#UPGivingMatters: Stand a chance to win an iconic ‘one-of-a-kind’ 1967 VW Beetle with a proud UP history

The University of Pretoria (UP) community is getting all revved up over a classic 1967 Beetle with its own UP-inspired history – and the exciting raffle that will see one lucky entrant get to take it home for good! The raffle is part of UP’s Giving Matters campaign, which raises money to help students in need of financial aid.

This iconic Volkswagen (VW) Beetle is already part of UP history, as it was once owned by UP’s longest serving vice-chancellor and principal, Professor Casper (CH) Rautenbach (who was VC from 1948 to 1970).

But there are also technical and mechanical reasons why this particular 1967 South African model is truly one of a kind.

For starters, of the 3,836 VW Beetle models that came off the production line at the VW plant in Uitenhage (now Kariega) in the Eastern Cape in 1967, only an estimated 800 are still in South Africa. According to Francois Louw, an avid Beetle collector and member of the Jacaranda Beetle Club (JBC), the oldest Beetle-owner club in the country, the 1967 Beetle is called the 'one-year-only Beetle', and for good reason.

"I can bore you with many beautiful stories [about Beetles] that can be scripted for Hollywood – that’s where the whole Herbie movie franchise concept comes from,” Louw says. “There are just beautiful stories around Beetles... You have the deep sentiments and beautiful human stories which everybody can relate to, and that kind of makes the vehicle a monument of these narratives.”

Louw told us more about how this storied Beetle’s adventure began:

"On 1 September 1966, the first of the 1967 models were produced in Uitenhage,” he says. He explains that production records are so detailed that the car’s VIN number would tell us what number it was in the production line.

"Until September 1966, there were only 1100, 1200 and 1300 cc [cubic centimetres]-capacity Beetle engines available. Then Germany introduced a very strong 53 horsepower, 1500 engine to the VW Beetle stable. It was much stronger compared to the 32, 36 and 40 horsepower, pre-1967 drivetrains [power-delivery systems]. So now there’s one with 53 horsepower and has a 1500 engine, the first of a larger and stronger engine.

"Based on an agreement the then South African government had made with Germany, South Africa imported the entire rolling chassis, which included the engine, gearbox, chassis, wheels and steering system. Only 3,836 of these rolling chassis were imported with the 1500 cc drivetrain on it.

"So it’s German-imported – the chassis system was German-imported and shipped to Uitenhage, and at Uitenhage they used a 1966, 1300 body and placed it onto a 1500 engine,” Louw details.

What made this model unique, which was a leapfrog into the future, is that it came out with a ball joint front suspension, whereas all the Beetles have always had what’s called link and kingpin front suspension. To top that, because this was a fast car, it had disc brakes. All of the Beetles before this one had drum brakes, front and back. Even the European and American counterparts of the 1500 cc still had drum brakes. Only the South African 1967 model had disc brakes.

"In 1968 Volkswagen Uitenhage reverted back to drum brakes, link and kingpins for the rest of the 10-year production, until 1978. So from 1968, Volkswagens were manufactured in the country with a chassis and with the suspension system as it was before 1966 – only the 1967 model had these unique features.”

Why revert to the previous mechanism? Louw believes there were two reasons for this, which are not well documented.

“One, it was simply too expensive to keep on importing it [the complete chassis system] from Germany. The second reason is that there was mounting pressure from the government that manufacturing should happen in South Africa to create work opportunities locally,” he explains. 

There are many other standout features, inside and out, that make this 1967 model a treasure and such a sought-after collector’s item.

“The hub caps are not the typical concave ones; they’re a little bit flatter. Its fuel gauge on the dash sits next to the speedometer, and it only has one vent on the dash. In addition, the seats were covered in a once-off, unique material. That’s what made it really special. The 1967 Beetle was the last model to have iconic curtain rail bumpers – from then on it became modern and rounded type bumpers. It was also the very last year that the front headlights were mounted on the slant of the front fender. After 1967, the front lights sat vertically flat in the front fenders. From 1938 onwards, when the first Beetle was manufactured, this was the last year that all of those iconic features were on the car.

“Another peculiar thing about the 1967 model was that only the right door of this Beetle was lockable with a key – on the left side you had to lock or unlock it from the inside. Only one such door handle was ever made, and it was the 1967 door handle.”

In addition to the unique door handle, Louw says this 1967 Beetle came with four-studded wheels, instead of five wheel studs – another giveaway of the unique nature of this 1967 South African model. 

This unique collector’s item could be yours – enter now to help students in need, and just maybe you could also walk away with a piece of UP, South African and motoring history!

How to enter

So how does one get in line to win this one-of-a-kind beauty? Buy your raffle ticket here: https://givingmatters.site/luckydraw/win/.

Your raffle ticket/s, starting from as little as R67, will throw your name in the hat for the draw to win this iconic 1967 Beetle.

The raffle is already open, and the final draw is set to take place on 23 September 2024.

The following tiers of tickets are available for purchase. The higher the tier, the more entries you get: