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Post by Volktales on Feb 21, 2021 21:49:31 GMT -8
Sooo, back in the 1960's a good friend of my Grandma's took a trip to South Africa. She grew up there for a time when she was a girl, but returned for a visit around 1965. And she brought back with her brochures from the various places she went. Somehow my Mom ended up with these long after Ruth passed on. So do you think there might be some VW gold in there??? You betcha!  A blue locally produced Beetle in George, South Africa. Don will ad a blown up picture later where you can spot the differences between German and South African production...  But never mind that, check out this VW Samba! Wonder if it is still hiding there somewhere, deep in Zambia??? Or Northern Rhodesia as it was known in the bad old days prior to 1964... |
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Post by PICTUP on Feb 22, 2021 8:59:30 GMT -8
Here is the Bug. Other than sporting very cool South African Sprint Stars and having monstrous taillights, I can't tell you much. Mr.Beetle(Russ) has had up close and personal experience with a Bug of this nature so he will fill you in on its quirks. I think you posted a pic somewhere, didn't you Russ?  The Bus is a RHD and looks to be in the 61-63 range. It has bullet turn signals, "low' loading door hinges, what look to be outward facing louvers(with trim),and being a 23 window is no later than a 63(after 63 the rear door got bigger and there wasn't enough structure to have the corner windows). If the rear wheel arch was visible the year could be better determined if it were plain or had the reinforcing lip. I think I see that this Bus has the safari window hardware on the inside, but they are closed for obvious reasons   |
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Post by CrazyBrit on Feb 22, 2021 9:26:48 GMT -8
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Post by PICTUP on Feb 22, 2021 10:31:08 GMT -8
That is a very nice KG of your dad's Mark! Hey, do you think the VW's in the brochures were most likely CKD kits or straight imports? How about your dad's? I seem to recall your Bus from down under was...
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Post by CrazyBrit on Feb 22, 2021 18:34:47 GMT -8
I believe that they probably were CKDs. I don't know if the Uitenhage plant was pressing any panels back then and how much of the content was German / local. Dad's Ghia would have been a CKD. It is a 1961 model year, built in late 1960. I'm not sure if the bodies were assembled there or shipped whole from Karmann to be outfitted in Uitenhage. Apparently the RHD Ghias used a cut up LHD dashboard. There are some interesting posts on this on thesamba. Volkswagen is still building CKDs, having celebrated 70 years of CKD last year. www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/press-releases/beetles-in-boxes-70-years-of-ckd-car-exports-by-volkswagen-6726 |
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Post by Volktales on Feb 22, 2021 19:54:25 GMT -8
This thread contains more information on the South African Beetles. You will have to scroll down a bit... miacvw.proboards.com/thread/80/shopAlso that brochure with the Beetle was a lot newer than the one with the bus. In fact from around 1980, although who knows how old the pictures included were first taken. One other thing I forgot to mention, was that Ruth's car was a red Type 3 Fastback! I even had a few rides in this as a kid in the late '70's. Even then I remember the rusted out front fenders... Another memory was that Ruth was not the best driver in the world. Her car had many scrapes and dents. Apparently she also planned all her trips out in the car carefully to completely avoid having to make any left hand turns! |
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Post by CrazyBrit on Feb 22, 2021 23:27:34 GMT -8
Sounds like an interesting VW owner! Did the T3 survive?
South Africa was another hold out for the split bus after production ended in Europe. They made the Fleetlines into the early 70s I believe. I think that the Beetle may have also survived past the end date for German production, but don't quote me on that.
I looked for a set of SA sprint stars when I was down there years ago, but this was pre internet and I couldn't find any for sale in the back of the local papers or Auto Trader (or whatever it was called). I found a Ghia instead, which is now my Dad's! I'd still love to find a set of SA sprints.
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