by Phil Matthews
1960
The Clayton facility is now 365,000 square metres in size. All body panels for
the Beetle are now stamped in the press shop. The nearby engine assembly shop
opens, assembling engines from local and imported parts. Also now completed
and operational is VW Australia’s new quality assurance and testing laboratory,
the first of its kind in Australia. The automatic paint shop features Australia’s
only fully-dipped bodyshell protection process. VW is also the only Australian
manufacturer to apply a baked enamel finish (in contrast to the nitro-cellulose
lacquers used by the other makers). Holden and Ford would not upgrade to VW-style
baked enamel until the 1990s.
Mid-year changes include push-button door handles, and adding a front anti-sway bar and steering damper. In November the redesigned 1192cc 40-bhp engine is introduced, together with all-syncromesh gearbox. The old semaphores are replaced by flashing blinkers. The rear lenses are a special two-panel unit designed for the Italian market. Other additions are padded sunvisors, automatic choke, redesigned fuel tank and windscreen washers.
For this year only, the Beetle is Australia’s second-best selling car model, second only to the Holden.
28,597 Volkswagens are sold – 24,388 VW 1200s, 264 Karmann Ghias and 3,945 Transporters.
1961
Australia is hit by a recession and credit squeeze, which affects all car manufacturers.
The 100,000th Australian Volkswagen is delivered. In a ceremony to mark the event, the Premier of Victoria presents Mr and Mrs Haenel (owners of Australia’s oldest VW) with the brand-new 100,000th VW at the Clayton plant, in exchange for their 1946 model. VWA was to use the ’46 for display and promotions for a number of years, until it was sold in 1984. It spent some years at Gilltrap’s Museum in Queensland, then in another in Fremantle, WA. Today the Haenel’s 1946 VW can be seen in the York Motor Museum, WA, home of the Peter Briggs collection of over 150 veteran, vintage, classic and racing cars.
Melbourne’s Spencer Motors imports several German-made Beetle Cabriolets for display at the Melbourne Motor Show. Reception is cool due to the much higher cost, and the unfortunate timing of the display in the middle of a Melbourne winter. Plans to release the Cabriolet are shelved, and it was never offered for sale again.
Late in the year the Beetle got a locally-made VDO electric fuel gauge, not the mechanical one fitted to US-style VWs. US-style towel-rail overrider bumper bars are fitted as standard.
17,803 Volkswagens are sold – 14,970 VW 1200s, 284 Karmann Ghias and 2,549 Transporters.
1962
The Australian car market recovers. VW’s sales increase by 40%, but due
to the success of the Morris 850 Mini, VW is overtaken by BMC in market share.
VW continues to spend £2 million annually on tooling. £20 million
has been invested in the Australian plant since 1957.
Lanock Motors take over Cleggs Motors (Wollongong) and Edward St Motors (Wagga Wagga), and renames them as Lanock Motors branches. They also own 50% of Greg Cusack Ltd (ACT). With 40% of the entire Australian Volkswagen sales, Lanock Motors are the largest independent distributor of motor vehicles in this country.
An upgraded Deluxe Beetle is released mid-year, called the 1962½ model. These have seat belt anchor points, a spring-loaded front bonnet, door check rods, sealed tie-rod ends and a redesigned heater. The taillights were now the same 3-segment units fitted to Euro Beetles.
VWA releases a new model in August, the 1200 Standard Beetle. It is mechanically identical to the normal Deluxe except for no steering damper, and with a simplified, stripped-down, very basic interior and exterior with no chrome and almost no trim. It sells for £849, some £105 less than the Deluxe. It was popular for motor sport, but did not sell as well as the Deluxe.
The first VW 1500 (Type 3) models are shipped to Australia for evaluation and technical study for local assembly and market release next year.
24,604 Volkswagens are sold – 21,273 VW 1200s, 97 Karmann Ghias and 3,234 Transporters.
1963
VW Australia begins a major export programme, with Australian-made Beetles shipped
to New Zealand, New Guinea, Malaysia, Fiji, Samoa and other nations of the South
Pacific. Australian-built CKD kits are also assembled in an Auckland factory.
The Type 3 VW 1500 Sedan and Station Wagon are released, firstly in fully imported form, and later locally manufactured at Clayton after VW Germany provided the tooling. An additional assembly line was established, with the lines merging for final inspection. At £1199 the 1500 Sedan was some £250 more expensive than the Deluxe Beetle.
Transporters have their rear cooling louvres moved up high to reduce dust being sucked into the engine bay. This was an Australian-designed modification that was not used in Europe.
Beetles no longer have the Wolfsburg Crest on the front bonnet.
ANARE ships a ruby-red 1962½ Beetle to Australia’s Antarctic base at Mawson, the first production car on the frozen continent. ‘Antarctica 1’ serves for a year, including a bitter winter, and features in world-wide VW advertising on its successful return to Australia.
The race-prepared VW 1200 Standard driven by Barry Ferguson, wins its class (Class A) at the Bathurst 500 race. Other VWs finish 3rd, 4th and 5th in class.
27,068 Volkswagens are sold – 20,135 VW 1200s, 2,444 VW 1500s, 81 Karmann Ghias and 4,408 Transporters.
1964
Volkswagen Australasia becomes fully German-owned when the Volkswagenwerk buys
up the 49% that had been Australian-owned. A new £25 million 5-year expansion
program is begun to give Clayton an engine manufacturing plant, non-ferrous
foundry and transmission plant. Local content is planned to increase from 75%
to 95%, for both the Beetle and Type 3.
The 200,000th Australian VW is produced in November, a white Beetle that was donated to the Australian Red Cross.
Detail changes only. The Beetle got a wider rear number plate light and wider front blinkers. The VW 1500 received trim changes and a lower sales price. The Transporter is upgraded to a 1500cc engine.
‘Antarctica 1’ returns to Australia and is replaced at Mawson by ‘Antarctica 2’, in International Orange. Antarctica 1 is entered in the 1964 BP Rally. Driven by Ray Christie and Joe Dunlop, Antarctica 1 wins the event outright.
The Ampol Round-Australia Trial revives the 1950s concept. The best VW to finish is Barry Ferguson in a pre-release 1500S, second outright. Other Type 3s finish 4th and 14th, with the best VW 1200s way back in the field in outright placings, but in the first eight places in their class.
Volkswagen Australasia Ltd records its greatest-ever annual turnover (£27.37 million), and its greatest-ever trading profit (£989,327).
31,419 Volkswagens are sold – 22,293 VW 1200s, 3,443 VW 1500s, 28 Karmann Ghias and 5,655 Transporters. Until recently this was VW’s best-ever year in Australia.
1965
Investment and expansion continues, with another £10 million committed
to local manufacture. The Clayton machine shop, boiler house, central service
area, medical centre and inflammables store were completed, and work begins
on expanded parking and storage areas, new office block, new service centre
and light alloy aluminium/magnesium foundry.
Volkswagen Australiasia Ltd establishes a subsidiary, VW Distribution Ltd, to take over state distribution of VW vehicles from the independent companies. LNC Industries loses the distribution rights for NSW, but still own the largest VW dealer chain, Lanock Motors, who open a new VW sales and service branch at Hornsby. The Australian VW dealership chain reaches its all-time peak of 290, including 29 in Sydney.
The locally made 1500S is introduced, a high compression twin-carb model that is only £40 more than the normal 1500 sedan. The locally made 1500 Panel Van, with no side windows and black wood interior panelling, is also introduced.
The new European larger-window Beetle body is not used in Australia, as VWA could not justify the very high cost of updating all the local press shop tooling. The old body continues on, but the Beetle is updated with roll-top front seats, a rear seat that now folds flat, and new trim.
National advertising offers a tempting series of trade-ins and discounts on VW models as part of VWA’s ‘tenth birthday’ celebrations, but sales begin to drop. Chrysler overtakes VW in Australian market share.
Greg Cusack demonstrates a US-built Formula Vee at Sydney’s Warwick Farm circuit. The first Australian Formula Vee race is held at Warwick Farm in November, and is won by Frank Kleinig.
25,577 Volkswagens are sold – 18,077 VW 1200s, 3,158 VW 1500s, 31 Karmann
Ghias and 4,311 Transporters.