Hi all.

I have been on a quest of kinds, to find the well known 'Antarctica 1' Bug, used in Antarctica in 1963 by ANARE. After a few years of searching online, I have found a bit more info than some before me, however without actually coming to Austrailia for the actual search, I have gone as far as I can.

My last piece of information puts the car in Seymour, around 1966. (roumered to have been scraped that year. Hope not) If anyone has any info, please let me know so the search might finally lead to reveal the cars true fate.

Thank you for reading

I too have spend alot of time in search of the original Antarctica 1 and was involved in the restoration and shipment to Germany and Holland of a replica Antarctica I back in 2003

I have a bucket load of information, pictures and other stuff relative to the car, ANARE,original film footage but still no knowledge of the vehicle's final resting place.
See the attached.

Am interested to know what you are trying to achieve.

email me at ; countrybuggybill@hotmail.com

countrybuggybill

Lots of F#$%in luck

Gone to Japan MANY years ago

I heard a rumour that a bloke in Hobart has it parked in a shed where its been for many many years... A mate and fellow V-Dubber told me this.

I reckon its been a recycled baked beans can many times over.

I agree, I think it was scrapped in 1966 or 1967. Remember it competed in the 1964 BP rally (and won it!) so it would have been stuffed after that.

At least Antarctica 2's history is a bit more clear cut. This 'international orange' car replaced Antarctica 1 at Mawson in 1964, and as far as I can tell was there for four years. On its return it ended up as a rallycross car competing at the Catalina circuit near Katoomba, owned I believe by Chris Heyer. He ran it for a couple of years, then sold it (in ratty condition) to Ed Mulligan. It was scrapped not long after.

I'd like to know whether there was really an 'Antarctica 3', or whether it was just Antarctica 2 with different logos. I've read conflicting stories on different websites, such as http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Antarctica/Off_the_Beaten_Path-Antarctic...

Hope Rural Baja is right. anyone know anymore on that rumor?

Never heard of Antarctica 3 Phil, but I do recall of the '57 bug brought down by its owner, then sank when it broke through the ice in the later 60's.

Still trying to find the last Registered owner of the car. Figure one way or another, finding him can lead to finding out what has happened to the car.

Thanks all for the contributes so far, and please keep them coming!

P.S, Bill (58camper), I sent you an email. I couldnt open the link you posted.

Nice to have some fresh people do some sleuthing on this issue. Bill has done heaps of work on this, and he has a good relationship with Ray McMahon, the leader of the ANARE 1963/64 expedition and original organiser of Antarctica 1. You've probably seen Bill's potted history of Antarctica 1, and its recreation in 2003, at http://members.netro.com.au/~vwcc/BUDELbadcambergandbeyond.htm 

This website contains some extracts of an essay I co-wrote for a book in 1994 - http://www.rallybugs.com/antartica1.htm  and there are also some links here to some period Australian VW staff magazines: http://www.vw-resource.com/antarctic.html 

Here's also some information from Ray McMahon himself, plus some of his original photos, on the ANARE club website. It refers to the car's Victorian registration plates of the time - HZB-624. I beileve Bill has already made enquiries with VicRoads to try to find out owner details but with no luck. Their records may not go back that far nowadays. Bill could tell you more. http://anareclub.weebly.com/images-1960-1969.html 

It also has a summary of 'Antarctica 4¼' which was privately shipped to Antarctica by Mark Forecast later (and subsequently lost)

Thanks for those additional links Phil.
I spent 6 months back on 2002 looking for the vehicle and trying to piece together the final days. Spoke to 5 or 6 people who were at the Factory but no one can add any value after the vehicle returned to Clayton after a promotional tour following the 1964 BP Rally whihc the car won.
I would not be surprised if it is sitting in a shed somewhere.
Here are a couple of photos of the replica I was involved with when the car was on display at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg and in a line only two vehicles behind the Series 3 Prototype resto.

Aha, so they are spose ta leak (sorry, mark their spot) even had drip trays then.

Quote:

Originally posted by donn Aha, so they are spose ta leak (sorry, mark their spot) even had drip trays then.

Jeff Jeff Jeff, lets not get into another terminology debate, pleeeaaase.

Top stuff keep it up lets see if we can find the Bake Beans cans

BUT i would prefer it to be found in a barn in TASSIE

Maybe the foil barbecue tray is there just in case the motor gets cooked.

Every vehicle on display at the Autostadt has a drip tray installed to protect the Bavarian timber floor.

countrybuggybill.

Thanks guys. Still, its last known place seems to conflict with other stories. Last I heard, I believe from Phil when I asked him late 2009, was the car was last seen behind a shop in Seymour in 1966. Does anyone know where exactly that shop was? Furthermore, has anyone actually tried to go out there, and do some physical searching? I plan to visit the country sometime late this year, or maybe the next, with some friends for about a month. In which I plan on doing the real physical search, starting in Seymour, and working my way out, for however long I can.

I ran an idea through some of my car buddy's and a few other clubs, (Still working on the details right now), But if we can fund it, we might be able to offer finders fees/ rewards, and such, for anyone who can help find it. Its all up in the air at the moment anyways.

Lee they made do with Bill's replica because the original doesn't exist! - as far as we know.

In Antarctica the front end didn't 'break away', but rather it suffered from cracking of the frame head. This was due to the severe cold (making the steel brittle), and the hammering that the suspension received on the corrugated ice fields. However the Mawson workshop was able to weld the frame head back up without trouble. Antarctica 2 was fitted with the factory optional front end outrigger strengthening bars. At some stage, after its return from Antarctica in 1964, the car was given a new replacement floorpan (on the quiet), as by the time it was on display after the BP Rally it was factory fresh again underneath.

And yes, one of the common stories was that the winds were so stong at Mawson that they sometimes grabbed the open doors, and flung them open against the check rods and flat against the front hubcaps! Again the Mawson workshops straightened out the hinges without dramas. The mudguards, too, received a flogging from the snow chains.

Antarctica 1 received huge publicity in VW ads, not just in Australia but all around the world. This massive publicity coincided with VW's biggest selling year of the air-cooled era in Australia, 1964, so in fact Antarctica 1 was directly responsible for VW's sales record (that stood for 46 years). The publicity was such that a group of American scientists who visited Mawson, admitted to the Australians that they never would have known that Australia even had bases in Antarctica if not for the Volkswagen ads!

Antarctica 1 was Ruby Red, while Antarctica 2 was International Orange. It was often mentioned in the Antarctica 1 ads (and on the jigsaw puzzle!), saying 'And now Antarctica 2 is down there..' or words to that effect.

Bug Guy, there's a photo of Antarctica 1 on display at Seymour on the ANARE club website link, above. There's also a much clearer one in the excellent glossy book, "VW in Australia The Forgotten Story". Where exactly - well it would have been the local VW agency. I don't have the details with me here but I'll find out and post the address. Then we can look on Google Earth. If you go to Seymour, start by making enquiries at the local library.

friend of mine has an Antarctic beetle!

prepared by five start motors in christchurch and sent to american base mcmurdo. had ski's on the front, front wheels went to back as doubles or back could be removed and 'paddle' wheels put on.

will try and get pics

Ran into a guy when drilling around Braidwood who had taken photos of Antartic Beetle when based there, not sure if he was Mawsons official photographer or if it was Beetle 1 or 2 but had a collection of slides which were high quality, was a VW fan as well, would be in his late 70's now if still alive....he had a lot of info about the car, maybe worth chasing up

thanks Phil. If you could dig up an address, it would save me some time. And Chip, if you could get the name of the fellow, I would really appreciate that too.

Thanks Guys

The best i can do Don is google earth the street in Braidwood, he was staying behind us, i will suss it out over the weekend....he was a bit of a character...there was a VW enthusiast in town who's brother owned a quite good model shop.....i think if he still has that shop i'd be able to track him down by asking him or contacting his brother, he'd remember me as he put me onto Fahmi's split Beetle

OK here are some 1964-'66 addresses for Volkswagen dealers in the mid-west region of Victoria, where Antarctica 1 was last seen. None of these dealers still exist, but you could visit the sites, visit the local libraries and ask around. RSL clubs and pubs in town are good places to talk to older locals who might remember the dealers and/or the people who worked there.

Seymour - Progressive Motors, 82 Emily St (closed 1977)
Shepparton - Orrmans Service Station, 316 High St (closed 1965)
Bendigo - Geo Innes & Sons, 411 Hargreaves St (closed 1979)
Kyneton - Kriewalt's Garage, 2 Piper St (closed 1977)
Castlemaine - Castlemaine Motors, cnr Hall & Barker sts (closed 1975)
Echuca - Orrmans Service Station, High Street (closed 1965)

I'm not sure about Braidwood (NSW), as there never was an official Volkswagen Dealer there. Greg Cusack had an agency in Queenbeyan (cnr Monaro and Lowe Sts, closed 1979), but even Batemans Bay never had a VW agency either. There was an agency in Moruya (Ragen's Garage, Mullenderree) but it closed in 1961. Otherwise you had to go to Canberra, Goulburn, Nowra or Bega.

Not suggesting the Beetle came from Braidwood but a member of Mawson camp retired to Braidwood where he had shown me old slides/pictures of Antartic 1 or 2 he'd taken whilst based in Mawson.

Thanks Phil, and Chip. Stumbled onto the Seymour address a few days back, and am doing some mapping. Unless I get any more info on locations after Seymour, the research portion of the search is coming to an end, then it will all be the physical searching for it.

This is a shot of Antarctica 1 in Seymour some time after the BP Rally and shortly before it disappeared. It's not actually parked at Progressive Motors, the VW dealer then (82 Emily St, now Goulburn Valley Hwy), but rather across the road at the then BP petrol station. BP sponsored the rally, of course.

Here's another shot taken at the same time, from more front-on. You can clearly see the BP signage, especially saying 'North Seymour.'

This site of the BP station still exists - this is a shot from Google Earth Street View. You can see what used to be the garage on the left, under the 'Energol' sign, with the big square door. The rectangular windows on the right can be recognised easily. The funny shaped white column is gone though, and so is the picket fence down the far left (in the first shot above).

It looks like the site is closed and for sale?

Thanks for the photos Phil. These are really good. You can really see she got beat up over the few years she was around. That Left Rear fender looks like it went through a mixing beater a few times.