The other is not as nice as this one, they are both drivers .
This one is almost rust free the other pretty good rust wise also but well used ( lots of dents ).
Rod has first dibs on it but he doesnt seen too keen so it may well become available.
That is if i cannot keep them both, I have a plan (dream) that involves the two however I dont have the funds so one will most probably need to do for now.
mmmm, i do love that twincab!!
Mitchell
15 WINDOW FLEETLINE
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bulliboy
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bulliboy
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Below is a cut and paste from Fig on Samba
Hey Volks
Many of you will know that VWSA assembled a run of Brazilian-built split
buses in the 1975 model year which were sold under the model name
Fleetline. These were probably the last split buses built anywhere, as split
production ended in Brazil in 1974 or 75. Fleetlines were produced in three
variants: 15-window Kombis, panelvans, and wide-bed single-cab pick-ups.
It has been fairly widely published on the web that there were only 789
Fleetlines built, while others say that the number may have been as many
as 2,000 Fleetlines. Anyone who used the 789 figure was quoting me. This
number is incorrect. I have now discovered a definitive source of
production figures for Fleetlines and it turns out that there were between
5,000 and 6,000 Fleetlines built between January 1975 and March 1976.
So Fleetlines are still rare, but not as rare as I had believed.
I recently located an old copy of the Commercial Vehicle Data Digest, a
local publication that gives technical and other specs on vehicles sold in SA.
According to the Commercial Vehicle Data Digest:
Fleetline introduced: January 1975
Total number sold in 1975: 4,957
Fleetline discontinued: March 1976
In April 76 the Fleetline was replaced by the fugly bay/split hybrid, which
had baywindow front bodywork grafted onto the split rear bodywork. The
bay/splits were known simply as "1600" or "Brasilia" (as I have seen it on
some aftermarket parts lists). These were sold until 1978. The
Commercial Vehicle Data Digest lists 1976 sales at 3,446. It is not clear if
that refers to both Fleetlines and bay/splits, so there may have been as
many as 6,000 Fleetlines sold in total.
Fleetlines:
Hey Volks
Many of you will know that VWSA assembled a run of Brazilian-built split
buses in the 1975 model year which were sold under the model name
Fleetline. These were probably the last split buses built anywhere, as split
production ended in Brazil in 1974 or 75. Fleetlines were produced in three
variants: 15-window Kombis, panelvans, and wide-bed single-cab pick-ups.
It has been fairly widely published on the web that there were only 789
Fleetlines built, while others say that the number may have been as many
as 2,000 Fleetlines. Anyone who used the 789 figure was quoting me. This
number is incorrect. I have now discovered a definitive source of
production figures for Fleetlines and it turns out that there were between
5,000 and 6,000 Fleetlines built between January 1975 and March 1976.
So Fleetlines are still rare, but not as rare as I had believed.
I recently located an old copy of the Commercial Vehicle Data Digest, a
local publication that gives technical and other specs on vehicles sold in SA.
According to the Commercial Vehicle Data Digest:
Fleetline introduced: January 1975
Total number sold in 1975: 4,957
Fleetline discontinued: March 1976
In April 76 the Fleetline was replaced by the fugly bay/split hybrid, which
had baywindow front bodywork grafted onto the split rear bodywork. The
bay/splits were known simply as "1600" or "Brasilia" (as I have seen it on
some aftermarket parts lists). These were sold until 1978. The
Commercial Vehicle Data Digest lists 1976 sales at 3,446. It is not clear if
that refers to both Fleetlines and bay/splits, so there may have been as
many as 6,000 Fleetlines sold in total.
Fleetlines:
Last edited by bulliboy on Sat May 17, 2008 12:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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bulliboy
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And this from Fig also,
I'm joining this discussion very late.
I notice a fair bit of opinion about Fleetlines in this thread, but wonder how many of the writers have ever seen a Fleetline, never mind driven one.
I have had a succession of Fleetlines as daily drivers since 1990. I bought my current daily driver, a Fleetline panelvan, in 1993, and have driven it 97,000km. Altogether I have driven Fleetlines for a total of about 200,000km, including my journey across Africa in the ZebraBus, which was a Fleetline Kombi. The ZebraBus took us from Cape to Cairo without a breakdown! Nothing inferior about that.
It's very hard to find reliable info about these buses, but this is what I know or have gleaned:
Fleetlines were assembled by VWSA from Brazilian kits, either CKD or SKD. They were built for one year only, the 1975 model year, which in South Africa began in November.
I have heard different production numbers: either 789 or 2,000. 789 comes from an old copy of the Commercial Vehicle Data Digest; 2,000 is hearsay (may refer to total VWSA assembly of Brazilian buses).
Fleetlines came in three flavours: panelvans, 15-window Kombis, and wide-body single-cab pick-ups. The only option was the colour. The range of colours was VWSA's standard 1975 catalogue. Panels and pick-ups came in one colour, while the Kombis were two-tone -- either white roof with colour below, or white roof and top half, with colour from the top of the swage line down. They did not pick out the swooping V swage line in two-tone the way German two-tone buses did.
As far as being inferior to German buses, the only areas where I would agree with this is paintwork and the aesthetic quality of welds. Fleetlines were painted by VWSA and the bodies were not dipped in primer, which makes them rather prone to rust. The Brazilian steel may have been of inferior quality, but the gauge of steel was the same as German buses.
The welding is messy, but nothing wrong with the bond.
Fleetlines were sold in VW showrooms alongside German-built baywindows. They were sold as budget models.
Spec across all three models was purely commercial. Interiors featured brown vinyl seats and brown-painted masonite interior panels. The Kombis had perforated vinyl headliners, but that was as luxurious as they got. Certainly they were no more rudimentary than German panelvans or Kombis.
As has been noted, Fleetlines (like all Brazilian splits) were a hodge podge of early and late split parts:
Barndoor-style cargo doors, but mirror-image for RHD; 58-style decklid but with pushbutton lock; early-type pull-out door handles; pre-64 corner windows on Kombis (must be the only 15-windows that aren't deluxes); small (pre64) rear hatch, though both panels and Kombis had the bigger back window; sway bar on front axle; 12V alternator electrics; 1600 DP engine; big-nut transmission; etc, etc.
They also had a few Brazil-only quirks, like a pressed-in VW emblem on the front panel (try steal that!) and no slots in the dash for the radio speaker (just three slots each side of the radio hole).
All parts came from Brazil except window glass, which was made in SA (there were import duty rebates for local content, which was measured by weight). The instruments (speedo and fuel gauge) were also Brazilian, but made by VDO.
Whatever the production numbers, they are VERY rare. As someone noted, rare does not equal desirable. Even among South Africans Fleetlines are regarded as somehow second rate when compared to German splitties. Whatever, I currently own three of them and I'm still looking for a pick-up. I have no doubt there will come a time when they will be as desirable as they are rare.
The 1976 model year saw VWSA building the later Brazilian bay/split hybrid, which was even fuglier than VW's "retro new bus". These were assembled and sold in SA from 76-78. They were mechanically a splittie, except they had 72-78 taillights and a bay front grafted on to the splittie rear body. They had RGB transmissions, but with double-jointed axles, with universal joints instead of CVs.
Re the name Fleetline: VWSA used the name only for the 1975 Brazilian splits, not for German-built splits and not for the fugly bay/split hybrids. I have no idea why they chose that name. Fleetline has been used as a model name by Chevrolet, and also on Leyland and Daimler buses.
I have recently posted a few pics of Fleetlines on thesamba.com gallery. Just search for the keyword "Fleetline".
fig
Johannesburg, South Africa
I'm joining this discussion very late.
I notice a fair bit of opinion about Fleetlines in this thread, but wonder how many of the writers have ever seen a Fleetline, never mind driven one.
I have had a succession of Fleetlines as daily drivers since 1990. I bought my current daily driver, a Fleetline panelvan, in 1993, and have driven it 97,000km. Altogether I have driven Fleetlines for a total of about 200,000km, including my journey across Africa in the ZebraBus, which was a Fleetline Kombi. The ZebraBus took us from Cape to Cairo without a breakdown! Nothing inferior about that.
It's very hard to find reliable info about these buses, but this is what I know or have gleaned:
Fleetlines were assembled by VWSA from Brazilian kits, either CKD or SKD. They were built for one year only, the 1975 model year, which in South Africa began in November.
I have heard different production numbers: either 789 or 2,000. 789 comes from an old copy of the Commercial Vehicle Data Digest; 2,000 is hearsay (may refer to total VWSA assembly of Brazilian buses).
Fleetlines came in three flavours: panelvans, 15-window Kombis, and wide-body single-cab pick-ups. The only option was the colour. The range of colours was VWSA's standard 1975 catalogue. Panels and pick-ups came in one colour, while the Kombis were two-tone -- either white roof with colour below, or white roof and top half, with colour from the top of the swage line down. They did not pick out the swooping V swage line in two-tone the way German two-tone buses did.
As far as being inferior to German buses, the only areas where I would agree with this is paintwork and the aesthetic quality of welds. Fleetlines were painted by VWSA and the bodies were not dipped in primer, which makes them rather prone to rust. The Brazilian steel may have been of inferior quality, but the gauge of steel was the same as German buses.
The welding is messy, but nothing wrong with the bond.
Fleetlines were sold in VW showrooms alongside German-built baywindows. They were sold as budget models.
Spec across all three models was purely commercial. Interiors featured brown vinyl seats and brown-painted masonite interior panels. The Kombis had perforated vinyl headliners, but that was as luxurious as they got. Certainly they were no more rudimentary than German panelvans or Kombis.
As has been noted, Fleetlines (like all Brazilian splits) were a hodge podge of early and late split parts:
Barndoor-style cargo doors, but mirror-image for RHD; 58-style decklid but with pushbutton lock; early-type pull-out door handles; pre-64 corner windows on Kombis (must be the only 15-windows that aren't deluxes); small (pre64) rear hatch, though both panels and Kombis had the bigger back window; sway bar on front axle; 12V alternator electrics; 1600 DP engine; big-nut transmission; etc, etc.
They also had a few Brazil-only quirks, like a pressed-in VW emblem on the front panel (try steal that!) and no slots in the dash for the radio speaker (just three slots each side of the radio hole).
All parts came from Brazil except window glass, which was made in SA (there were import duty rebates for local content, which was measured by weight). The instruments (speedo and fuel gauge) were also Brazilian, but made by VDO.
Whatever the production numbers, they are VERY rare. As someone noted, rare does not equal desirable. Even among South Africans Fleetlines are regarded as somehow second rate when compared to German splitties. Whatever, I currently own three of them and I'm still looking for a pick-up. I have no doubt there will come a time when they will be as desirable as they are rare.
The 1976 model year saw VWSA building the later Brazilian bay/split hybrid, which was even fuglier than VW's "retro new bus". These were assembled and sold in SA from 76-78. They were mechanically a splittie, except they had 72-78 taillights and a bay front grafted on to the splittie rear body. They had RGB transmissions, but with double-jointed axles, with universal joints instead of CVs.
Re the name Fleetline: VWSA used the name only for the 1975 Brazilian splits, not for German-built splits and not for the fugly bay/split hybrids. I have no idea why they chose that name. Fleetline has been used as a model name by Chevrolet, and also on Leyland and Daimler buses.
I have recently posted a few pics of Fleetlines on thesamba.com gallery. Just search for the keyword "Fleetline".
fig
Johannesburg, South Africa
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eben
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