| [ Total Views: 814 | Total Replies: 4 | Thread Id: 87814 ] |
|
|
 Warrenm
Wolfsburg Wizard
Posts: 466
Threads: 98
Registered: August 6th, 2004
Member Is Offline
Location: Western Australia
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
Mood: Cruising & Happy
|
| posted on December 27th, 2010 at 04:57 PM |
|
|
1954 Beetle £892
Ad from West Australian and 2 1940 Beetles for auction in Melbourne
http://thekombikonnection.myfreeforum.org/about3183.html
|
|
|
Phil74Camper
Son of Jim - Creator of Good
Head in the Clouds
Posts: 2703
Threads: 193
Registered: August 28th, 2002
Member Is Offline
Location: Sydney
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
|
| posted on December 30th, 2010 at 01:10 PM |
|
|
Yes 1954 was when the Volkswagen was 'officially' launched on the local market, although they had been sold by Regent Motors (Melbourne) for a few
months at the end of 1953. This is from the Sydney Morning Herald, announcing the new VW at the 1954 Royal Easter Show.
Those two 1940 VWs were brought to Australia for evaluation by the Army in 1945, together with a Kubelwagen. They were all put through a rigorous
testing procedure, and one of the Beetles was stripped right down to the last nut and bolt. The Army was interested in procuring some of the Wolfsburg
manufacturing machinery to produce the Kubelwagen in Australia - that didn't happen, of course. The Kubel ended up in the War Memorial in Canberra.
The two Beetles were auctioned off. One of them survived and was eventually found, in a dilapidated state, on King Island (in Bass Strait) by Grahame
Lees in the late 1980s. It was part of his VW collection for a while and was on display at the Penrith Panthers VW show in 1998. I don't know if he
still has it, as many of his VWs have been sold off.
| Error |
| Sorry, you must be a registered user in order to download attachments. |
|
|
|
|
1303Steve
A.k.a.: Steve Carter
Scirocco Rare
Posts: 8650
Threads: 564
Registered: August 27th, 2002
Member Is Offline
Location: Sydney, NSW
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
Mood: Parrot Heading
|
| posted on December 30th, 2010 at 10:26 PM |
|
|
Hi
Notice who broke the record for the Perth to Melbourne run, good old Eddie Perkins, father of Larry.
Steve
|
|
|
Phil74Camper
Son of Jim - Creator of Good
Head in the Clouds
Posts: 2703
Threads: 193
Registered: August 28th, 2002
Member Is Offline
Location: Sydney
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
|
| posted on December 31st, 2010 at 06:34 AM |
|
|
Yes Steve, 2nd in the 1955 Redex too (behind Laurie Whitehead), winner of the 1956 Mobilgas and 2nd in the 1957 Mobilgas. Legend!
38 hours 57 min for Perth to Melbourne (2,100 miles - 3,380 km) is an average of 86.78 km/h the whole way. Not bad for an old Beetle ! I wonder if it
was actually a 25-hp 1100 in early 1954? I don't think the 36-hp 1200 engine came to Australia until mid-way through 1954.
|
|
|
volumex
Officially Full-On Dubber
Posts: 389
Threads: 35
Registered: July 1st, 2005
Member Is Offline
Location: Sarnia, ON
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
|
| posted on January 4th, 2011 at 10:52 PM |
|
|
Very good chance it was a 25hp. It took around 2 months to ship over from Germany to Australia, and they would be unlikely to take a car from the
boat to the record attempt without a decent preparation and shakedown. The first 36hp was built in Germany on December 21 1953, and it takes a few
days to filter through the factory and then onto the boat.
Anyone got any photos of the engine bay of the car??
|
|
|
