Valuable Classics Part 3: Samba Bulli – Due south and back again

After the German market was drained and the price for the local Samba Bulli went through the roof, many T1 and T2 were brought back from the USA and other countries. Nowadays, vehicles produced in Brazil and South Africa are also increasingly being offered. But how can you tell the “southerners” apart from their German brethren?

From 1950 to 1954, Volkswagen exported 831 vehicles to Brazil. As was often the case at the time, these were shipped as CKD or “Completely Knocked Down” vehicles. In a sense, these were complete kits. This saved high import duties and at the same time created jobs in Brazil as they had to be put together. The same procedure applied to South Africa.

Samba Bulli or Brasil – The Devil is in The Detail

These early CKD campers had the same number ranges as the vehicles assembled in Germany. In the following years, the parts manufactured in Brazil increased significantly due to massive pressure from the Brazilian government.
While in September 1957 half of the T1 consisted of Brazilian parts, by 1959 that figure had risen to 84 percent. During this time only standard T1’s were assembled in Brazil, but they increasingly differed from their German counterpart. These differences were partially due to the parts manufactured in Brazil, such as the exhaust system with a tailpipe or the bumper based on a US models. Furthermore, discarded parts of the German plants were shipped to Brazil and used in production. It is therefore possible a 1959 T1 has doors from a 1955 model.

Bulli Special Models

From 1961 onward, the T1 produced in Brazil received its own VIN. It was a combination of the letter B with the year of production (B1 = 1961) and a consecutive number. The VW Camper had meanwhile established itself in Brazil and in 1963 Volkswagen do Brasil presented a whole range of new models. The star was definitely the one with 23 windows, which was modelled after the German Samba. In contrast to its German counterpart however, it had no reinforced floor. There was also no passage between the driver and front passenger seat, as a solid half-height partition made this impossible.

In 1967 the new model T2 was introduced, which was completely manufactured in Brazil. In contrast to German T2 models, components from previous models were used in production as well. Some campers were shipped to South Africa as CKD vehicles. Although these were assembled in South Africa they are also revered to as Brasil.

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Photos Classic Trader

Author: Classic Trader

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