rather than actual sales figures at the time - very few exist in Australia as original or restored vehicles as opposed to the classic Beetle. I guess the same could be said for the Mk1 Golf, but that's slowly coming into its own here (in Europe its huge!).

I am, however, impressed to learn of how well it sold when initially released. Your VW library must be quite extensive.

Cheers
Craig

Great mag as usual Craig, but as a sponsor, competitor and a VW enthusiast, I have to say how disapointed I was to see the coverage of Brisbane's Dyno Mania 2011 contained no mention of sponsors, entrants, catagories or especially the WINNERS.

Sorry, but I thought it was relavant to that type of competition.

matberry wrote:Great mag as usual Craig, but as a sponsor, competitor and a VW enthusiast, I have to say how disapointed I was to see the coverage of Brisbane's Dyno Mania 2011 contained no mention of sponsors, entrants, catagories or especially the WINNERS.

Sorry, but I thought it was relavant to that type of competition.

Or final dyno figures for all the entrants?
It was a dyno day wasn,t it......

Cheers Col

VW Australia should feature Ausy cars

not an os car on the cover //???

Not harsh but thats how I see it , I'm not a sibscriber yet .
😵

It hardly ever has any show results either, I understand if the photographer can't stay there all day but surely a phone call to the organisers a few days after the show wouldn't be too hard??