Hi Everyone I'm new to this forum!

Was just wondering if someone could be kind enough to answer a few questions regarding my Aussie bug.

Over here in the UK, it's a tad hard to source the correct info on aussie bugs and information from thesamba is also tricky as it only lists specs for German and US built cars.

Ok a biref history...Shes a 1963 ruby red deluxe model, shipped over from Oz to the UK in 2008. All original, and 1 owner from new and totally rust free (as your'd imagine).

Here are a few pics..













Original plate..







Basically what I would like to know, is a list of Aussie only specs that differed from the German built 63 Bugs. Im looking into eventually restoring her to former glory so need as much accurate info as possible.

Some things I've notcied that differ from the 63 models over here is that Ive got a wolfsburg crest, which was dropped for German 63 models, an electrical fuel guage as opposed to mechanical. My bumpers also have seals inbetween them, haven't seen that around over here on other bugs. A puller operateted washer pump, door cards seem thicker, headling also different. Square weave carpet in the engine bay. These are only a small list.

Also regarding the correct paint code and upholstery, is Ruby red L456 used on for Aussie cars too? What about the carpet, mine is square weave and looks browny with a beige border.


Lastly, bit cheeky but I've got the orignal address where this bug lived all it's life, as when it was shipped over I found the original owners driving lisence in the glove box... werid! I have no idea if hes still alive and kickin. Just wondered if anyone rememberd seeing this bug about? Wont give out the exact address but it was along virgina street in Geelong.

Any help is greatly appreciated
Thanks
Karl.

love that ruby red. its the one that ive got on my bug, its not the original colour on mine.
cant help with the rest of the items though

It might be what is known as the '62 1/2' model. It was a bit of a unique catch-up model in Oz.

First one with towel-rail bumpers, fuel gauge, spring-loaded bonnet and from memory seat-belt anchors. Last with the bonnet badge, smaller popes light type rear licence light, small tear-drop front indicators and I think usually a stale-air 40HP motor. Is that the original engine in it? - the original number will be on the warranty card.

I had one many moons ago. The head-lining is unique to Oz cars of that era, good luck finding any more of that!

Looks like a nice car, they were built in Melbourne so it hasn't strayed far going to Geelong. Geelong is good preparation for English winters .

There are a few people on this forum who are far more knowledgable than I on the specific details of local production. There's also an excellent book 'Knowing Australian Volkswagens' (or similar) which was a limited run. You may still be able to get this, they were advertising in the Australian VW magazine - I'll have a look if you are keen to get one. I have a copy, excellent read if you are into that sort of thing.

Angus

Thanks cant send u PM as I need more than 5 posts!! lol Im very interested in getting hold of that book, I have heard of it, would be a pleasure to read up on. If you can get one for me, that would be great!

Regarding the 62 and a half model year, i'm aware of this model, but i have a vw birth certificate from Germany. My car left the factory on 2nd February 1963, and said it was destined for Figi??? States it was a CKD, so must of been assembled in Aussie..Clayton facitily?? so with that in mind, it has to be the 63 model...the engine is original yes, engine number 7456034, all stamped in the warrenty info. So why i've got the bonnet badge Im not sure, early 63 thing? When was it actually discontiuned in Australlia?

Any more help on this and the other things anyone??
Thanks

Interesting that the engine is still original yet has the fresh air heater system.

Most 63s here still had the stale air with a shroud that is the later shape like this but with no heater outlets instead of the older 36hp shape shroud.

It may have been upgraded to the fresh air heater system at some point in its life, most people got jack of the stale air setup after the first few hundred miles

send it back so we can have a real good look for ya

Quote:

Originally posted by Joel Interesting that the engine is still original yet has the fresh air heater system. Most 63s here still had the stale air with a shroud that is the later shape like this but with no heater outlets instead of the older 36hp shape shroud. It may have been upgraded to the fresh air heater system at some point in its life, most people got jack of the stale air setup after the first few hundred miles

You can't use the Samba info too much for Aussie-built cars.

I can't quite read the chassis number, but the aussie cars usually started with 19, and the third digit was the year of manufacture. eg mine is a '67 model, it's chassis is 197xxxx. Not sure when they started that though. The 'Figi' is probably Fiji at a guess. If you look at the door handles or window winders, rear-view mirror etc the VW symbol will have kangaroos either side if it was built in Australia. Gauges on the sixties era cars were made by VDO Australia.

The aussie chassis numbering was only 65-67 but as above you can't go on Samba info, Aus stuff is way different including engine and chassis numbers.

Our factory was well behind the German one, so the numbers are alot later here.
Our 63s here were still stale air heaters.
the engines were assembled here from memory, Phil will know for sure.

Hi,

My cousin and myself bought VW's last year. He got a Ruby Red 1963 model just like yours. I got a 1964 model that was Bahama Blue but was repainted a sort of Ruby Red. The Australian VW's didn't change much from 1961 to 1967. You'll find a lot of information about Australian VWs from Rod Davies and Lloyd Davies' excellent book, "Volkswagen In Australia: The Forgotten Story". You can get a copy from here...http://www.automotobookshop.com.au/volkswagen-australia-forgotten-story-volkswagen-parts-slip-case-p-3570.html

Enjoy your VW!

Regards,

Donald

Thanks for all your help so far guys, it seems there is still an uncertancy of infomation regarding dates.

But in relation to what was said above, My chassis number is 5316171 and matches what is displayed on the samba for January 1963 German cars.
My car definatley has the fresh air heating and is the orginal, the number 7456034 also matches with a january 63 german built engine. So I am assuming the engine and chassis came complete from Germany. Yes, Fiji is said where it was destined for on the birth certificate.

I got aussie stamped parts all over the car, however the VDO 6v electric fuel guage definatley is stamped made in Germany. The rear view mirror and winders as was asked are australian stamped yes.

Im guessing my car is just a mish-mash of German and Aussie parts. I Guess they were all slightly different...

I will definatley try and get hold of that book, 'The forgotten story' it will proberbly answer most of my questions.

I wrote most of the book 'Knowing Australian Volkswagens' published in 1994 - really it's pretty crap book by today's standards. The Davies' book is much better than mine! Rather than try to put out a new edition, I put together the on-line Australian history instead:

http://www.clubvw.org.au/history/history.html 

As a background, the Australian factory began assembling German CKD kits from June 1954. Local content was added over the years, starting with batteries and tyres, paint, glass, trim etc. By 1957 over 50% was locally made, and from 1959 the first metal panels were stamped in Melbourne. In 1964 VW Australia started building a foundry to make engine and gearbox parts. The aim was 95% but they never reached that - local content topped out at about 80% for the '67 model. The whole thing was canned in '68 and the factory went back to assembling German kits - all the presses and body jigs were sold off.

The Aussie '63 is still pretty close to the the German version, with only detail differences as you have found. Really it's only the Aussie '65-'66'67s that are radically different (ie older) than German Beetles.

My data says that the 1963 chassis number block ended with 5677118 but so that does seem to place yours some time at the start of 1963. However the way it worked here was that the Australian factory was assigned a 'block' of numbers to use that did not conflict with Wolfsburg's run. While the Samba assigns your number to January 1963, and Wolfsburg's certificate to February 1963, that doesn't mean that that's when it was stamped in Melbourne. I would think two or three months later, perhaps as many as six months later, is more like it. In fact your warranty book says it was bought in October 1963, probably not long after it was made. VWs were in big demand in 1963 (sales peaked in 1964) so they didn't sit in dealer yards long. After '65, however, sales slumped and cars could often sit in yards for six months after they were built. To get a better idea of when your VW was made, look for some factory date stamps. Have a look at the back of the speedo. Look at the wheel centres of all five wheels. Unscrew the chrome front blinker covers and look underneath.

The 'block' of chassis numbers assigned to the Australian factory is the reason why official 'certificates' for Australian cars are not accurate. Aussie VWs were not sent to Fiji; it's only that Wofsburg's archives today have no record of what numbers were used in Melbourne, so they default to 'export Fiji' for whatever reason. And with no details of paint/trim colours. As far as I know, Australian production records no longer exist, they were thrown out years ago, perhaps as long ago as 1968 when production ended. And certainly there was a cleanout/throw-out when Nissan bought the factory in 1976.

We all know that Wolfsburg uses the August-July model year build, but as Joel says that doesn't apply to Australian cars. Generally the 'updated' model appeared the following February or March down here.

Yes the '63s were not supposed to have a Wolfsburg crest, but the Australian factory would have used up their stock of old parts first. Likewise there are many Aussie '64s that still have the narrow rear number plate light. It simply took longer to change down here.

VDO did set up an Australian factory (in Melbourne) to supply the VW factory, and I would think your speedo would say 'VDO Australia'. The fuel gauge is made to Australian specs but imported from Germany. Later ones were made here.

Joel I'm pretty sure that the Melbourne engine assembly shop didn't come on line until 1965 or 1966. Even then most of the parts still came from Germany. Early exchange engines were shipped out complete from Kassel (with old Aussie motors shipped back there) and only the later 1300 motors were assembled here. After 1968 all motors came from Germany.

BTW, the Ruby Red paint code for Australian 1963 VWs was 1.2.303 (VWA) or 4286 (Dulux). This was changed in 1964 to 1.3.303 (VWA) or 4754 (Dulux).

The Australian factory did use a THIRD Ruby Red colour - L456 (VW) or 5265 (Dulux) but only on the 1500 Type 3. It's a slightly more brownish red - I know this from experience because I bought some to repair my '64 back in the '80s and it didn't match.

If you are lucky there will be a Dulux/Balm paint sticker near the spare tyre; but if not it will probably be 1.2.303.

No worries. Basically you should be OK to order any pretty much any restoration parts for a Euro/US '63 and they will fit yours - the Aussie fuel gauge excepted! '64s are much the same too - Aussie '64s still have the '63 horn ring and the pull-washer, not the button that the Euro '64s do. They really diverge from '65 on and we Aussies have to be aware of it when we buy parts from Europe/US.

Yes the Wolfsburg certificate is basically worthless for Aussie cars, although they are nice to have anyway. They do show that Australian production records of the '60s don't exist anymore. One of our Club members here in Sydney visited the Wolfsburg archives a few years ago and deliberately researched what Australian records they had. Not much! You can read what he found in the November 2009 issue of our club magazine (Zeitschrift). Go here and download November (PDF):

http://www.clubvw.org.au/zeitschrift/zeitschrift/2009.html 

There you go, some parts made in April '63 and the speedo in June '63. Your car was first serviced in September '63, so that narrows your car's production date to June/July/August '63. And that's not bad after 48 years! Also shows that parts sat around in the Melbourne factory for a couple of months (or more) before being used. No 'just in time' production in those days!

No, S26316 is not a paint code; the Dulux/Balm codes of the '60s were only 4 digits (as above). I think it is just the 'body' number, and it means nothing. The paint code was printed on an adhesive sticker; most of them are long gone by now. Mine was originally stuck on the front skirting panel, right next to the bonnet latch. Even if the code is long gone, and your local body shop can't create Dulux 4286 or VW 1.2.303, they can still computer match it nowadays from a good sample. The inside of the glove box lid is usually a good spot.

I'm from Sydney so I'm not too familar with Melbourne's Spencer Motors, but there are a few period photos of some of their agencies in the State Library of Victoria. Such as:

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/a/4/5/im/a45359.jpg 

Spencer Motors went out of business years ago, although that building still exists and is a Spotlight haberdashery store today (have a look on Google Street View, cnr Cecil & Market Sts South Melbourne)