by Phil Matthews
1966
Australia converts to decimal currency, where £1 = $2. VWA invests another
$10 million in local manufacture. Clayton’s new expanded Quality Control
facility comes online. The local assembly of front axles, engines and rear axles
from imported components begins. An expanded employee-training programme begins.
Australian VW sales slump by 29% in a contracting market. Volkswagen Australasia posts a $3.2 million loss for the year, $175 on every VW sold, on a turnover of $40.7 million. In NSW, Lanock Motors lose 90% of their former sales volume after changing from a state distributor of VWs to a dealership. However they remain profitable and take ownership of Barker Motors at Killara.
The 1300cc 50-bhp motor replaces the old 1200, and Beetles now have a ‘1300’ badge on the engine lid. The gearbox and brakes are also improved. The Standard model, however, retains the older 1200 engine for one more year.
The 1500S is discontinued, and replaced by the fully imported 65-bhp 1600TS Fastback. The locally built 1500 sedan, station wagon and panel van continue.
18,213 Volkswagens are sold – 3,869 VW 1200s, 7,738 VW 1300s, 1,220 VW 1500s, 2,465 VW 1600s, 5 Karmann Ghias and 2,916 Transporters.
1967
Clayton’s new Hall 2, new engine plant and non-ferrous foundry come on
line, but VW records another $2.5 million loss for the year as sales slide further.
The Australian VWA management team, including General Manager Allan Gray, is
sacked and replaced by Germans.
The 250,000th Australian Volkswagen is sold in March, but no official ceremony marks the occasion and it passes unnoticed.
The Beetle is freshened with a new range of bright colours and trim, whitewall tyres and seat belts. The engine badge now reads ‘1300 Deluxe’. The Standard is renamed the ‘Custom’, and is upgraded to the same 1300cc engine, with improved fittings. Australian VWs still have the 1961 body shell, 6-volt electrics, swing axles and link-pin front end.
The locally designed Country Buggy begins limited local production. It is planned for sales release, but various design problems cause it to be delayed until the following year.
An auditing team from VW Germany visits the Clayton plant to stem the losses and dwindling sales. They recommended that no more investment be made in Australia; that manufacturing should end as soon as possible, and the factory should revert back to German CKD assembly. Unsold VWs are clogging the distribution yards and the factory is partly idle.
Barry Ferguson wins the 3500 km Rothmans International Southern Cross Rally, driving a works-prepared Beetle with modified 1600cc twin carb engine, front discs, 80-litre fuel tank and limited-slip diff. This was the first international rally won by a Beetle, anywhere in the world. Barry still owns this car today.
Volkswagen Distribution reverses their previous decision, and reappoints LNC Industries and Lanock Motors as the NSW state distributor for Volkswagens. Annand and Thompson are reappointed for QLD and Western Motors for WA. Volkswagen Distribution Ltd. continues to service VIC, SA and TAS.
17,450 Volkswagens are sold – 10,550 VW 1300s, 1,504 VW 1500s, 2,058 VW 1600s and 3,338 Transporters.
1968
VW Australasia announces that Australian VW manufacture would cease immediately,
and all future VWs would be either CKD assembled or fully imported. The $50
million investment in the Australian plant was written off. The useful machinery,
tooling and equipment is sold to VW’s other factories in South Africa,
Mexico and Brazil. Other general equipment is sold to Holden and Ford. The Clayton
plant was completely stripped out, and refitted for CKD assembly only.
The Deluxe Australian Beetle ends in March, and is replaced by fully imported German-made 1500 Beetles, in both manual and semi-automatic versions. Australian buyers effectively move from a 1961 to a 1968 Beetle in one month. New body shell, 53-bhp 1500cc motor, 12-volt electrics, ball joint front with twin-circuit disc brakes, new front and rear lights, safety dashboard, collapsible steering column, and many other changes. CKD kits arrive from September and local assembly of manuals begins, but semi-auto Beetles were to remain fully imported. The Australian Custom model continues to be built until all manufacturing ends in September.
The Transporter is upgraded to the T2 model, with full width curved windscreen, ball joint front suspension, four CV-joint rear suspension and 1600cc engine. These are locally assembled from CKD kits. The Type 3 range is also converted back to CKD assembly. The engines are upgraded to 1600cc across the range.
The Country Buggy is finally released, but it was a failure and was discontinued when manufacturing at Clayton ended in September. Several hundred were sold in the Philippines as the ‘Sakbayan’, in left-hand-drive CKD kit form.
The fully imported Karmann Ghia was discontinued.
In June Volkswagen Australasia Ltd announced it would no longer assemble, distribute or market VWs in Australia, and the company would be dissolved. Instead, a new company called Motor Producers Limited, fully owned by VW Germany, is created to contract assembly work at the Clayton factory – to other makers as well as VW. In this way, the large factory can be more fully utilised, and make some money again. Soon Datsun and Volvo cars, and Mercedes trucks, are being made at Clayton alongside Beetles, Kombis and Type 3s.
The VW distribution and sales rights for the whole of Australia are awarded to Sydney’s LNC Industries, together with 100% ownership of Volkswagen (Distribution) Ltd, and Volkswagen (Services) Ltd. LNC set up a subsidiary called Volkswagen Australia Ltd in October to handle these businesses. Their head office is the Lanock Motors sales premises on William St in Sydney.
14,957 Volkswagens are sold – 4,097 VW 1300s, 4,350 VW 1500s, 2,308 VW 1600s, 2 Karmann Ghias and 4,020 Transporters.
1969
Work begins on the building of a new 18,000 sq. metre Volkswagen headquarters
and central parts warehouse on Waterloo Rd at North Ryde, opposite the Skyline
Drive-In. NSW Premier, Sir Robert Askin, officially opens the completed site
in September. To handle all data processing for the group, an IBM 360/25 mainframe
computer is installed in the administration office, one of the first such machines
in Australia.
Local content of the German CKD packs at Clayton climbs back up to around 60%, with items like batteries, tyres, glass, rubber, fasteners, paint, electrics, upholstery and trim all made in Australia. Reorganisation of Motor Producers Limited, and the Clayton plant, is completed and the company makes its first profit, $259,900.
Toyota, Datsun and Mazda overtake VW on the Australian market.
LNC imports several 1.7-litre 4-door VW 411s for market evaluation, but decides they would be too expensive to be sold in Australia. The Type 4 is never released here.
The CKD-assembled Beetle is basically unchanged, except for a new range of Datsun and Volvo paint colours. The locally assembled manual stayed with swing-axles. The Type 3 gains a fully automatic option on all three body styles. All Australian-sold VWs are fitted with 4-way emergency flashers. The manual 1500 Beetle retails for $1,999, and the semi-auto at $2,390.
The Walt Disney film ‘The Love Bug’ debuts in Australia, in time for the Christmas school holidays. A pre-release showing at the Chullora Metro Twin Drive-In in Sydney attracts 400 Volkswagens, completely filling the south field. It is also shown at the Roselands shopping centre theatre, with a new white 1969 Beetle painted like Herbie placed in the foyer.
14,267 Volkswagens are sold – 72 VW 1300s, 6,417 VW 1500s, 2,414 VW 1600s and 5,364 Transporters.
1970
LNC takes over the state VW distributors in WA (Western Motors), and the ACT
(Greg Cusack Ltd), giving them direct control over Volkswagen sales in all states
except QLD. Moving of the Volkswagen business into the North Ryde headquarters,
together with the LNC Industries administration and their other subsidiaries,
is completed. Lanock Motors opens another new branch at Bondi. The central VW
Parts warehouse is moved from St Leonards to North Ryde.
The Beetle gets minor updates, including cooling louvres in the engine lid and silver-painted wheels. The Type 3 range is extensively updated a larger, redesigned nose, much bigger bumpers and lights, rear semi-trailing arms, and fuel injection. The ‘Type 3’ badge fitted to the front mudguards is unique to Australia.
A smaller-engined ‘economy’ version of the Beetle is introduced mid-year. It has the same body and suspension as the 1500, but with the 50-bhp 1300 engine and front drum brakes.
The 300,000th Australian Volkswagen is sold in June, but no official ceremony marks the occasion and it passes unnoticed.
The surplus ex-VW Australasia Plant No.2, the former administration centre, parts warehouse and engine assembly complex on the Princes Hwy at Clayton, is sold for $1.8 million. This complex, separate from the main Plant 1 at Clayton, was occupied by other businesses for years, and was eventually demolished in the 1990s for a planned new industrial estate.
16,545 Volkswagens are sold – 590 VW 1300s, 7,309 VW 1500s, 2,938 VW
1600s and 5,708 Transporters.