Re: USA Type III imports

[Greg Merritt <gregm@engin.umich.edu>]

At 1:17 AM -0000 1/24/97, Melissa & Jim wrote:
>'66 or '67 is easy to believe, because there seem to be many more of the
>'66- models around here and the earlier ones are much rarer.  I really doubt
>that earlier ones were brought in by VWoA.  What VW books report '66?

	Volkswagen Chronicle, by Graham Robson and the Auto Editors of
Consumer Guide, Publications International, Ltd., 1996, ISBN 0-7853-1599-3,
for example. :)

p. 60-- "In the United States, Beetle sales were still so strong--288,583
sedans and 7,848 convertibles in 1965--that VW waited until 1966 to bring
in the Type 3.  In the meantime, a thriving gray market had developed, with
more than 12,000 Canadian Type 3s finding their way into the States."

p.60-- "The U.S. finally got Type 3s for the 1966 model year.  VW imported
the TL, which it dubbed the Fastback, and the Variant wagon, which it
called the Squareback; the three-box sedan was not imported."

	I have one interesting anectode from a friend of 17 years... he
bought a '64 notch from a dealer in California!  Certainly a non-approved
transaction as far as VW AG was concerned...  But imagine if you were a
dealer, and people wanted them, and you could get your hands on a couple...
it's not hard to see how some 12,000 might have made their way in!

-Greg
'71 squareback
'63 Beetle