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?

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

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.......

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.