14 APRIL 1954 – VORST, BELGIUM – First off production line – D’Ieteren.
These photos were taken in late June 1954 and show the first CKD-assembled Beetle coming off the assembly line at a factory owned by Martin & King Pty Ltd at Clayton outside Melbourne, Australia. The man in the dark suit and seen driving this Beetle is Baron Klaus Detlof von Oertzen. He was a personal friend of Dr Ferdinand Porsche from the 1930s when they both worked for Mercedes Benz in Stuttgart. After the war, Heinz Nordhoff used the Baron as a special agent to set up the Volkswagen assembly and manufacturing plants in both South Africa and Australia.
JUNE 1954 – CLAYTON, AUSTRALIA – First CKD Beetle