Hi all.....

I've got a 1954 ragtop oval imported from Oz. It arrived here with the reg JXD 661 (now registered in the UK as RAS 224).

Desperately trying to track down the bugs history whilst in Oz. Need help with this please as no idea who to turn to. I was hoping you guys could do some digging and help me find out the bugs history to put together with the history on this side of the world.

Thanks everyone - please e-mail me on
jonjob AT talk21 DOT com

what state was it registered in an the year it was last on the road?i'll see what i can find out,but a lot of the old stuff isn't on computers and the orignals have gone to the dump!Have you got a birth certificate from wolfsburg?is the pan still the orignal one?

Hi Gotthebug.
What state was the previous australian rego in? do you have any pictures to assist us?

Hi, thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately I have no information about when it was imported or from where, just that it came form Oz.

Sorry I can't be more help this end.

Cheers
JP

Photos of car, plates, sticker would help alot....

Hi Gotthebug!

Im from the UK, and things work different here when it comes to car rego numbers, and being used to the UK system i find it well confusing to be honest!
So even though your car came with Aus plates, the chances are they won't be the original ones.
In the UK car is given a rego number that lasts it's whole life, until it hits the scrapyard crusher..(an idea so simple, yet so amazingly efficient...lol) whereas here, it seems to run out if you let your rego (tax) slip.
This is where i get confused though...as once it's run out, does your cars rego number then get used on another car automatically? If not, then why not just have one number for the whole life of the car? Just seems more complicated for no real reason!
But yeah, main reason for posting was to let you know that as it's likely that the plates arent original, it might be a bit harder to track.
I guess engine / chassis no's will be a lot of help though

Good luck!

djnee, all number plates here are issued sequentially, so expired plates are not generally re-issued. The only one which can be re-issued (in SA at least) are the series beginning with R and S, and only on request. I believe that the idea behind letting the plates "expire" is to make sure they can't be stolen, hence they request that if your car is going to be unregistered for more than 90 days or if it's never likely to see the road again, you should surrender your plates to be destroyed. However, it's important to note that surrendering your old plates is entirely voluntary and not many people do it. If you do happen to buy an old car which has been off the road for years but still has number plates on it, then it can be registered with those plates (and in SA, without a roadworthy inspection either).

The main reason that cars get new rego plates in Australia is because the car has moved states. Because the registration and hence the plates are issued by each state government and not by the federal government, you cannot register your car in a new state with plates from another state. Hence, when you transfer registration to your new address you are issued the next number plate in the sequence for that state, as if you were registering a brand new car. For example, my family has a 1990 Nissan which we bought in Canberra, but when we moved to Adelaide in the mid-90s the car's old ACT rego plates had to be destroyed (that number will never be re-issued) and it was given a mid-90s SA plate number.

Anyone help out? Here are some pics of her now

http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f357/jonjob/54%20Bug/ 

Thanks again

JP

Thats not much help

The redgo number JXD 661 could either be NSW or Victorian

unfortunatly our MOT or RTA dosent keep records of old cars or plates

In NSW we went to a three-letter, three-number rego system in the early 1950s. It started at AAA-000, filling the numbers to 999 then going on to AAB-000 and so on. By about 1958 they were up to the B series - Bxx-nnn, and by 1964 they were up to D. At this stage it was taking 2 or 3 years to go through each letter. As our population grew, and more cars were sold each year, each letter was used up faster. By 1974 we were up to G, and by 1977 to J. By the 1990s we were going though a whole letter in less than one year (676,000 cars). We went all the way thourgh to ZZZ-999 around 10 years ago, using up all the possibilities. (26x26x26x10x10x10 = 17,576,000 combinations). Now we use a new XX-nn-XX system in NSW.

By this (rough) timing system, your JXD 661 could be a NSW plate from around 1977-78 or so, which means NOT the original rego for a 1954 NSW car. At best it could have been re-registred with those plates in the 1970s.

It could be a Victorian number plate, but I don't know what the timing sequence is for Victorian plates.

I know this isnt much help but my first new car was a 63 VW and its number plate started with HXJ and I think Victoria did much the same as NSW with their numbers ,the Vic ones were white on black and NSW ones were black on yellow I also dont think Vic started at A but about F or G

Ok... dumb question time... Gotthebug, if you haven't got any info or paperwork on who imported it, previous rego's etc. well... how do you know it was JXD 661 ???

I'm guessing you have a bit of paper that says it, or an old pic showing the original plates or something... and either of those would be a big clue...

Gotthebug

The pictures in the link are pretty nice but dont really help in identifying the vehicle in its former life

Do you have any pics of it before the new paint etc say when it came off the boat maybe the original advertisment or persons name you bought it off the part of australia they lived in or maybe what port it was shipped out of. Cause at the moment all we have is a rego plate and a pictureof a bug with a new paint job.You will find that a few members here would have a extensive collection of cars which have been for sale especiallying magazined such as unique cars etc.

Other wise im sure some one here could probably make up some crap for you like it was originally sold in melbourne in late 54 original number plates ........ original colour was ...... repainted lat 70's and re registered in nsw with plates JXD.661 to its 3rd owner who drove it university until she graduated then abandoned car at her fathers farm when it failed to start on winter there it sat for years untill it was discovered buy a AVD member draged back to sydney on a car float and kept with the intention of doing a resto but as it happens life gets in the road and the prices on ebay are getting higher so he list it on ebay where you see it and purchase it import it to the uk and here we are today .

Giveus the chassis number engine number original colour interior trim colours etc and any info on rego lables etc in vehicle and im sure you will get the right info

Good luck with it