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Chapter titles
Chapter 1 Typologies
Chapter 2 Scripts
Chapter 3 Identification
Chapter 4 The Options
Chapter 5 Accessories
Chapter 6 Prototypes
Chapter 7 The Beginning
Chapter 8 1961 to 1965
Chapter 9 1966 to 1969
Chapter 10 1970 to 1973
Chapter 11 The Karmann Type 34
Chapter 12 Australian Type 3s
Chapter 13 South African Type 3s
Chapter 14 The Panel Vans
Chapter 15 Brazilian Types 103-109
Chapter 16 Brazilian Type 145 TC
Chapter 17 Brazilian SP-2
Chapter 18 Brazilian Type 30
Chapter 19 Type 3 in Motorsport
Chapter 20 The Aborted Model
Sample text
The book of the Volkswagen Type 3
The first shipment of officially imported Volkswagens arrived in Melbourne late in 1953. Those 31 black Beetles began the Australian Volkswagen operation, but as fully built-up vehicles, they attracted a high import duty. Not only that, they were imported from a non-British Empire country, which incurred an even higher tariff.
So, right from the start, Volkswagen set about manufacturing these cars in Australia, and sent Baron von Oertzen to establish local assembly. He had begun the Volkswagen operation in South Africa on a similar basis. It would be a gradual process of shipping crates of partially dismantled cars for assembly at the small factory in Melbourne, steadily increasing local Australian content so as to attract less duty.
As the completely knocked down (or CKD) operation expanded, in June 1954, Volkswagen opened a new factory at Clayton, also in Melbourne, to set up a fully fledged assembly line. So far, CKD assembly was of Beetles, but CKD-assembled T1 Transporters began coming off the line in 1955. By 1960 Beetle and Transporter body panels were being produced using Australian steel in the Clayton factory’s own presses. VW crankcases, cylinder heads, and gearbox cases were soon being produced at VW’s own non-ferrous foundry in Clayton. This was now very much an Australian operation with high local content (which included glass, electrics, upholstery, tyres, etc) rivalling that of Holden, Ford, Chrysler and BMC.
From February 1963, a trickle of fully imported Type 31 and Type 36 VWs began arriving. The Type 36 was initially marketed not as the VW Variant, but as the VW Station Wagon. The term ‘Variant’ was too close to the name of the Adelaide-manufactured Chrysler Valiant. By 1966 the US term ‘Squareback’ was being promoted.
Assembly of Type 31s from CKD kits in crates began in April, and in July 1963 Type 36s started coming off the Clayton assembly line.
From 1963 to 1967, when Type 3s were produced at Clayton, many of the features of these vehicles did not keep pace with changes to German-made cars. For example, front disc brakes were not featured until local manufacture was phased out in 1968, replaced by CKD-assembled cars in 1969. Another example: the locally manufactured version of the 1500S lacked many of the deluxe features of German 1500S cars, such as hinged rear windows, the ‘handle’ on the bonnet, bumper over-riders and had older-style rear reflectors instead of the streamlined type, bullet front indicators instead of the horizontal ones, etc.
With the relatively low volume of production compared to that of Germany, it didn’t pay for the Australian operation to make changes each model year until the parts bins were nearly empty. In some cases, like some of the early Type 3s that were CKD-assembled, body panels already had slots for the ‘push-button’ dash controls but the slot was fitted with a plastic blank and more conventional and simpler later knobs were used. (See chapter 8.)
By the time Australian manufacture of Type 3s came to an end in late 1967, around 26,000 Type 3s had come off the production line at Clayton – not a big number by German standards, where 311,000 were made in 1966 alone. So, with a low production run like that, it is understandable that the scrupulous adherence to model changes and updating that occurred in Germany was not viable.
For the 1966 and 1967 model years in Australia a model called the 1600TS was CKD-assembled with a high Australian content (after a handful of German 1600TLs were imported). This 1600TS was basically the German 1600TL Fastback, but with a significant difference: it still had drum brakes. For 1967 it retained 6-volt electrics, while the German 1600TL went to 12 volts.
By early 1967, Type 3 floorpans were being made in Australia, as were many other components. However, that year there was a downturn in vehicle sales across Australia, with holding yards full of unsold Beetles and Type 3s. VW began suffering heavy losses, and there was some buyer resistance. The public was aware of the dated nature of these Australian-made VW cars.
Volkswagen AG in Germany made the decision to end Australian manufacture and concentrate on CKD-assembly but with some local content. The Clayton factory was stripped of equipment with presses and jigs being sold off to other manufacturers and even to the VW factories in Brazil. The factory was then set up for CKD-assembly only, a very different operation compared to full manufacturing. Thus, in August 1967 the last of the Australian manufactured Type 3s came off the Clayton production line as 1968 models. The very last one was a Station Wagon with a VIN 36 8 023901. However, with instructions from management to empty the parts bins, many of these 1968 models arrived on showroom floors with a mix of components from earlier model years. Thus, even today many Australian enthusiasts speak of these cars as a change-over model.
A large build-up of manufactured 1968 models took time to clear, and the factory took months to get the CKD assembly lines going, which were initially devoted to Type 1 and Type 2 production. So, the first of the CKD Type 3s were 1969 models assembled after 01 August 1968. Nevertheless, these still had a high Australian content: paint, electrical components, glass, tyres, batteries, gauges, etc, quite apart from labour. Also, throughout the 1969 to 1973 CKD-assembly period, paint colours and codes were uniquely Australian.
All 1969 and later Australian Type 3s had 1600 twin carburettor engines, and an automatic gearbox was an option for all three. From the 1971 model the Fastback was available with the already well-proven Bosch D-Jetronic fuel-injection system, and sold as the 1600TLE, but fuel-injection was never available with Australian Notchbacks and the Squarebacks. It was promoted as an environmentally responsible option. It worked well, was reliable, and free of flat spots, which could plague twin carburettor models. The Achilles heel is probably the fuel hoses, which, when old and frayed, are a potential fire hazard, because the fuel-injection system needs the high pressure provided by an electric fuel pump.
The 1971 models saw the introduction of high back seats, which were a requirement of new Australian design rules. As with German cars, Australian 1973 models had strengthened floorpans and were fitted with larger front disc brake rotors from the Type 4. For late 1972 and 1973 models, the Australian-made VDO dials on the dashboard were superior to those on German-made cars. Australian Type 3s also had a set of unique quality accessories. (See chapter 5.)
A total of just over 55,000 Type 3s were made in Australia by September 1973, when production came to an end after ten years. This is miniscule compared to German production of more than 2,600,000 in 12 years, and compared to the 460,000 made in Brazil over 14 years. It is more than the 38,000 made in South Africa, but that was during only six years of Type 3 production.
German production of Type 3s came to an end in June 1973, and was replaced by the front-wheel drive liquid-cooled Audi 80-based Passat. In Australia, Type 3 CKD-assembly also ended but in September 1973. It was also replaced by Passats in December 1973 but with an Australian content not as high as that of the last Australian Type 3s which reached 55-60% in 1973.
Australian manufactured and assembled Type 3s were exported in small numbers to Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and New Zealand. A very limited number of early Australian manufactured Type 3 Notchbacks were actually CKD-assembled at the Otahuhu factory in Auckland where the author saw some come off the production line in 1965. It is unknown to what degree they had any New Zealand content.
The last of the Australian CKD-assembled 1973 Type 3s were really lovely. Below is one of the author’s favourites, and one of the last. Unfortunately, the elderly owner wouldn’t sell it.
Statistics: Posted by Pine — Tue Mar 14, 2017 2:12 pm