@MCShack

some other stuff i dug up from files on research last year.


for comparison.
production plate for a 1974 Karmann Ghia, built jan 74
nr = 0449113

production plate for my 74 914, built jan 74
nr = 0459543 (built the day after the kg above).

production plate for 74 super beetle cabriolet. built feb 74
nr = 0659323.

for the 5th number it looks like
1 = karmann ghia.
3 = beetles (or perhaps super beetle cabs).
5 = 914s.

the numbers are spaced with a gap between.

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also i knew i had a build sheet found in a VW tucked away somewhere.
i think i found this on a jeans beetle website run by an enthusiast but can't remember exactly anymore. anyway, thanks to that enthusiast site with acknowledgement.

Click to view attachment

i think the story was this build sheet was found under the back seat (in common with stories you hear about some fords, gms and chryslers). highly prized if happen to be in a car but not all cars had them to find.

the terms the germans use are interesting.
it called a WORK INSTRUCTION.
and very clearly it has what we would call the karmann number - or more universally throughout VW = the production number.
its called the KENN NR. which translates directly as KNOW NR.
ie know what the car is that you are building? i dunno. no pun intended.
so its really an order number that is coming through the channels from the dealers, main distributors, sales department, to the factory?

of interest this build sheet also noted the time of the day. i'm guessing its the minute of the day given its written as 81 probably made sense at wolfsburg or similar sized plant where they would have been churning them out. i think the 0 in this work order kenn number means the wolfsburg factory.

you could well be on to something with your question about the use of 6 in 914s and other numbers later in 75.
i mean - an order could get cancelled? or revised? or reassigned?
so there are all sorts of possibilities there as well as just the idea of going past 100.

production figures i calculated about 74 MY i sent through to you in a PM.
this does suggest during nov dec 73 they were making more than 100 cars a day (all of which were 1.8s). but in jan 74 this figure virtually halved as a daily number (again all of which were 1.8s). they resumed making 2.0 L cars sometime in feb 74 and mixing 1.8s with 2.0s for the rest of the MY.

@MCShack

i had a bit of a scout through the members vin register here again.

i can find quite a few 600 number 74MY cars in late 73 - which accords with the production numbers in excess of 100 per day for that period start of nov to end dec 73.
my maths has them doing 133 cars per day for those two months.
then dropping to half that rate in jan 74.
thats based on vin numbers and k numbers from members here we researched last year.

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i went and had a quick look through the 75MY numbers you have been looking at.
mostly in that late 74 period you were talking about up to week 37.

i noticed very early on in 75MY they were still using the 500 numbers!

then after a little while they seem to be using the 000 series.

and then as you note around week 37 up popped a 300 series.

have i got that right? or have i made a mistake looking at the vin register here?

if i did read the stuff right it could be a couple of things.

a mistake on the production plate. but i note you have found others.
and its clustered around that time. so i don't think it likely was a typo mistake.

what i do know is that karmann ghia production ceases at end of 74MY and VW Sirrocco production commences. things would have possibly been in a little turmoil changing the plant over to the new line, scheduling in production start up etc.

VW head office would have been shuffling around the paperwork numbers for ordering particular models?

they were certainly doing this with the engines at that moment.
the 412 went out of production. the type 3 had gone out of production the year before.
the water cooled engines were coming in. a big reshuffle on all the engine codes was done right about that time from 74MY into 75MY across their range.

what could have happened is that 75MY started out retaining the 500 series (with 600 spillover) from years before. then VW assigned a new set of numbers in the 000 series (with 100 spillover). and then there is a glitch for a month or so where they reshuffle the numbers again and its given the 200 series (with a 300 spillover).
and then it appears to shuffle back to the 000 series and on to the end?

it could well be for a short period of time the 914 production line was assigned the 200 series with a 300 for spillover.

then it reverts.

sirroccos from that time would have production plates.
those numbers around that time - week 37 would tell a story.
possibly super beetle convertibles might as well.

@MCShack

was lying around last night feeling sh#tty from a vid booster shot.
so i did some focussed googling on beetle cabs.

here is a 75 model built week 40 of 74.
k number has a 3 in it for 5th number!

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

using the 3 like the week 37/38 914 you found!


i came across one more.
75 cab - week 42 of 74 using 0 as the 5th number.
the production plate looks a bit fishy though with washers under the rivets.
been off and then reattached?

Click to view attachment


bit hard to find sales ads showing these plates in beetle cabs.


but of interest.
77 model cab.
using 3 as the 5th number.

Click to view attachment

real hard to turn up Scirocco plates for 74/75.
i did find a legible one for a 79.
they were using 6 as the 5th number but.....you need a 74/75 to see what might have been going on.

def something odd in that period of time you have pinpointed.
VW cabs are getting number sequences indistinguishable from some 914s you have found!!!!! and just 3 weeks apart in time.




EDIT

bingo -
here is another one for you. maybe what you are looking for.
75MY cab. built 37 week of 74. 2 as 5th number.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

tends to say VW were using 2 and 3 for beetle cabs in 74 for 75 MY.
given examples above. and were still using 3 at least in 77

but.....------> its an exact match, for the week of production, as that 75 914 you found with the 2 in its karmann plate.

Click to view attachment

????

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EDIT 2

did some further cross checking because i took a close look at the vin number tags as well.

the red one i just posted all checks out.
vin no starts with 115.
the rest of the numbers put it at aug 74 production according to beetle vin listing chart on thesamba.

there is something a bit wrong with the 77 i posted above.
it has 112 vin. thats a 71. i assume there was a typo on the sale advert and it was meant to be listed as a 71 not a 77. according to that vin kg were using the 3 on the production plates in 71.

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@wonkipop

Thanks for your replies, I keep finding new directions to look, but no clear answers.

Another VIN/Chassis Number thing that I also want to know is what date or what VIN number 914s did the Chassis number tags first appear in the spare tire compartment in the front trunk as can be seen in the example below located on the side of right fender wall. I'm pretty sure they were not there in 03/74 with VIN numbers approximately 4742915xx and Chassis numbers approx. 10595xx or thereabouts.

The earliest ones I have run across without doing any specific research to find the exact date range falls about 05/74 with VIN number approx. 4742918xxx and Chassis numbers approx. 21195xx or thereabouts.

I have done no scientific research and just noticed this by accident while researching for the date when the Chassis numbers changed from the 9500 format to the 9000 format sometime after week 36. Now that I have discovered this it drives me to find as close to the exact answer as possible. Previously I had thought it did not start until the '75 MY cars, but with Porsche nothing is ever that easy or clear, especially around model year changes as it seems some things change over slowly rather than on the day of the first new MY car build date.

Oh well, another new VIN/Chassis number/date project to start researching.

Cheers, MCShack!