I was just about to write an email telling how the Saxomatic was implemented on Volkswagen cars and how it eventually became the Semi-automatic that we know today. But I thought there must be more people from here that wants to know about this, so I will write it here.
The Saxomat is a product developed by Fichtel & Sachs AG in Schweinfurt Germany. It was developed in the 50ies, and were fitted to a number of car makes. When Volkswagen introduced the full synchromesh gearbox in 1961 they were able to fit a Saxomatic gearbox to it, and so they did. I have heard different storys of why they did this, some say it was because they wanted to expand on the American market, where there were a demand for automatic gearboxes, some say that it was for the European market. However the Saxomatic was optional on both Type 3's and type 1's from 1961. Volkswagen didn't advertise this thing much, it was more like an accessory fitted at the factory, people more or less had to ask about it. That is the reason why so few Saxomatic cars were sold. This Saxomatic was a very simple thing, it was just a Vacuum reglated clutch fitted to the regular 4-speed gearbox.
I am very lucky to own one of these early Saxomat cars, a 1961 Type 1.
This type of Saxomat was optional until 1968, when the new kind was introduced, it was a completely new gearbox with only 3 speeds, and this is what most VW people refer to when they talk about Saxomat. This option was very well advertised, and most people today don't even know that there were any semi-automatics before 1968.
This new Saxomat was only fitted to Type 1's as far as I know, the Type 3 and 4 were fitted with fully automatic gearboxes from 1968. Those were made by Volkswagen themselves.
I have never heard about Type 2's with Saxomat, I don't think they exist, but one never knows, the early Saxomat was very easy to fit to any Volkswagen
Hallo, it's a nice story from that saxomat. I think there are just a few from those saxomat's alive. I know a few one in Germany and Belgium. I have also one (in the Netherlands). I sofar did not hear about another in my region. It's a nice system. I was told that those system's were sold to WorldWar 2 victums with injuries at their legs??!!. Look at www.kcroermond.nl and than auto's → kevers → 1200 saxomat (that's mine saxomat beetle) there are also some pictures from that car on this site. Have a lot of beetle-fun :