Found this photo on Instagram:



Anyone have any Vintage photos like this in Australia?

Phil?

oops!

Here it is:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/14598_1015297...

Way cooool

wheres Phil these days surely he has some pics to share?

Here's one from September 1990

Didnt know Mullers did Subaru?

All the Volkswagen dealers did from the mid 70s to the mid 80s. Subaru was imported by LNC.

things you find on here......... orange 67 beetle , oval window rear cut i put in , volvo sports mags i sold to Adrian ,parked out front

Yes I have a few old dealership photos, but it's easier to find dealership ads rather than dealer photos. Most large libraries have local newspapers on fiche rolls - look up the 1960s and you'll always find them.

That instragram photo is interesting. It looks like the UK to me, rather than Australia, looking at the number plate shapes. And that's a 411 in the middle.

LNC took on the Subaru franchise in 1973 as a replacement for Rover, which they lost when Leyland Australia was formed. LNC was diversifying, with VW only one of many franchises they operated. Instead of selling Subaru through a new chain of dealers, as they did with their Colt/Bellet, Yamaha and Rambler franchises, they just sold them through their existing VW dealer network. For a few years they were 'joint' VW-Subaru dealers, but by 1977 (when VWs were fully imported, costs rose and sales dropped), they became Subaru dealers, with VW just an aside (mostly VW parts and service, and the occasional Transporter or Golf/Passat diesel sale).

This is Eric Young's Motors in Lithgow, about 1984. As you can see, VW was just one of many LNC franchises by then. That's my Beetle parked in front. The site is now a mower repair shop.

Here's some examples of the VW dealer ads I mentioned.

Hi Phil i was after ones with specific VW and Audi signage.

Got any more or VW / Audi adverts?

Here is another shot of Muller and Muller, taken in the early 1990s. VW/Audi and Subaru were separated after Ateco took over VW, but were reunited a few years under TKM/Inchcape. Even today VW can't quite escape Subaru - look at Bill Buckle at Brookvale, for example.

I have many hundreds of Australian VW ads, dealer and general, in my collection. I don't collect Audi ads though - you've got to draw the line somewhere.

Hi Phil

Thanks for this!

do you have any VW ads with Audi logo on them?

Cheers,
Costa....

Hi Costa,

Well Volkswagen ads normally promote VWs, while Audi ads promote Audis. I'm not sure what LNC did when the Auto Union (Audi) was first introduced here in 1967, but I'll find out. I'll be sourcing VW ads from 1967 over the next couple of months, so if I find any early Audi ads I'll get copies for you.

Audi had something of a 'relaunch' in 1974 when the Audi Fox was released - the luxury sedan version of the Passat (or the other way around?!) For a few years Audis were counted as a Volkswagen model in the sales statistics, rather than a separate make as they are now. Yes they were occasionally advertised together. Here's an example.

In more recent years the only time you'll get VW-Audi logos together is for dealership ads. The bottom ad from about 1990 is when Dale Ford at Bankstown took on VW/Audi for a short time. They should have learned to use apostrophes correctly - they aren't used for plurals.

.....and the Audi Fox was an Australia only model. I think that the rear suspension was Passat and German built models had independant.

Thanks Phil let me know !

OK I found some Audi ads from mid-1967, when the new range was released here for the first time. In those days, the 'Audi' was considered to be another Volkswagen model, rather than a separate marque as it is today.

I also have some 1967 newspaper road tests of the new Audi, which I will reproduce in a future issue of the Club VW magazine 'Zeitschrift'.

A couple more

Awesome Phil!

Yep. The site is a Mitsubishi dealer now. I remember Dale had a large lit neon 'Volkswagen' sign inside their showroom - I wonder what happened to it.