[T3] VW parts packed with new cars

Gary Forsmo gbforsmo at gmail.com
Wed Jul 24 13:34:27 PDT 2013


There were previous questions about items hat were either packed with
VW's or added, dealer-installed accessories.

A friend of mine worked for various VW dealerships or VWofA from 1963 to 2003.

I asked him if he ever "prepped" cars at the various dealership.
Here's what he told me.
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5)  Did you ever prep cars?

Yes, after about 3 months (of working at the first dealership) I also did new
vehicle prep and installed accessories, i.e. radios, gas heaters, vent
shades, A/C's etc. and I also did a couple of Kombi bus camper kit
installations in ND.

6)  Can you shed any light about the dealership prep process?

Going back to one of the initial questions about seat belts.  Putting
seat belts into cars in the early 1960’s was based on seat belt laws
of the individual states.  I can’t recall the first year that VW put
seat belt anchor points in the vehicles but it seems like it was
around 1964 or 1965.  The first factory installed seat belts that I
can remember were in the 1967 Beetles.  In 1968 Federal Legislation
required seat belts in all passenger vehicles.

License plate brackets were sourced from US suppliers by the dealers
and installed during the prep process.

7)  What and where were parts for each Type 3 packed/stored/etc.?

The left door mirror, the trim rings and the hub caps were in a box in
the trunk.  I seem to remember, the right side door mirror was
available as an accessory from the parts department (only the left
mirror was included for Beetles (I can’t recall when the factory
finally included the left mirror for the Beetle but it was around
1964/65 timeline, but the Type III's might have included the left as
well as right mirrors).  Radios, antennas, gas heaters or air
conditioners were also accessories that potentially were added before
delivery (or were available for after sales installations also).

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Maybe this information will be helpful & clear up some questions which
members of The List have.

Gary "Frito" - '69 Variant, FI, MT
Rockport, TX (winter)
Lake Geneva, WI (summer)



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