Re: [T3] Heated debate in the office.....

[Simon Glen <simonglen@bigpond.com>]

PerL,

I believe the "S" in the Australian "TS" stands for 'speed' or 'special' or 'sport'
and was intended to carry on the sporting image of the twin carb1500S Notchback which
had by 1966 established a good name for itself as a rally car here in Australia.  VW
would not have meant 'sedan' because here a sedan is an ordinary family car which was
not the image VW in Australia was trying to promote for the new Fastback.

I notice that while German language VW published brochures sometimes described the
Fastback as the "Fleisshecklimousine", it was also often described as the
"Tourenlimousine" which is where the "T" comes from.  The "T" and "TA" were the no
frills base models of the Fastback with carburettors and sometimes described in
German and other sales brochures, although the script on the back never said "1600TA"
or "1600T" and would have been plain "Volkswagen" or "VW1600" for these base models.
Of course, the base model  was also available with fuel injection from August 1967
(VW Option M-  ) but this was never shown in the script at the back of the base
vehicle.  It was only the luxury "L" versions that got the script "VW1600TLE" (except
for some markets like USA where only the luxury model was imported, in which case the
script was plain "Volkswagen" regardless of whether it had carburettors or fuel
injection).

The "L" in "TL" does not stand for 'limousine' but rather the luxury model.  Thus the
Type 36 Variant was also available as an "L" version and the Type 36 is not a
'limousine' in German but, if anything, a "Kombi" or combination vehicle.

However, with regard to Fastbacks, as the "A" version was a base no frills car and
the "L" version was the top of the range luxury model with all the chrome strips, ash
trays, etc, there would not have been a "TLA" as this would have been a
contradiction.



Simon Glen
Toowoomba,  Australia.

Per Lindgren wrote:

>  TL stands for "Touring Limousine" which I don't
> doubt. The "L" was first used on the Fastback and was later used to designate the
> Luxury level instead. So one can ask: Was there a TLA?
>
> The German TL name can also be an explanation to why the Australian market used
> the TS designation in the first years. In German the word Limousine means an
> ordinary Sedan. We always think of a 6-meter Lincoln when we hear the word
> Limousine while the Germans even calls the Beetle a Limousine. So in order to not
> confuse the Aus. market the car may have been renamed the TS (Touring Sedan) by
> VWofAus. as this was before the L was used to designate the Luxury level.
>
> I'd like to hear your views on this.
>
> PerL

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