Subject: Help identify interior tan vinyl colour - 76 beetle
Uber Kafer
Wolfsburg Wizard
Posts: 414
Threads: 50
Registered: November 12th, 2009
Member Is Offline
Location: Bunbury (BunVegas) WA
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
Mood: Need a bigger shed..
posted on October 22nd, 2011 at 10:32 AM
Help identify interior tan vinyl colour - 76 beetle
I cant seem to find a match for the door upholstery in my 76 standard beetle. Its a light to medium tan colour.
I know that digital rendering can be a problem but none of the colour samples I have seen on suppliers websites seem to match. the 'tan' colour No
13 on the TMI website is too dark and the 'tan' colour 26 is close but still too dark.
I doubt that Australia had a unique colour, or did it?
Any info on websites that might help?
Thanks.
Joel
Scirocco Rare
Now containing 100% E-Wang
Posts: 9368
Threads: 211
Registered: February 14th, 2006
Member Is Offline
I think you'll find Aussie CKD bugs used locally made upholstry which is probably why you're not finding a match.
Uber Kafer
Wolfsburg Wizard
Posts: 414
Threads: 50
Registered: November 12th, 2009
Member Is Offline
Location: Bunbury (BunVegas) WA
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
Mood: Need a bigger shed..
posted on October 22nd, 2011 at 10:51 AM
thanks Joel, and that makes sense, with minimum Australian manufactured content etc. Bugger !
Its a very nice example of one of the last standard beetles in Australia, looks like I will have to replace all the interior with the best match from
TMI. Its got square weave on the seats and smooth vinyl on the side panels. All in light tan.
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 October 25th, 2011 at 11:50 AM
Joel is right, Australian CKD Beetles such as your '76 used Australian-made upholstry. They weren't locally 'manufactured' - that is, the steel
parts were imported from Germany, but as much of the small componentry as possible were made here. Upholstry, glass, paint, glues, rubber, electrical
components, wire, etc etc. There were tax concessions in those days for locally-built cars, so LNC Industries (the VW concessionaires) and the
Melbourne factory (owned by VW Germany up to March 1976 and Nissan after that) tried to maximise Australian componentry wherever they could.
So no, German/US trim isn't the same. A good local motor trimmer may be able to give you a closer match and retrim your insides for you, or you could
just buy something sort-of similar complete from the US.
BTW, Aussie paint colours are also unique. The paint colours of the early-mid '70s are actually Nissan and Volvo colours! The Melbourne VW factory
assembled Datsuns, Volvos and Mercedes trucks, alongside VW Types 1,2 and 3 from '68 on. By 1973 VW assembly only made up a third of the factory
capacity, and Nissan bought the whole affair in early '76. Your Beetle was built by Nissan!
Uber Kafer
Wolfsburg Wizard
Posts: 414
Threads: 50
Registered: November 12th, 2009
Member Is Offline
Location: Bunbury (BunVegas) WA
Theme: UltimaBB Pro Blue ( Default )
Mood: Need a bigger shed..
posted on October 25th, 2011 at 09:34 PM
Built by Nissan..!! ... I will never look at the 'Fanta Bug' in the same way again....
Prompted me to drag out my copy of 'Volkswagen in Australia - the forgotten story'... the final photos of the Volkswagen team on page 156 was
significant. not a happy bunch of kampers at all. Not one smile on 12 faces.
Anyway, thanks for that info. Confirms my suspicions.
But its a real dilemma, do I go for authenticity in material, weave, piping, embossing, etc, or do I go for authenticity in colour. ??
Like I said before... "Bugger !"
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 October 26th, 2011 at 07:49 AM
Yes, it was the end of the road when that sad photo was taken - July 1976. The very last Australian made Beetle off the assembly line. ADR 27A had
killed it - there was no desire or money to update it, and the Golf was VW's future. The factory had already been sold to Nissan, which was pumping
out 120Y and 180B Datsuns from the former VW factory. Some of those guys got jobs with LNC in Sydney; most of them were redundant. Nissan still
assembled Passat, Golf and Kombi CKD kits for another six months or so (Kombi quality was OK, Golf/Passat were shite), but all VW assembly ended in
early 1977 and they have been fully imported ever since.
The '76 Beetle was a 'bitsa', using whatever CKD parts were left over before the model was phased out. It's basically the old 1300 pan and shell
and front end, but with Superbug front disks, engine gearbox and rear suspension. Painted in Nissan colours - and probably with Nissan vinyl. That
very last Beetle (Martini Olive) in that photo still exists - it was bought by Greg Cusack, the former race driver and Canberra VW dealer, and kept in
storage and occasionally on display at his Braddon dealership for many years. When he retired in the early 1990s the VW was sold to Hamiltons Porsche
agency, and then a private collector in Melbourne. It is still in pristine, as-new condition, never registered, and has less than 150 km on the clock.
It has featured in the local VW magazines in the past.
I can still remember VW dealers in Sydney having stocks of unsold '76 Beetles on their lots, unable to sell them. That last one was built in July
1976, yet the last stocks weren't sold until March 1977 - the Modern Motor issue of that month has a tribute article. No one wanted them any more.
The Golf was Wheels' Car of the Year in '76.
Why not visit a good motor trimmer in your area, and go through his samples, see if he has a similar material and get a quote for new panels? Then
compare price with importing US/Euro panels in non-original colour. Either will look great.
