| [ Total Views: 1027 | Total Replies: 9 | Thread Id: 101973 ] |
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 donn
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| posted on May 10th, 2013 at 11:46 PM |
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first VW sold in Australia ?
I was talking to a bloke today who told me that he knew the fella who bought the first VW sold in Australia, the story went that he saw it in some
car show in Melbourne back in the 50's, bought it there and then and drove it (some time latter) back to NSW. I don't like calling people fibbers or
telling them that they are continuing some old wives tale.
Can anyone here legitimatly confirm or deny this story
I dream of a day when a chicken can cross a road without being asked for it's motive!
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ragged
A.k.a.: David
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| posted on May 11th, 2013 at 01:16 AM |
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The first VW's (2 of them) post war I'm aware of were imported around 1946. One of the two is being restored here in South Australia at the
moment.
Dave
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HappyDaze
A.k.a.: Greg Mackie
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| posted on May 11th, 2013 at 06:14 AM |
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CB Bill will know, I'm sure.
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
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empi
A.k.a.: Empstar
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| posted on May 11th, 2013 at 10:01 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by ragged
The first VW's (2 of them) post war I'm aware of were imported around 1946. One of the two is being restored here in South Australia at the
moment.
Dave
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the other is in Melbourne
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grazza7755
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| posted on May 11th, 2013 at 10:45 AM |
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With regards to the first two beetles to come to Australiain 1946, to the best of my knowledge, only one has ever found.
I bought it in Melbourne about 20 years ago and had it verified by chassis number as a Typ51 (Beetle body on a Kubel Chassis) built in Oct 1945.
It was in very poor condition.
I sold it a few years ago to Andrew Patterson in SA who has undertaken a full restoration.
The other Beetle's fate is unknown and rumoured to have been destroyed in an accident many years ago.
Couple of pics of me taking it to Adelaide
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vlad01
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| posted on May 11th, 2013 at 12:52 PM |
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hmm interesting, wouldn't think the first one would exist by now but there you go.
I know a local who has the first and the last valiant produced in Australia. and it was local out of all places  he has one of the biggest collection of valiant in Oz, Bathurst race cars among the collection
etc...
71 notchback,
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Lucky Phil
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| posted on May 11th, 2013 at 07:47 PM |
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Donn is talking about the first beetle sold in australia.
I believe the first 2 beetles imported to australia were not sold.
They were for assessment to be built here.
I believe war reparation was part of the deal.
I also believe the Army was involved as a possible end user.
The decision to not proceed is one of those hindsight things.
Theone in the picture above is one of the original two.
The other one I believe was totally dismantled to see how it was put together.
I would stand correction on any of the above.
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donn
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| posted on May 12th, 2013 at 08:50 AM |
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Yes Phil, SOLD in Australia is what I was hoping for, though the other info was very interesting I was hoping for some reliable info to pass on to the
fella I was talking to.
Thanks
Don
I dream of a day when a chicken can cross a road without being asked for it's motive!
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DieHard1963Fan
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| posted on May 12th, 2013 at 09:44 AM |
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I remember hearing a story somewhere about an old couple who I thought had the first one. Eventually VW bought it back and it's now in a museum
somewhere in WA. I'll try and find the location of the story. Again, anyone feel free to correct me.
Call stockers boring if you want, but VW sure sold a lot of them that way
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Phil74Camper
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| posted on May 12th, 2013 at 06:05 PM |
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All of this has been covered on the Australian VW history pages here:
http://www.clubvw.org.au/history001
The first VWs brought into Australia were the two 1945 models shipped in by the Army in 1947 (plus a Kubelwagen). They were evaluated by the Army but
sold at auction by the Commonwealth Disposals Commission in 1949. As Grahame says above, one has been found and is in Adelaide, the other lost. The
Kubel is in the War Memorial collection in Canberra.
The Hanael's 1946 VW was privately imported by Mrs Hanael in 1951, when she was emigrating to Australia to join her husband Ted who had been interred
here during the war. They settled in Horsham and used the car for the next 10 years - the first privately-owned VW to drive on Australian roads. VW
Australia found them after a 4-month search in 1961 when they were looking for the oldest VW in Australia to celebrate the 100,000th Australian-built
VW. At a ceremony at Clayton the Hanaels were given the brand-new 100,000th VW,in exchange for their '46. The '46 was used in VW ads of the time and
sat in the Clayton head office for many years. It was shipped to Sydney when LNC Industries gained the Australian VW business in 1968 (when it was
damaged, and repainted from black to light grey/blue). It was sold in the early 1980s, went on display at Greens Motorcade in Leppington, then
Gilltraps Museum on the Gold Coast. It can be seen today at the York Museum in WA, owned by car collector Peter Briggs.
As for the first official Australian VW sales, Melbourne's Regent Motors imported the first cars in October 1953 and put them on display at their
South Melbourne showroom in December. They were shown at the Melbourne Motor Show in March 1954, and at the Sydney Royal Easter Show in April 1954.
The first official sales were in March 1954, when 13 were sold - 9 of them in Victoria, 2 in Tasmania, and one each in NSW and SA. The details are in
the April 2013 issue of the Club VW magazine 'Zeitschrift' (you need to be a member to download)
http://www.clubvw.org.au/2013
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