Were there any type 3 auto stick shifts made ?? I have seen FULLY Automatic type 3s but no autosticks..
Fully automatic type 3s are rare in Australia too.
68AutoBug :) :) :P
Sure there were Type 3 semi-automatic cars, the first was produced in 1961, I am not really sure if they were made after 67, but I think so.
Were these Saxomats or stickshift semi automatics?
What country were they available in...
I didn't think the semi auto stickshifts came out until 1968... same year as the PORSCHE 911 Sportomatic... stick shift semi automatics..
What country do You live in?
What is Your name?
What is Your signature?
regards
Lee Noonan 68AutoBug
- helping keep air cooled Volkswagens on the road in Australia -
Hiya Lee,
I can only speak for USA/North America sales, but the Automatic Stickshift was introduced here in the 1968 model year. The Autostick was available in the Bug, the SuperBeetle, and the Karmann Ghia. IIRC, the last year the AutoStick was offered was 1974. During that run AutoStick sales accounted for around 10% of all Type 1s sold in the USA/NA.
Over in Europe VW had sold some Saxomat(ic) equipped Bug during the early sixties. The Saxomat was a wholly mechanical semi-automatic transmission. As VW realized that the USA/NA market was demanding automatic transmissions they took what they had learned from their experiences with the Saxomat in Europe and refined it into the Automatic Stickshift to be sold primarilly in the USA.
To the best of my knowledge no USA/NA bound Type 3 ever had an AutoStick installed. Only fully automatic transmissions made it to this side of the pond in the Type 3. All of the above accounts for the extreme rarity of Saxomat equipped Bugs in the USA today.
Mike,
I would love to see how the mechanicals worked.... the mind boggles... without electrical contacts on the shifter.... how in the world did they make the clutch work??
regards,
Lee Noonan 68AutoBug
The Saxomatic was actually developed for the American market and was available in both bugs and Type 3s from 1961
Hiya RHD,
What is your reference source for your last post?
According to Garwood (in his Car of the Century, Volume 2) the M5 factory option (Saxomat Semi-Automatic Transaxle) was NOT an option in the North American market. Car of the Century is regarded as the VW Bug restoration "bible" by the folks in the business on this side of the pond. Garwood himself was a VW dealer throughout the sixties and into the seventies.He does say that the M5 option was first available in 1961 and was discontinued in 1967. He does not mention that it was available in anything but Type 1s.
On the other hand the AutoStick transmission was available from 1968 to mid 1976 here in the North American market. Again Type 1s only with the Type 3 running a true automatic transmission as an option.
Please forward the source for your information concerning the Saxomat development for the North American market and its use in Type 3s
I lost all my pictures in the last harddrive crash, but I had a scanned sales brochure from 1961 showing the new Type 3 with Saxomatic stickshift. I also lost the email to an American guy who had a 1961 Type3 Saxomatic. (He was the same guy who sent me the brochure scan)
I will try to get hold of him again, I really want that brochure, and also in a better scan, so I can print it and hang it on my wall. I'll post here when I have it.