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1952 Volkswagen De Luxe Saloon [Typ 1]

1952 Volkswagen De Luxe Saloon [Typ 1] in Design Classics, Documentary, 1987-1990 IMDB Ep. 1.3

Class: Cars, Sedan — Model origin: DE — Made for: GB

1952 Volkswagen De Luxe Saloon [Typ 1]

[*][*][*] Vehicle used by a character or in a car chase 

Comments about this vehicle

AuthorMessage

Ingo DE

2010-03-26 19:58

A Brezel and with the old bumpers any many other early 50ies-details.

rjluna2 US

2010-03-27 19:40

The vehicle details for KLF 726 are:

Date of Liability 01 04 2010
Date of First Registration 11 05 1981
Year of Manufacture 1952
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1192CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Licence Due to Expire
Vehicle Colour BLUE

dsl SX

2019-03-10 04:03

KLF 726 seems a floating plate which sits on whatever old Beetle it comes across - such as this black RHD "1961".

tore-40 NO

2019-03-10 04:10

Is it really a Saloon made for GB, if you take a peek at the steering wheel?

dsl SX

2019-03-10 04:47

I wondered about that as well ....

tore-40 NO

2019-03-10 09:36

Anyway, the bumper, external horn and the round wing grilles indicate a pre-Zwitter model (before October 1952), so you probably would find 'Rheumaklappen' in the dark cowl area, if visible (that would be specific for the pre-Zwitter). Even if the doors have gained quarterlights - as they could have been replaced for never ones.

dsl SX

2019-03-10 13:32

When did Wolfsburg start making RHD Beetles, and where did the first ones go? I've been looking for a defined start date for UK Beetles but only finding comments that proper supplies started in 1952 or 1953, although there seems to have been a semi-official trickle supply for a few years before that. The Irish-build RHD arrangements from Oct 1950 do not seem to have sent any to UK - early numbers made were fairly small, and the tax/duty barriers were fairly high.

Ingo DE

2019-03-10 14:23

dsl wrote When did Wolfsburg start making RHD Beetles, and where did the first ones go?...

My export statistics say:
- GB with NI: August 1950, re-export of Belgian CKD kits: November 1961
- Republic Ireland: Januar 1951, CKD kits: November 1950, Belgian CKD kits: December 1963 (but only 16 cars total)
- Malta: December 1952
- Cyprus: March 1953
- Gibraltar: Juni 1954
- South Africa: March 1952, CKD kits: March 1951
- Kenya: January 1952
- Tanganjika: April 1954, CKD kits: April 1952
- Sansibar: Aptil 1959
- Brit.Guyana: February 1952
- Japan: December 1952
- Ceylon: February 1952
- Indonesia: September 1952
- Hongkong: February 1953
- Birma: April 1953
- Thailand: March 1953
- Pakistan: Juni 1953
- India: February 1961
- Australia: September 1953 (cars and CKD kits)
- New Zealand: February 1954, CKD kits April 1954
- Australian New Guinea: March 1954

-- Last edit: 2019-03-10 14:26:56

dsl SX

2019-03-10 15:22

ingo wrote My export statistics say:
- GB with NI: August 1950, re-export of Belgian CKD kits: November 1961
- Republic Ireland: Januar 1951, CKD kits: November 1950, Belgian CKD kits: December 1963 (but only 16 cars total)....

- So if GB and NI first got Beetles from Belgium-build, they would be LHD??
- I don't understand the August 1950 date given, as the Irish October 1950 start is recognised as the first VW builds outside Germany.
- Republic Ireland: Januar 1951 also seems a few months late.

I guess LHD Beetles arriving in UK 1950-51 was not a problem for buyers. UK makers were forced to export as much production as possible, starving the UK market where purchase tax was set very high indeed (66% at one stage??) and there were long waiting lists. Plus after WW2 there was lots of LHD leftover stuff, so people were familiar with "wrong side" cabins. Maybe there was also an element of the Japanese scenario where because glamorous shiny US stuff was the 1950s dream, LHD was seen as a bit exotic for the lower rungs of the ladder. So no pressure for VW (or other imports) to create new RHD versions - UK buyers would take whatever arrived.

While VW had engineered RHD Beetles for the Irish build, perhaps these were only done in small batches every so often, as the Wolfsburg assembly lines concentrated on LHD?? Then - about 1952?? - Wolfsburg (or Belgium??) started full RHD builds for UK and the others on your longer list??

Ingo DE

2019-03-10 15:36

@dsl: why is the question RHD or LHD so crucial for you? For old-style cars with a separate chassis -as the VW Typ 1- it's not a big question as for self-sustained bodyworks. Just look on the dashboard of early Beetles.
So I think, also the very first Beetles in UK and IRL are RHD.

Ther Belgian made CKD-kits appeared all only in the early 60ies. For some countries in Asia and Oceania there appear also numbers of Australian made CKD kits.

dsl SX

2019-03-10 15:49

^ just the usual curiosity when simple/obvious questions don't find clear-cut answers ...

johnfromstaffs EN

2019-03-10 16:51

My blue 1960 Type 1 had the numberplate 534 BAB on it, so was not one of those which received the floating plate above. If I remember correctly, a period of austerity under the Attlee government in the late 1940s included a provision that doubled purchase tax on motor cars from 33 1/3% to 66 2/3% if the basic price of the car was over £1,000. I have not found means to check this as the records of budget papers for that time are not digitised so cannot be accessed on the interweb.

It meant relatively little to those buying a family fugbox four at about £500, but more or less killed Lea Francis, and can’t have done much good for Alvis either. Those buying Royces and Bentleys were generally paying with someone else’s money, and somehow Jaguar seemed to escape relatively unscathed.

Richard Davies EN

2020-04-16 11:41

This Beetle was used in a picture in the 1987 Kingfisher Book Of Cars & Trucks.

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