VW Birth Certificates for the bugs!

Egad! Blogging with a 12-day old is tough work. I started this entry last Tuesday!

During the break last month before Oak arrived, I did manage to organize myself enough to do something I had been meaning to do for at least 2 years - track down a "birth certificate" for the Little Blue - the '63 bug. Since getting the '56, I decided it it was time to do it and it made sense to do it for both bugs at once.

The process is well explained on TheSamba.com on this thread. The only thing I did to prep for it was pull the needed info from my bugs:




1956 bug
Chassis # 1-1026474
Engine # 2,322,092 (seems to be from 1958?)

1963 bug
chassis # 5264755
engine # 7894125

Then you go to  http://automuseum.volkswagen.de/kontakt.html and fill out the contact info. The site looks like this.


This is the letter I wrote in the contact box:

Stiftung AutoMuseum Volkswagen
Frau Neefe
Dieselstrasse 35
Brieffach 1003
38446 Wolfsburg
GERMANY


Dear Frau Neefe:


I would like to request that the Stiftung AutoMuseum Volkswagen research data on 2 old Volkswagen vehicles from the vehicle database and to draw up 2 vehicle identity certificates with the recorded data.


The Vehicle Identification Numbers of the vehicles are as follows:


1956 bug deluxe
Chassis # 1-1026474
Engine # 2,322,092 (seems to be from 1958?)


1963 bug deluxe
chassis # 5264755
engine # 7894125


I understand you take MasterCard and Visa. Accordingly, please charge my Visa card for the appropriate amount. My card number is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  (expires xx/xx)


Please send the certificates to:
ADDRESS HERE

Kindest Regards,
Brett


I also called my credit card to let them know a charge would be coming from Germany.

I sent the above email on November 2nd, 2010. On 11-20, my card was charged $95.89 plus a $2.87 foreign transaction fee. Then, on 11-30, my certificates arrived!

Below is a letter that accompanied each certificate. I had included engine #s to see if the original engines were with the cars. In each case, they confirmed that the engines in each car now are not the original engines...

Here's the certificate for the '56. Looks like someone had a birthday about the same time Oak was born!

Below is the one for Little Blue. Probably the most interesting thing to note is that the car was shipped to Columbus, Ohio (perhaps to Midwestern VW Corp). That shoots the theory that the guy I bought it from purchased it out here in the Bay Area as a new car. Most likely he bought it used.

Either way, Little Blue has a birthday coming up!

I'm not sure what I expected but there isn't really that much info here. But, if you are interested in the history or your VW bug, there is no reason not to do this. It's pretty cool to fill in a few small gaps of info on the cars.