History
Having lusted after this car in my teens in the early 90's after seeing it in it's original 1500 100% stock state, I had the opportunity to buy the vehicle in 2006, and was largely in it's current form now.
The vehicle was bought out of a nursing home from a resident by a Southern Adelaide VW repair business in the early 1990s. The Vehicle is a German built 1967, built at the end of July 1966(pre launch of the 67 model in August) and by the account of the original owner was a display beetle at the Earl's Court Motor Show in London at the time. Documentation supports it's location at the time.
These are a 'rare bird' here in Australia as they were never sold through the VW Australia network. Only a handful <10, in various states of condition exist here in Australia and were all private imports.
The body, paint, trim and upholstery are unrestored, is as it left the factory in 1966.
The vehicle was then sold on to the next owner(the chap I bought it from) who proceeded to "Cal Look" the vehicle.
Let's face it, I don't disagree with it as it is the coveted true cal look beetle year(1967 German built car)and the perfect colour combination for it.
By "cal looking" the vehicle, that meant an adjustment in stance, driveline upgrade with select period go fast parts from DDS(Deano-Dynosoar), The original EMPI (Run by Joe Vittone), Weber Italy(no repro stuff), Gene Berg and Scat VW, period Porsche/Empi wheels.
Since then, I have added the VW accessories(under dash parcel shelf, 4 stud VW Hazet Tourist Spare wheel Tool kit) and the Original Empi parts(GTV Steering wheel and Eliminator Shifter-all rare originals, no fakes) and a set of Porsche 914 5-stud Magnesium Mahle Gasburner(again, no repro fakes here) wheels waiting in the wings for it.
This car is not to be confused with the commoner Aussie "67" beetle which was just a 3rd year continuation of the euro 1964 beetle as VW Australia was used to clean up left-overs while VW Europe got on with the current models. VW Australia slapped in a 1300 motor, fitted a 'deluxe' or 'custom' badge on a sparsely appointed and poorly built old body that was vaguely just painted with 'Balm paints' with the old 64 drive train.
More about these unique bugs can be found on https://1967beetle.com/, however there are notable differences between the US spec package and the rest of the world. (US spec cars got upright sealed beam headlights, towel rail overrider bumpers with 67 only rails, 12V electrics and emergency flasher electrics.)
Modifications
Vehicle simply had a motor and trans upgrade to 2007cc and close ratio gearbox built out of the original using authentic go-fast bits from back in the day, all with a slight stance adjustment. Brakes are 4x wheel , dual circuit disc brakes (this model had dual circuit brakes and front discs fitted from the factory, as opposed from the lagging Aussie 67 which had drums all round and only single circuit hydraulics). Interior safety improvements consists of the 4 point seat belts as the vehicle originally had no seatbelts ever installed originally from the factory or dealer, all discretely mounted up to the factory seat belt mounts. The car was also originally 6v but is now 12V, So I can now see the road and signs at night(no more candle 6V headlights), the windscreen wipers now function more than at a snails pace, lesser chance of being hit in the a*** with brighter stop lights and a horn that doesn't sound like a "drowning Herbie". All modifications are reversible as I have all the original parts which were removed from the vehicle, including the matching numbers 1500 motor.
