Aircooled VW South Africa

Hello guys,

I live in France (on the French Riviera), and I bought a '68 Ghia back in 2006 which was imported from South Africa!
(I also ride a '59 Beetle and a '88 Golf Mk2, but that's another story)




I'd like to ask you a couple of questions about my Ghia...
First, the seller told me it had an engine and gearbox swap in SA. I could confirm the gearbox swap from its code (it's now a 8x31, which differs from the original one), but I'm still unsure about the engine.
I've never seen this kind of code/serial on a VW engine, and I was wondering if you guys could help me out : have you ever seen an engine serial starting with "FADR"? Does it have any kind of meaning in SA?



Has any of you ever seen my Ghia before, in SA? I'd love to be able to retrace part of its history! Can the ID plate help about that in some way? Does it provide some information about where it came from?

Thanks a lot for any information you could share with me!

-Jim-

The number indicates that the motor is a SA only factory rebuild. Normally the engines got a new number when they got redone.

Sham wrote:......have you ever seen an engine serial starting with "FADR"? Does it have any kind of meaning in SA?

..
-Jim-

Hi Jim,
Welcome here, maybe you lucky and some one in the Johanesburg -Pretoria area have seen your car before and will let your know.
Your engine number is most probably SFAD R ****** (the S is behind the nut), as the SFAD is the South Africa engine numbers and when an engine is Reworked or Reconditioned, then they stamp the R in to show that it has been reworked.
Other types of Engineering works, would machine the number off and re-stamp the complete number.]
Sure some one will have seen your car, but till we wait, please tell us more about your 1959 Beetle.
Maybe some pictures ???

herman

Hi Herman,

Thanks a lot for these information, that's great!
I guess you're right, there's probably an "S" behind that nut. I'm going to the garage right now to confirm that (while repeatedly calling myself "dumb-dumb" for missing it!).
You mentioned Johanesburg/Pretoria : does the original number plate gave you some indication that my car was from that specific area?
That would be fantastic if someone out there was able to identify my Ghia!!

As per my '59 beetle, it was my very first car, bought when I was 19yo... and I'm 38 now, I'll let you do the painfull math, let's just say I've owned it for quite a while now.
Here it is :



More pictures can be seen on my website here : http://shamwerks.com/cox_eng.php
It was built in Germany, as an export model for Greece. For some reason, it ended up being bought by a member of the Spanish Royal Family, who used to live in France, named "Marie Messia y Lesseps, Countess of Bavaria y Borbon"; that name took 2 full lines on the original car registration document!

Unfortunately I've not driven this car for quite a bit now, since I'm rebuilding its 36hp engine and I have some troubles finding a set of oversize/line bore main bearings.

Thanks for the Pic's of the Beetle, I have a soft spot for 1959, as I also have one.
Mine I only had for a short time, but had a painful start, your does not look as it you got it 20 odd years ago.
Still looks good, or have you rebuilt it since. ??
My thread for my 1959 is here .. http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 23&t=20872
The reason I said the guys in that area will have seen your KG,is that with a car like that, the VW guys normally attend functions in that area, and get to know the other VW guys.
Maybe the car is from there anyway, we will have to wait and see.
I think the member of the Spanish Royal Family, sold the Beetle as they could not fit their name in the little boot.

Herman

OK, so I do confirm the 2 informations above :
- there was a hidden "S" on my picture!
- I'm so dumb I didn't see it. So, correct me if I'm wrong : "SFA" is for the South Africa VW factory (does SFA stand for something as an acronym?), "D" is for 1600 dual port 50hp, and "R" for Reconditionned?
Is there a way to know when this engine was made?

Sham wrote:Hi Herman,
You mentioned Johanesburg/Pretoria : does the original number plate gave you some indication that my car was from that specific area?

The letters "GP" on the end of your number plate indicate Gauteng Province, an area which used to be called the "Transvaal".