Production Figures, VINs and MSRP

by Richard Atwell
(c) Copyright 2004-2011

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Notes:

  1. I pulled the prices from the NADA Guides for my California zip code.
  2. Prices fluctuated with sales I assume, dropping the following year when sales were low.
  3. Because of tarifs introduced for 1971, VW stopped exports of pickups to the US and Canada. Read more about the "chicken tax" which was intended to directly harm VW and Germany.
  4. Do you know why panel vans weren't on the price sheet from 1976-1979?
  5. I have yet to locate US pricing info for double cabs for 1968-1971.

Production Figures:

These numbers are for calendar year, not model year unfortunately but better than nothing. You can tell there is something wrong because the 1979 production year doesn't produce enough busses to account for all of the valid VINs (the rest were produced from 8/78 to 12/78).

Year Panel Van Kombi Pickup Bus Deluxe Others Ambulances Yearly Total US Import totals
1968 50,880 31,070 12,070 64,411 68,597 0 1,241 228,290 57,862
1969 54,929 31,296 15,152 64,326 77,956 16 1,270 244,945 54,985
1970 53,759 28,340 15,393 71,719 87,391 29 1,242 257,873 72,515
1971 47,913 24,639 14,896 74,850 87,136 11 1,357 250,082 68,561
1972 56,119 27,175 16,829 66,400 90,712 6 1,860 259,101 48,178
1973 56,866 25,490 15,506 58,442 87,849 1 203 246,177 43,533
1974 39,822 17,715 12,082 38,700 64,027 13 1,762 174,121 30,166
1975 39,392 14,808 11,043 29,062 63,928 0 1,699 159,752 17,679
1976 45,263 14,014 11,807 31,390 65,799 0 1,221 169,494 20,825
1977 40,008 14,139 12,115 38,068 55,245 0 1,411 160,986 26,209
1978 40,454 12,694 13,396 34,331 52,251 0 1,242 154,436 26,017
1979 28,569 5,667 5,475 13,566 31,732 0 623 85,632 11,762
Model totals 553,974 247,047 155,764 585,265 832,623 76 15,129

Approximate total 1,889,878 bay window models produced worldwide. 409,731 models exported to the US (22%).

What are you likely to meet on the road? Here are some approximate totals for the models exported to the US based on engine configuration:

Vehicle Identification Numbers:

The VW factory started production mid-year and went for 11 months then the factory went on vacation during July. The factory used to time off to retool for the next production year. Christmas was another popular time to retool for minor "mid-year" model changes.

Year Aug 1st Dec 31st June 30th
1968 218 000 001 218 073 585 218 202 251
1969 219 000 001 219 098 974 no record
1970 210 2 000 001 210 2 106 747 210 2 248 837
1971 211 2 000 001 211 2 114 988 211 2 276 560
1972 212 2 000 001 212 2 088 996 212 2 246 946
1973 213 2 000 001 213 2 102 496 212 2 254 657
1974 214 2 000 001 214 2 094 429 214 2 194 943
1975 215 2 000 001 215 2 073 083 215 2 155 145
1976 216 2 000 001 216 2 077 675 no record
1977 217 2 000 001 217 2 081 316 no record
1978 218 2 000 001 218 2 072 273 no record
1979 219 2 000 001 219 2 153 964

Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price:

How much did the bus cost when it was new?

Model Year Kombi/Passenger Campmobile Panel Van Pickup (single cab)
1968 $2,269 $2,765 $2,299 $2,299
1969 $2,414 $2,850 $2,428 $2,428
1970 $2,495 $3,809 $2,495 $2,498
1971 $2,720 $3,440 $2,720 $2,723
1972 $2,989 $3,848 $3,280
1973 $3,500 $4,449 $3,825
1974 $4,000 $5,274 $4,380
1975 $4,750 $6,174 $5,150
1976 $5,235 $5,194
1977 $5,249 $5,299
1978 $6,185 $8,570
1979 $7,285 $7,295

References:

History:

01/04/03 - Sourced from NADA
02/12/04 - Added production figures (help me fill in the VIN info)
04/16/04 - Added some engine config totals
11/16/05 - Filled in some more VIN data
09/06/11 - Fixed broken photos, added translate button, updated footer
07/15/19 - Google update: new adsense code, removed defunt translate button