Telling the age of a beetle
Mike - September 22nd, 2010 at 10:41 PM
I've been trying to work out the age of my beetles and haven't had any luck working out the vin numbers
does anyone have a link to a site that might be able to help me?
Also should the body number be the same as the number on the pan?
Cheers
Mike
vw54 - September 23rd, 2010 at 05:41 AM
ask on here tell us the chassis number and we will advise the year model
boody and chassis dont match
Phil74Camper - September 23rd, 2010 at 07:54 AM
The Club Veedub website will have a chassis number reference page in a month or so once the redesign has finished.
In the meantime, up to 1965 VW chassis numbers were just 'consecutive' numbers. They don't tell the year model by themselves; you have to consult
workshop manuals or reference pages to tell the model year.
After 1965 the chassis numbers were redesigned and were stamped in this format: 11y nnnnnn where '11' means Type 1 (Beetle), and the third digit
'y' is the year model - for example, a 3 there means a 1973. Note that Australian-manufactured Beetles have a '9' as the second digit - US
websites know nothing about that.
As Dave says, there is no connection between between chassis number and body number. Even the engine number doesn't match, apart from a certain size
matching certain years.
Good VW workshop manuals such as Haynes, Bentley, Clymer, InterEurope, Gregorys/Scientific always list data like chassis and engine numbers. The
Gregorys was published in Australia and is the most reliable for our VWs for that sort of information.
The difficulties arise when previous owners start swapping floorpans and bodies, or even restamp new numbers on the pan. Post us some info and we can
help you.
lownsneaky - September 23rd, 2010 at 08:18 AM
when did ovals actually stop getting made
vw54 - September 23rd, 2010 at 10:02 AM
August 57
Phil74Camper - September 23rd, 2010 at 03:12 PM
Yes that's when Wolfsburg changed over. But I suspect they might have continued another month or two in Australia as ours were assembled CKD in
Melbourne. It took a while for the kits to be shipped out from Germany, then assembled/welded and finished at Clayton.
Early period road tests from Feb-March 1958 were referring to the big window updated body, so I'm guessing ours were updated in the last few months
of '57 (or even over the Xmas break).
Mike - September 23rd, 2010 at 06:04 PM
| Quote: |
Originally
posted by vw54
ask on here tell us the chassis number and we will advise the year model
boody and chassis dont match
|
The body number is 196142098
and the chassis number is 386982
The number on the chassis of my turquoise beetle is the same as that on the body so it got me thinking about the other beetle with the different
numbers.
Phil74Camper - September 24th, 2010 at 07:24 AM
Hmm, are you sure you haven't got the two numbers the wrong way around?
196142098 sounds precisely like a CHASSIS number - for an Australian-manufactured 1966 Beetle. Remember for post-'65 to early '68 Aussie VWs, '19y
nnnnnn' is the format. So '196' means 1966.
The chassis number you quoted - 386982 - seems to be missing a digit. The numbers are sequential for early VWs, and remember the 1 millionth was made
in 1955. That number - of itself - implies a VW made in late 1952 (only 386,982 had been built then). BUT it won't be - chassis numbers of that early
time had a '1-' in front of the number. So it would have read '1-386982' if it was a genuine 1952. But VWs weren't sold in Australia until
1954.
Can you post a picture of your Beetle and we'll see?
Mike - September 24th, 2010 at 02:54 PM
The 1961 number is defiantly on the body because I always assumed it was a 61 model.
I thought the pan number wasn't long enough but I'm nearly certain that its only 6 digit (I will check it again though)
I don't have any photos at the moment but will try and get some.
The colour is called polar white if that helps narrow things down.
patina - November 20th, 2010 at 11:01 AM
| Quote: |
Originally
posted by vw54
ask on here tell us the chassis number and we will advise the year model
boody and chassis dont match
|
Please help very confused so called '55' oval
Body number: MKA 14692
Chassis number: 5425257
there is no id plate under the hood
farkengruven - November 20th, 2010 at 12:02 PM
Oval body on a later pan. This was done quite a bit in the 80's and 90's.
patina - November 20th, 2010 at 02:14 PM
but do you know the year
Joel - November 20th, 2010 at 02:48 PM
5.4millionth would put it around 63
patina - November 20th, 2010 at 08:20 PM
i need to know the year of the body
volumex - November 21st, 2010 at 03:14 PM
That MKA number would be a 56 year model.
patina - November 21st, 2010 at 03:58 PM
interesting cause on the back of the speedo it says 8.55 so i thought it meant August 1955.
volumex - November 21st, 2010 at 06:20 PM
August 55 is a 56 year model,
68AutoBug - November 21st, 2010 at 07:37 PM
| Quote: |
Originally
posted by volumex
August 55 is a 56 year model,
|
in 1955 the VW Year was still jan 1st to 31st december
they didn't change that until 1960-61 models...
LEE
volumex - November 21st, 2010 at 08:44 PM
| Quote: |
In August 1955,
Volkswagen adopted the American style of model year. Hence from 1 August 1955 to 31 July 1956, Volkswagen produced 1956 model year cars.
|
VW Beetle Specification Guide 1949-1967 James Richardson 2007
| Quote: |
This year, 1955,
also marks the start of the August to August model year system, whereby significant production changes occurred after the traditional factory
shutdown.
|
Original VW Beetle Laurence Meredith 1994
| Quote: |
In August 1955
Volkswagen shifted to a U.S. style model year schedule. For example a Beetle manufactured between August 1, 1955 and August 1, 1956 would be
considered a 1956 beetle.
|
The 1949-1959 VW Beetle Bob Wilson 1994
| Quote: |
All bugs prior to
1955 were built according to the calendar year, this simply means for example if the car was built at any date in 1954 then that car is a 1954 model.
On August 1, 1955 VW introduced the Model year. From this day forward VW started next years production on this date.
|
Wolfsburg West catalog 2006.
I'd be interested in seeing documentation to show the 1960/61 was when the year models changed.
patina - November 22nd, 2010 at 08:15 PM
ahhh i see thank you so i take it its a 56 but just by a couple of weeks
slammedrag - November 22nd, 2010 at 09:21 PM
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/bugchassisdating.php all the info you will need is here
volumex - November 23rd, 2010 at 12:19 AM
The Samba doesn't list MKA numbers.
volumex - November 24th, 2010 at 12:23 PM
| Quote: |
Originally
posted by patina
ahhh i see thank you so i take it its a 56 but just by a couple of weeks
|
I forgot to add that based on the MKA number, the body will have been assembled around May/June 1956. The speedo will have come from an earlier car.
Phil74Camper - November 25th, 2010 at 07:49 AM
| Quote: |
[quote}I'd be
interested in seeing documentation to show the 1960/61 was when the year models changed.
|
Yes 1960/61 is wrong.
For US-market Beetles built in Wolfsburg, VW changed to the August build year in 1955, and as most of the books (and websites) written about VWs come
from the USA, this has become a universal truth.
BUT - for European market VWs, both the 'Export' Beetles and especially the 'Standard' model that was not sold in the USA, VW did keep the Jan-Dec
model year for a couple more years. This is a scan from the Volkswagen Exchange Service Catalogue from August 1975 (Document 735.008.85). It lists
dates and chassis/engine numbers for exchange engines.
I'm confinedd by the 100 kb limit for attachments (can that be improved please?) so it's a bit hard to read. But look at the left-hand column. The
first mention of August is 1-8-1955, when US models changed over. However it continues to list December (and omits August 1956 and 1958!) It also
includes October 1957. Things don't really settle down and become consistent until August 1959.
So I suspect that for 1955-59 there was some ambiguity over exactly when a 'year model' began. Sure August for US-market export models, but for
domestic lower spec models it wasn't so clear cut. And especially as the factory made on-line improvements and parts changes throughout the year, not
just on 1st August.
An additional complication is that Australian market Beetles, after June 1954, were locally assembled in Melbourne from CKD kits. As the years went
on, many parts were locally sourced. Chassis numbers, and specific parts changes, will not exactly match those of German-made cars, especially after
1960. The Australian factory's model year began in February (after the Xmas holildays), not the previous August. Our cars only reverted to the August
model year when CKD was reintroduced in 1968 - and even then, it took four or five months for the changes to trickle through to production.
Menangler - November 26th, 2010 at 07:38 PM
I have a couple of MKA number I would like dated if someone can help.
MKA 8833 and MKA 17738
Thanks
Dave
volumex - November 27th, 2010 at 09:08 AM
MKA 8833 will be a 56 year model built around mid October 55.
MKA 17738 will be a 57 year model built towards the end of 1956 / start of 1957.
Edit: I am still refining this info, so any and all corrections welcome.
Menangler - November 27th, 2010 at 05:35 PM
Thanks for that, I think that would be close,
The early car still has SEKURIT glass and 8/55 on the speedo, the later one has the early position heater outlets, don't have the speedo for it yet.
hrastovica - November 28th, 2010 at 09:37 PM
On this topic, i am looking at a 1962 karmann cabrio bug from USA. I am interested if it is on the body is on the correct chassis or not.
If i was to obtain the numbers, could i find out if it is correct?
volumex - November 29th, 2010 at 11:38 AM
Body numbers are a black art. The production lists on the Samba are your best source of information - the birth certificates from Wolfsburg don't
list the body numbers.
Is Steve's 54 Karman still for sale? That would be heaps easier than getting one in from the US with the new modified car laws...
greedy53 - November 29th, 2010 at 04:06 PM
the age look at its teeth like they do me or should i say tooth
