A guide to nding out the paint colour of your BEETLE by Stephen Paul Hardy 12 The Beetles covered 1. Your Beetle may by this Guide are also, if you are very those manufactured lucky, still have a in Europe up until small sticker 1979 in the somewhere in it - Volkswagen generally on an GmbH/AG factories inside body panel of at Wolfsburg, the front end storage Emden, and compartment - that carries the Hannover as well as paint “Lack Nr.” and name to Beetles (generally in the German manufactured by language form). D’leteren in Brussels, Wilhelm 2/3. If it has not suffered front Karmann GmbH in end repair or major renovation Osnabrück and 1 your Beetle should also have a those assembled small plate stamped with series elsewhere in Europe of numbers pop riveted close to - for example in the the bonnet latching point. This Republic of Ireland plate is generally called the and Portugal. “production plate”. 2 It can also be used for Beetles manufactured Several reference site can be found on the The way each of these reference sources help us in Puebla for export to Europe 1979 -1985 internet detailing Volkswagen paint colours. discover what the paint colour of your Beetle is “There are keys, or clues, into (Mexiko-Käfer) and to some degree to Many of them however only detail partial listings given on the following pages. unlocking the information that these Mexican Vocho until cessation of production in of the considerable number of paint colours resources provide...” July 2003. used since 1945 in Beetle manufacture. In addition, illustrated, worked examples have also been included to help you. This Guide will not be much help though if My own personal rst stop reference sites on the you own a Brazilian Fusca or a South African subject are: 3 Kever (although the Glasurit website does http://www.thesamba.com/vw/ have a separate drop-down menu for http://coloronline.glasurit.com/?language=8 Volkswagen RSA paint colours). There are keys, or clues, into unlocking the Neither will this Guide be much help if you information that these resources provide. So let own one of the multitude of locally produced us rst take a look at what information you may CKD Beetles assembled around the world at already have to hand that can help. various times if it has been nished as a“local variation”. If you know the model year (Baujahr or build year) of your Beetle - which may be different For owners of Australian manufactured from the year of rst registration - then an Beetles there is a commendable amount of immediate reference is the sales brochure for accurate information available at: that year’s models. http://www.clubvw.org.au/vwpaint You may have some original documentation about your Beetle which will should include, somewhere, a six digit series of numbers that was the factory production code. This specied the colour(s) and upholstery that your Beetle was manufactured with. 2 3 The Beetles covered 1. Your Beetle may by this Guide are also, if you are very those manufactured lucky, still have a in Europe up until small sticker 1979 in the somewhere in it - Volkswagen generally on an GmbH/AG factories inside body panel of at Wolfsburg, the front end storage Emden, and compartment - that carries the Hannover as well as paint “Lack Nr.” and name to Beetles (generally in the German manufactured by language form). D’leteren in Brussels, Wilhelm 2/3. If it has not suffered front Karmann GmbH in end repair or major renovation Osnabrück and 1 your Beetle should also have a those assembled small plate stamped with series elsewhere in Europe of numbers pop riveted close to - for example in the the bonnet latching point. This Republic of Ireland plate is generally called the and Portugal. “production plate”. 2 It can also be used for Beetles manufactured Several reference site can be found on the The way each of these reference sources help us in Puebla for export to Europe 1979 -1985 internet detailing Volkswagen paint colours. discover what the paint colour of your Beetle is “There are keys, or clues, into (Mexiko-Käfer) and to some degree to Many of them however only detail partial listings given on the following pages. unlocking the information that these Mexican Vocho until cessation of production in of the considerable number of paint colours resources provide...” July 2003. used since 1945 in Beetle manufacture. In addition, illustrated, worked examples have also been included to help you. This Guide will not be much help though if My own personal rst stop reference sites on the you own a Brazilian Fusca or a South African subject are: 3 Kever (although the Glasurit website does http://www.thesamba.com/vw/ have a separate drop-down menu for http://coloronline.glasurit.com/?language=8 Volkswagen RSA paint colours). There are keys, or clues, into unlocking the Neither will this Guide be much help if you information that these resources provide. So let own one of the multitude of locally produced us rst take a look at what information you may CKD Beetles assembled around the world at already have to hand that can help. various times if it has been nished as a“local variation”. If you know the model year (Baujahr or build year) of your Beetle - which may be different For owners of Australian manufactured from the year of rst registration - then an Beetles there is a commendable amount of immediate reference is the sales brochure for accurate information available at: that year’s models. http://www.clubvw.org.au/vwpaint You may have some original documentation about your Beetle which will should include, somewhere, a six digit series of numbers that was the factory production code. This specied the colour(s) and upholstery that your Beetle was manufactured with. 2 3 The Samba.com website includes It was usual Volkswagen practice to publish two sections that are particularly “Beyond 1972 things at Volkswagen separate sales brochure literature for car and useful when researching Beetle got "busy" with Special (Sales paint colours until the 1972 model year when paint colours. paint and upholstery colours were integrated Campaign) Editions...” into the main brochure as the nal pages within 4. Firstly an Archives section that it. contains a library of sales literature presented in The rst pair of numbers in that six digit code colloquial's common to North America. I will chronological order. referred to the main body paint colour. illustrate where these differences are pertinent to researching Beetle paint colours in the Worked 5. Secondly a Technical section The middle pair of numbers in that six gure Examples later in this Guide. which includes a lot of information code referred either to a contrasting paint colour A useful background reference reading about paint and upholstery for the roof (as used on the VW typ.3 and explaining the differences between European combinations. Karmann Ghia coupe model ranges) or the soft and North American terminology for Beetle top colour (on the Beetle and Karmann Ghia owners on both sides of the Atlantic can be I have drawn on these resources cabriolets (convertibles)). On saloon (sedan) found at: in this Guide to show how useful models, Beetles included, that had the same http://www.sebeetles.com/european- they can be. 4 main body and roof paint colour the rst and http://www.sebeetles.com/european- second pair of numbers were the same. manufacture-inland-and- When making reference to exportmarkets/manufacture-inland-and- resources it is helpful to 6. The first Worked Example uses Marina exportmarkets/ understand if there are any Blue which was a very well known Volkswagen http://www.sebeetles.com/badges/ limitations in the information paint colour used right across the Volkswagen http://www.sebeetles.com/types-and-codes/ given - or if it is complete. Passenger Car range during the early 1970’s. TheSamba’ archives are really The “Lack Nr.” was L54D dened in sales Up to the 1961 model year Volkswagen used helpful especially if you cross brochures, and factory production paperwork by the “Lack Nr.” reference universally - in parts reference between the paint lists the code 21 21 —. On the production plate it lists and in sales literature. From the 1962 and the literature sections. was recorded as 21. model year an additional coding system was introduced that remains in use today. This However the lists have limitations: added a six digit the Beetle paint colours go up to series of numbers (generally) 1972 and that was the factory 6 predominately only list the production code. standard model year colours. The rst pair of Beyond 1972 things at 5 digits dened the Volkswagen got "busy" with Special (Sales main body paint Campaign) Editions and the Karmann produced colour, the second models using different colours to those used for I will cover alternative sources of information pair the roof colour the saloon (sedan) models until cessation of later in this Guide. and the third pair European production in 1979. the upholstery Before that though just one more word of colour. Later still, chronologically, the paint colours for caution when using TheSamba’ resource. the Mexiko-Käfer imported into Europe 1979 - 85 are way beyond the records in TheSamba’ This excellent website is based in the USA. Much archives. of the literature and terminology is therefore in American English language and uses Volkswagen model descriptions and other 4 5 The Samba.com website includes It was usual Volkswagen practice to publish two sections that are particularly “Beyond 1972 things at Volkswagen separate sales brochure literature for car and useful when researching Beetle got "busy" with Special (Sales paint colours until the 1972 model year when paint colours.