Hi guys
,
Just after some clarification on what I have here, obviously the previous owner says it's a 69 and it's been registered with the body number as the chassis number! The correct chassis number is 118844707. Does that make it a 68 or 69?

Thanks, Matt

Hi Midday. Welcome aboard, according to a couple of lists I looked at quickly, that chassis was made in the first half of 1968. That's a nice looking Bug by the way, good luck with it! Rob.

Hi Rob thanks for that. I searched all over for a half decent one and found this in my home town!
So my plates don't match the car? That's embarrassing lol

Only if you tell everyone.....

Going by the number plate its a 69 BUG ! 8)!

Its is a 68 where are you located some where in VIC

Return the number plates there not right

The third digit is the model year - so '8' means it's a 1968 model.

It was assembled in Melbourne, from German panels and mechanicals shipped out in crates and mixed with Australian-made components. Our production year ran from February to February, not the previous August as per Wolfsburg. As for when it was actually made, look at the date stamp on the back of the speedo. The spare wheel will also have a date stamp (other wheels not original).

Australian Beetle sales were in decline in the late 1960s, so finished vehicles spent some time in distribution yards and dealership lots before being sold to customers. It's quite possible that your car might have been built in 1968, but not actually sold new at the dealership until 1969. No way of knowing unless you have the original owner's booklets and papers.

Yes, 1976 was the last year of Aussie assembly - the factory had already been sold to Nissan, who were ramping up their own product. VWs would have been a very minor sideline then, and even something of an inconvenience for Nissan, especially having to get Golf assembly started at the same time, using up the last of the Beetle components for the '76 model and continuing with the Passat 1600 (the 1300 and 1500TS models were discontinued).

The Kombi chassis number would have been stamped on the body panels in Germany before being crated up for export, so '76 body panels could have been stamped in Hanover any time after August 1975. They must have then been shipped to Australia, put together prior to January 1976. Not to mention the time for Sopru to convert the van before 1/76 - either in Adelaide, Melbourne or probably Auburn. I would guess it was built before Xmas '75, when the factory shut down for the break, and consigned for sale in the new year when LNC came back from the holidays.

The engine might be original - perhaps some of the last 1975 stock of components to be used up at the Clayton plant. The 'new year' models normally weren't released here until February or March, which is when I would have expected the 2000cc models to first appear.

I reckon the Clayton factory would have been in a real mess in 1976 as Nissan was taking over and VWs were phased out. Who remembers the build quality of 1976 Golfs? (we've gone off topic)