Ok,.. So I'm thinking of buying a 68 or 69 1500 beetle.

I've looked at 2 so far.

Both identical, black and white rims, same deck lid etc,..
Except, one had the bonnet pull in the glove box the other down on the left side door pillar.

I've heard that some of the 1500 beetles were fully imported assembled, others came as knock down kits and assembled here even though they say made in Germany.

Would this be the reason???

Is the one with the bonnet pull down on the left door pillar the fully assembled imported one???

68 had the bonnet pull down on the left side door pillar,and 69 have them in the glove box , cheers shane.

Thanks Lee.
Thanks Shane.

68 have chrome strip across the dash, chrome horn ring chrome horn button chrome speedo ring. 69 had all of these but frosted.
68 only speedo? , 69 introduction of hazard light switch

Basically what Lee and vwmad has said is right as far as I know.

One extra bit of info is that Australian made beetles had different wiper mechanisms to CKD car's.... Australian ones have a large dome nut that tightens the wiper arms down onto the shaft, while CKD's have a grub screw under the arm that it onto the shaft.

That may just be from part swapping over the years

both the 70 bugs I owned were aussie 1500s and had the grub screw mount and so does a mates 68.
Theyre a pain in the arse cos they never grip the shaft real well


...waits for thats what she said jokes

Thanks everyone for helping me maybe telling the difference.

So reading everyones posts,..

Are peoples suggesting that in 68 and 69 there were 3 differently made bugs.

1. Entirely Aussie made.

2. CKD assembled in OZ.

and

3. Fully assembled/built made in West Germany imported.

I thought we stopped making bugs in OZ before the 68 1500???

Or are people referring to the CKDs as aussie built?

1954 - Fully imported. CKD assembly starts in June 1954, with imports gradually phased out.
1955-59 - CKD assembly but with increasing local content. VW buys the factory from Clyde Industries in 1957.
1959-68 - full Australian manufacture (Deluxe and later Standard/Custom). Local content aimed at 95% by 1966 but only 75% or so ever achieved.

1968 - cross-over. Fully manufactured '67 models continue until March '68 (Deluxe) and September '68 (Custom). In the meantime, Euro '68 Beetles are fully imported for launch, while the factory is converted back to CKD assembly. '68 CKD assembly (manual only) begins mid-'68. Semi-autos remain fully imported. It would have taken the Clayton factory a while to convert back. The factory also had to convert to assembling the T2 Transporter at the same time, rather than manufacturing the split-screen T1 as before. That, combined with the heavy financial losses at the time, management and ownership changes and uncertainty, would have made Clayton an unhappy place to be in '68.

By 1969 there were no more fully-manufactured Beetles - the jigs and presses had been sold and removed by then. Only locally assembled CKD, and some full imports. Datsuns also CKD assembled at Clayton.

'Aussie built' is a bit ambiguous - it could refer to full manufacture up to early '68, or also local assembly of German parts up to March 1977.