VW Model years - Production year versus model year.

[Lind]

prior to 1955, the model year of a VW corresponded exactly with the calendar year. then with much fanfare, in august 1955, VW introduced the model year system. so a VW built on august 1st 1955 was a '56 model. during the '50s, VW was fairly strict on their policy of progressive refinements, where they would make changes as soon as they felt an improvement was necessary. little by little in the mid-late 1950s, VW started saving up certain changes for the new model year. the mechanical type changes were likely to happen whenever they realized something needed improved, but the trim changes were happening largely on a different schedule. by the 1960s, VW was clearly saving most of its trim changes for the model year change. there were also certain regulations that were being implemented by the united states department of transportation, which required certain things to comply with the next model year vehicle. (like the minimum headlight to ground distance in 1960, which forced a redesign of the Karmann Ghia nose). in 1965, VW started putting the model year in the VIN number of all models.

but there was a little problem. after VW introduced the model year with much fanfare in 1955, they didn't mention much about it in technical literature until the early '60s. so this left an unclear area in the late '50s. there could be many reasons for this. perhaps since they had already stated the change, they didn't feel the need to restate it on a yearly basis. perhaps they were more interested in making and selling cars that worked, than putting effort into restating the obvious. and I say obvious because there were some really obvious changes that were happening on the model year change. the most obvious was the colors. they were changing colors of vehicles throughout the model line on august 1st.

people tended to call their cars the year that it stated on the title and registration. titles were not created in Germany with the car's production. titles are created in the individual states where cars are first registered. a dealership sends some paperwork to the state department which is responsible for titling vehicles, and they issue the title for whatever the dealership tells them. since VW did not have major cosmetic changes on every single year like Detroit did, sometimes dealerships would fudge a little. an unsold '59 kombi could become a '60 kombi, and the consumer would be none the wiser. well, unless they checked the VIN number. the vast majority of mis-titled years on VWs show the vehicle to be one year newer than we know it to be. most states will allow someone to get the year on their title corrected if they show some proof that the original title was in error. this can be important for getting model-year license plates, which is a program than many states have.

fast forward to present times. older models are generally considered to be cooler than newer models. so now many people want a '58, not a '59. so there is quite a bit of confusion when someone poses their car as one year earlier than the model year which it actually is. this is the exact opposite of what dealerships were doing back in the day. I guess people will do many things to make their car seem more appealing.

so anyway, VW put out a lot of literature, and there had to be a Rosetta Stone of model year cutoffs for the late '50s somewhere out there, just nobody had found it and brought it forth yet. well, here it is. it clearly states the model year cutoffs in the late '50s in a piece of VW literature printed in Germany by Volkswagenwerk for dealerships in the USA.

there are a few things that are to be noted. VW states in the piece that there were vehicles built before the model year cutoffs which are equipped as the later model year. (i.e. if anything, it is from the newer model year) I believe this is to account for prototype vehicles, and or vehicles which have prototype features. (like the convertible karmann ghia built in mid 1957 to test the fit of the new body panels). the book also shows the '54 model cutoff to be at the change from barndoor to post-barndoor. perhaps they were trying to avoid the confusion of whether a '55 is a barndoor or not. anyway, I don't agree with that cutoff, and I think that there are '55 barndoors. also, as has been generally noted before in many places, there are no 1955 Karmann Ghias, even though they were introduced before august 1st 1955. they were always intended to be '56 models.

this piece does contradict some of what is said in Progressive Refinements, but there are plenty of errors in progressive refinements, which can be easily proven. I believe that this piece is much stronger than PR.

hopefully this will shut down most of the debate for people trying to pre-date the vehicles.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/dealers/60salesmanbook.php
(the important pages are near the end of the book)

**all chassis numbers are for the last vehicle produced in the month listed.**

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Wanted:
Idaho VW license plate frames or other dealership items.
VWoA literature and early dealership or distributor literature/pictures/information
.

[thom]

Nice! This looks the the be-all/end-all for this argument.
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-Thom
1956 Single Cab
1957 Porsche 356A Sunroof
1957 23-Window Deluxe
1957 Mercedes Westfalia single cab
1963 Unimog 404
1965 E-Type

[hugheseum]

american model year is such a waste of time..........cant argue with month and year of manufacture

of course if you love to overexplain everything then hell yes yea "american model year"
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Have a great day!

[///Mink]

[ferry]

I own a december 1958 panel ..my MOT station said its a 58 bus so ..ive got a 58 ..and for all the vw purists its a 59 ..
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Former bmx shop wob61,combat veteran iraq
After several aircooled ,now a 1986 t3 syncro westfalia

[crofty]

[dmuis]

Thanks for pointing that out Lind!

Was it just added to the technical lit?

[hugheseum]

american as in the rest of the world doesnt use a model yr.........in fact we dont really either,if you want the correct parts for your car use the date and yr of manufacture..........if you love to overcomplicate by all means use an american model yr to refer to your cars vintage...........in fact put your hand on your hip and act whitty as fuck when ya do it
_________________
Have a great day!

[Lind]

[obus]

I still have a 1959.
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July 1959 Mango Standard Bus aka Obus L346 L347 https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=256592&highlight=
June 1973 Pumpkin Orange Thing aka Othing L30H
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=711775&highlight=
1960 Paprika Red Karmann Ghia Convertible aka Schatze L452 built 5/20/60
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...highlight=
66 21 window bus built 8/31/65 https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=777273

[Lind]

[///Mink]

[dawerks]

Good post!

It seemed to me like page 1 and 2 were the same, but a closer look at the 'vin #s' shows that the Model Year cut offs are different than the year of production.

Very good information! This probably won't get 'adopted' and I can see people being very resistant to change, but this is the definitive/final word on this issue.

[hitest]

[oldschool64bus]

[carterzest]

[mattcuddy]

I like the rosetta stone analogy.

[candyman]

Great write up Lind. But sadly my nov 1960 panel is still a 61

[BulliBill]

As usual, Lind comes through again with great and undisputable VW Transporter information (model year clarification), and a very thorough explanation. Thanks again Lind!

Bill
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I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton

Thanks for any help!

[campingbox]

Thanks for sharing Lind. It's really cool to see something I have always wondered about confirmed in print.