auto stick shift

travisyoung · « **on:** June 05, 2009, 07:06:08 AM »

Asked in the wrong forum, does any one know which year vw stopped the auto stick in the beetle in the us, it must be correct, it is for a test

ASBug · « **Reply #1 on:** June 05, 2009, 08:00:07 AM »

The Automatic Stickshift.
1968 - 1976.
R.I.P.

-Mine's alive and kicking!
KC

-Check out www.vwar.org AS stuff.

travisyoung · « **Reply #2 on:** June 05, 2009, 08:08:07 AM »

You seem to know alot about the auto stick, is this for the beetle, is this your final answer, this is for a contest, thanks

Ret.Bugtech · « **Reply #3 on:** June 05, 2009, 08:36:25 AM »

I think the auto-stick was dropped for '76 although a few "left overs" could have slipped in as '76's. I know that they were offered in '75. The nice thing about the late A.S. it had a park position. Really nice if your hand brake was on the blink. I think a very large brick was a option in case you had to park on a incline. It seems that I saw a brick in every car that had a A.S. :lol:
A good question for a test would be , What year was the first Auto-stick offered ? :-k

virgo062 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 05, 2009, 08:53:11 AM »

nineteen sixty eight

travisyoung · « **Reply #5 on:** June 05, 2009, 09:05:47 AM »

I found the first year they were introduced but not ceased

travisyoung · « **Reply #6 on:** June 05, 2009, 09:06:40 AM »

I went with 76, all the other years were lower than 75 thanks

Ret.Bugtech · « **Reply #7 on:** June 05, 2009, 09:36:11 AM »

The first year for the auto-stick was 1961 . It was called a Saxomat. It had a centrifugal clutch in place of the Torque converter used in '68. I don't think it lasted more than a year or two . What a turkey that thing was. I had to work on one of those things at Southland VW. Matter of fact this car was the only one that that I have ever seen before or since and was more than likely was the only one here in town. It belonged to a one legged Guy and was ordered for him by Southland VW/ :roll:

ASBug · « **Reply #8 on:** June 05, 2009, 10:04:45 AM »

Quote from: "travisyoung"

I went with 76, all the other years were lower than 75 thanks

So,
What did "WE" win...
KC

-76 is the answer according to all that I have read, it was an 8 yr. thing.
I also have read that there was only about 4-5% of all beetles and Ghias produced during this time were Autosticks. This number was apartantly higher in the 1972 model year from what I have researched, then was lower each year thereafter.
I have enough stuff to convert your beetle into an "early" autostick...

ASBug · « **Reply #9 on:** June 05, 2009, 10:13:13 AM »

Interesting reading:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=135438
Have at it, I was going to comment on a saxomat being different, but aparantly you can use either 1968 or the earlier year as the introduction, but 1976 was the end.
KC

travisyoung · « **Reply #10 on:** June 05, 2009, 10:49:43 AM »

Service championship winners will be announced june 15 i think, it is a national challage for vw techs

ASBug · « **Reply #11 on:** June 05, 2009, 11:06:13 AM »

Quote from: "travisyoung"

Service championship winners will be announced june 15 i think, it is a national challage for vw techs

I'll pack my bags...

I do not know why the AS gets a bad wrap, I love mine.
KC

Ret.Bugtech · « **Reply #12 on:** June 05, 2009, 11:51:59 AM »

These auto-sticks were a strange little beast. A lot of them died a early death.
It seemed the 68,69 were little problematic(?) due to failing torque converter seals and general fluid leaks from everywhere. Most of the time it was the owners that murdered these trannys by trying to scale the Washington Monument with a full load in top gear (drive-2) . VW finally sent word to the dealers to tell people to use ALL 3 forward gears all the time.
You would would be surprised how many people didn't have a clue that the tranny used 80-90w in the gear box . They thought the ATF took care of everything. A lot of people did their own service work and they failed to check the 80-90w. Being leak prone , they would run out of gear oil. Bye Bye tranny !!
The auto-stick was a good little tranny if you took care of it. I think they got a bad rap frankly . :roll: :roll:

Zen · « **Reply #13 on:** June 05, 2009, 01:05:23 PM »

They got a bad rap mostly because they were different. Almost everybody says they like change, but in most things in life, they really don't!

And as a lot of other German machinery, they were slightly over-engineered. I've always wondered why they didn't use an electrical solenoid to work the clutch instead of throwing the vacuum system in between the electrical and mechanical systems? Seem like it would have really simplified things. But, I'm not an engineer . . . guess they had their reasons. :?

At any rate, when they are working right, they are a blast to drive! If you are prone to leg cramps (like me) and a little too big to really "fit" in a Beetle (like me), they are a great if you're caught in stop and go traffic! Someday maybe I ought'a get my 68 Autostick going again . . .

Smelly_Cat · « **Reply #14 on:** June 05, 2009, 09:45:56 PM »

I met a a girl in panama city at a molly hatchett concert.. maybe 1982?.. which is a totally cool story for a latter post.. She drove an autotstick bug that baffled my 16/44 year brain skills . I still cant figure out how that thing could shift itself. SC

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