Is that rare?

[trcdennis]

Since gaining a new autoshift bug and explaining to everyone how it works, one question keeps popping up - is that kind of bug rare?  

I'm guessing this question has been asked many times, but does anyone know how many autoshifts were actually produced?

[bookwus]

Hiya trc,

I've looked around a bit (by no means a comprehensive search) and the figure I have seen (in at least two places) is approximately 10%.  That 10% being 1 out of 10 Type 1s sold from 1968 into 1976 in Canada and the USA were AutoSticks.  If you wanted actual numbers you could do a little math with the total North American production for those years.

So, while an AutoStick is not rare, it is less than common these days especially with conversions to manual.

Mike

1970 AS Bug

[trcdennis]

Thanks Mike, that's a lot more than I would have guessed.

I was remembering a commercial advertising the automatic that was set in San Francisco at the top of a hill bragging about the ability to go without rolling back down the hill.  Can there still be that many memory-laden brain cells left?

[rumplestilskin]

i am a mechanic in the bay area and i have worked on all types of cars vw's included and have only seen 2 vw auto sticks. one i worked on about 10 years ago, and the one 1 own. so 10% seams like a big number. just from what i have seen i think it is more like 1%

[dmc]

I'm not so sure, I think 10% is pretty accurate.  I live in PA and have met 6 ppl thru my jobs that all had VW Beetles and 4 of the 6 had autosticks and there seems to be quite a few for sale in this area.  Now mine was not originally from PA, mine came from that sunny rust free land of california so mine has all that cool emissions stuff.

[Cobey]

I know of 6 in the Bay area, including mine.