ascort
  • ascort
  • pre67vw Junkie Topic Starter
15 years ago
In the late 1950s and early 1960s the Hermex Corporation was the importer of Okrasa kits into Australia. The owner of Hermex was Mirek Craney who was the designer of the Ascort TSV 1300 coachbuilt VW. The Okrasa TSV 1300 was the standard engine in the Ascort which gave it a top speed in the mid 90mph bracket, which was quite respectable in 1959 when the car was designed.

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Mark - Owner of 2 under restoration Australian coachbuilt Ascorts.
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ascort
  • ascort
  • pre67vw Junkie Topic Starter
15 years ago
This is an Okrasa display stand.

I believe that this is in Australia because of the stylised drawing of the Ascort on the rear wall.

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Mark - Owner of 2 under restoration Australian coachbuilt Ascorts.
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ascort
  • ascort
  • pre67vw Junkie Topic Starter
15 years ago
Okrasa TSV 1300 in an Ascort

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Mark - Owner of 2 under restoration Australian coachbuilt Ascorts.
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pre67vw
15 years ago
Very interesting. I'm guessing the Ascort was a fibreglass body?

What an odd place to put the oil filter :shock:
Rob Amos
Happiness is a stock VW
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lifeintheslowlane
15 years ago

Very interesting. I'm guessing the Ascort was a fibreglass body?

What an odd place to put the oil filter :shock:

pre67vw wrote:



Probably due to the profile of the decklid. The rear apron looks like a direct lift from the Karmann Ghia. From the width of the car it looks like the KG floorpan would have been used.
John.
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ascort
  • ascort
  • pre67vw Junkie Topic Starter
15 years ago

Very interesting. I'm guessing the Ascort was a fibreglass body? :shock:

pre67vw wrote:



Yes the Ascort is a fibreglass body. It has been said that it was one of the best glassfibre bodies to have been built for a VW platform. It was double panel construction with sound deadening between the cabin and engine bay, making for a very quiet drive. The car had a steel hoop built into the Windscreen area of the body giving roll over protection and the spare wheel sat horizontal ahead of the front axle tubes for energy absorption in the event of a front end impact..

The car had twin 8 gallon fuel tanks (Ford 105E Anglia) which sat each side ahead of the rear wheels giving approx 1000km fuel range. Windscreen was Peugeot 403 and rear window was Austin Westminster.

The production cars were well appointed and they were sold for a price that was slightly less than a Porsche 356.

Performance of the Ascort was considerably better than a standard VW or Ghia, thanks to the Okrasa TSV 1300 and the lighter more aerodynamic body.

If you are interested, the prototype car was written up in the December 1958 Motor Mag.

https://cgi.ebay.com.au/1958-MOTOR-mag-featuring-Safari-Rally-Vanwall-success-/310289174952?pt=UK_Magazines&hash=item483ead11a8 
Mark - Owner of 2 under restoration Australian coachbuilt Ascorts.
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ascort
  • ascort
  • pre67vw Junkie Topic Starter
15 years ago

Probably due to the profile of the decklid. The rear apron looks like a direct lift from the Karmann Ghia. From the width of the car it looks like the KG floorpan would have been used.

lifeintheslowlane wrote:



No the pan was period VW. A front stabilizer bar was fitted along with double acting Koni shock absorbers. The rear end was de-cambered slightly and at least some of the cars were fitted with Porsche finned drums. My car was one of the first built and had standard VW brakes.
Mark - Owner of 2 under restoration Australian coachbuilt Ascorts.
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lifeintheslowlane
15 years ago

No the pan was period VW.

ascort wrote:



Yes that's what I meant...when I say "KG floorpan" I mean "VW Karmann Ghia" which had a modified Beetle floorpan but about 10 inches wider.

From the looks of the Ascort's width the ordinary Beetle floorpan would be too narrow, hence the suitability of the Karmann Ghia floorpan as a ready made solution.

You can see where the rear engine bay apron came from:

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Not too much of an assumption that the rest of the floorpan came from the same source.
John.
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ascort
  • ascort
  • pre67vw Junkie Topic Starter
15 years ago

Yes that's what I meant...when I say "KG floorpan" I mean "VW Karmann Ghia" which had a modified Beetle floorpan but about 10 inches wider.

From the looks of the Ascort's width the ordinary Beetle floorpan would be too narrow, hence the suitability of the Karmann Ghia floorpan as a ready made solution.

lifeintheslowlane wrote:



I understood you John. The floor pan is stock VW Type 1 beetle (not KG) with just the mods that I mentioned (and the okrasa of course).

Yes the body is quite wide compared to a beetle and the body does have a cantilever fibreglass floor section outside of the pan to achieve this. As you can imagine the floor drops to the slightly lower level of the steel pan where you sit.

It sounds like I might have to put some detail photos up on the site at some stage.

I also have a poor copy of the Australian Okrasa advertisement which features a photo of the Ascort. I also have a poor copy of a 4 page instruction document on how to fit the TSV 1300 Okrasa kit to a 36hp engine.
Mark - Owner of 2 under restoration Australian coachbuilt Ascorts.
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ascort
  • ascort
  • pre67vw Junkie Topic Starter
15 years ago



You can see where the rear engine bay apron came from:

lifeintheslowlane wrote:



Thanks for the photo. Although the floor is VW beetle and the body, including the engine bay apron is fibreglass, I had never picked up on the fact that the shape had been lifted from a KG.

I have photos of the Ascort designer (Mirek Craney) driving a KG around the time that the Ascort was developed, and a photo of the 2 cars sitting together so it is not unreasonable to guess that a quick mould may have been lifted for that section of the body.
Mark - Owner of 2 under restoration Australian coachbuilt Ascorts.
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lifeintheslowlane
15 years ago

Thanks for the photo. Although the floor is VW beetle and the body, including the engine bay apron is fibreglass, I had never picked up on the fact that the shape had been lifted from a KG.

I have photos of the Ascort designer (Mirek Craney) driving a KG around the time that the Ascort was developed, and a photo of the 2 cars sitting together so it is not unreasonable to guess that a quick mould may have been lifted for that section of the body.

ascort wrote:



Thanks for the information, I think Rob would relish you starting a topic in the general Coachbuilt Forum...looks like a quality fibreglass build.

Certainly the Beetle pan with outriggers would have been more readily available in Australia at the time as the RHD Karmann Ghia didn't arrive until 1960. Sounds like Mirek Craney was driving around in a personally imported KG.
John.
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ascort
  • ascort
  • pre67vw Junkie Topic Starter
15 years ago

Sounds like Mirek Craney was driving around in a personally imported KG.

lifeintheslowlane wrote:



I think that the KG was probably a private import, but I do not know if Mirek Craney owned it or if they were just involved with the car in some way. The Craney family has given me a copies of photos of the KG being unloaded off the ship. It is interesting to note that the car has Okrasa TSV 1300 written across its nose. There is a group of people standing around it which makes it look like it was something that had not been seen before. Unfortunately the photo does not have a date.

I am guessing that the photo of the Ascort with the KG would have been taken in 1959 as it is the prototype car, but I cannot be certain of the date.

There is a post running in the Coachbuilt Forum about the Ascort that I have also added to.
Mark - Owner of 2 under restoration Australian coachbuilt Ascorts.
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ascort
  • ascort
  • pre67vw Junkie Topic Starter
15 years ago
The Okrasa brochure showing the Ascort.

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ascort
  • ascort
  • pre67vw Junkie Topic Starter
15 years ago

Thanks for the information, I think Rob would relish you starting a topic in the general Coachbuilt Forum...looks like a quality fibreglass build.

Certainly the Beetle pan with outriggers would have been more readily available in Australia at the time as the RHD Karmann Ghia didn't arrive until 1960. Sounds like Mirek Craney was driving around in a personally imported KG.

lifeintheslowlane wrote:


The Ascort now has a "sticky" in the Coachbuilts Forum.

I was just going through my photos and thought that the following 2 are relevant to what has been discussed.

The Karmann Ghia must have been imported no later than 1958 as the car was obviously around when the Ascort was being created. I have a couple photos of the KG being unloaded on its arrival in Australia. Mirek Craney was the Okrasa agent and it is interesting to see that the KG has Okrasa TSV 1300 written across the nose of the car.
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This photo is of the Ascort shape being created in plaster for the mould to be created which I understand happened in 1958. It is interesting to see that there is a stripped KG sitting in the background. No doubt it was being used to assist in the creation, which supports the discussion about the engine bay shape.
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