by Phil Matthews
1981
LNC Industries executives travel to Germany to meet with Volkswagen about the
future of the brand in Australia. No petrol or diesel VW car models are deemed
suitable or economic, but it is agreed to import the T3 Transporter. A batch
of 2,000 Australian-homologated Transporters is ordered, enough to last two
years. LNC also get a special Australia-only five-cylinder version of the Audi
80, to be sold in Australia as the Audi 5+5. LNC brings the new T3 Transporter
to the Sydney Motor Show in October, but it is parked in the carpark, not on
the small VW stand.
Imports of the Golf GLD end halfway through the year, and the model is discontinued. The Passat GLD sedan and wagon are the only new VWs available, at Statesman/Fairlane prices, but they too are discontinued at the end of the year. The last old-stock T2 Transporter is sold.
Lanock Motors close their Waitara branch, reducing the number of Sydney branches from seven to six. A branch of the successful Campmobile rental business is established at the Wollongong branch.
442 Volkswagens are sold – 96 Golfs, 287 Passats and 59 Transporters.
1982
The T3 Transporter is released for sale, in Kombi and Microbus versions,
with hydraulic fuel-injected 2.0-litre air-cooled engines, and manual or auto
trans. Prices range from $10,995 to $14,995, 50% more than the Japanese competition.
The last stocks of 1981 Golf GLD and Passat GLDs are sold, ending the sales of all Volkswagen passenger cars in Australia. The T3 Transporter becomes the only Volkswagen available for sale in Australia.
LNC is importing the Audi 5+5 and 200 Turbo. The 5+5 is initially popular, but sales quickly dry up when LNC jacks the price up several times in a short period.
518 Volkswagens are sold – 3 Golfs, 80 Passats and 435 Transporters.
1983
The Audi 200T passes $30,000, the first VW vehicle to pass that milestone in
Australia. LNC announces plans to bring in more luxury Audis – with their
higher profit margins – but no new VWs are announced except for the new
water-cooled Transporter and Caravelle, which will appear next year.
The ‘Bug-Inn’ is held in NSW, involving a dirt motorkhana at Plumpton in western Sydney. The event involves 22 drivers from NSW, 12 from VIC, 4 from QLD and 2 from SA in an array of Datsuns, Mazdas, Toyotas and Minis. Only three Volkswagens take part, indicating that this 1960s-style event was now obsolete in terms of modern VW enthusiasts.
179 Volkswagens are sold – 179 Transporters.
1984
LNC Industries comes under stock market scrutiny when the Melbourne-based Libermann
Investment group begins buying up their shares.
The first Australian ‘chop-top’ Beetle conversions appear. The trend is started by TV star Norman Yemm, whose Gold Coast-based company, ‘Rent A Love Bug’, soon has a fleet of 25 brightly coloured topless Beetles. A similar company, ‘Rent A Bug’ in Sydney’s Croydon, soon has its own fleet of topless and Hebmuller-style chopped Beetles. This chop top craze results in many hundreds of otherwise good Beetles being ruined over the next few years.
The first of the new ‘wasserboxer’ flat-four engines is seen at the Powertune stand at the Knox Motor Club display, in the Macquarie shopping centre in Sydney.
The first modern VW show in Australia is held at Valla Park, NSW, featuring hundreds of shiny VWs in a street parade and show n shine event.
Later in the year the Transporter is updated to the new 1915cc ‘wasserboxer’ water-cooled flat four engine, replacing the old Type 4-based air-cooled engine. A 5-speed manual gearbox is available for the first time. The nose gets a second, lower grille for the radiator. The new Caravelle is priced at $17,995, some $1545 more than its predecessor.
262 Volkswagens are sold – 262 Transporters.
1985
Australia’s first ‘all VW’ owners club, Club VW Sydney, is
formed to cater exclusively for VW owners who wish to maintain, restore and
preserve their VWs, and keep as many VWs on Australian roads for as long as
possible.
Sydney restaurateur and musician Paul Greene makes two attempts to cross Bass Strait in his converted VW ‘Seabug’. His floating vehicle travelled 15 nautical miles but hit a sand bar off Port Albert and sprang a small leak. He was turned back by the water police, and subsequently refused permission for any further attempts.
VW Australia Public Relations supervisor, Phil Scott, leaves LNC Industries and joins the Sydney Morning Herald for a career in journalism, eventually ending up editor in chief of Drive (and of Street Machine magazine). He rarely has anything good to say about VWs in his subsequent articles, commonly referring to them as ‘dak daks’. He pioneers the lazy journalist habit of starting off VW articles and news items by always mentioning Hitler and the Nazis. Not clever.
Libermann Investments take full ownership in LNC Industries.
393 Volkswagens are sold – 393 Transporters.