Source: Motorcity
The Evolution of the Sakbayan: 1968-1980
Researched by Wilfred T. Ruiz
Club Historian, Volkswagen Club of the Philippines
In 1968, the Country Buggy was imported by DMG from Australia in CKD form. This left-hand drive version was assembled here. There was no "tooling" provided for the Philippines. Soon after, the simple body was replicated easily by the Filipino engineers of DMG (the local assemblers of Volkswagen Beetles Kombis and Type IIIs).
When Australia run out of Country Buggys for export to the Philippines, DMG sourced from Germany. DMG was able to get a different design & size pans (181), engines, drive trains and other non-Philippine components. The Philippine-made body was then adapted to this new components from Germany.
Again, when Germany run out of components for export to the Philippines, DMG again sourced from Brazil. They were able to get a different pan, engine, drive train and non-Philippine components. The body was adapted again to this new components from Brazil.
So, there are 3 distinct versions of these utility vehicles:
1st version - Australia-sourced
2nd version- Germany-sourced
3rd version- Brazil-sourced
The 2nd version and the 3rd version were substantially different from the 1st version, The body also had significant changes from the 1st version.
In my opinion, the terms "designed", "developed" and "adapted" can be used interchangeably in this situation.
The two later versions were really "designed" by the Filipino engineers at DMG.
Name-wise, these utility vehicles evolved from being the Country Buggy to Sakbayan 815 and finally to Sakbayan. To most Filipinos, they are all called Sakbayan.
The "Country Buggy" was first advertised in 1969 with the 1300 engine.
The "Sakbayan 815" was advertised in 1972 with the 1600 engine
The "Sakbayan" was advertised in 1973 with the 1600 engine and finally advertised in 1975 with the 1500 engine. (Note: I based the "advertising dates" on the dates appearing on my collection of magazine clippings of VW ads.)
Based on the advertisements, it could be said that the (Philippine) "Country Buggy", the "Sakbayan 815" and the "Sakbayan" were all designed for rugged country work characterized by rough farm roads, unpaved roads, as well as field work for the construction and services industries. The Philippines largest telephone company, PLDT, had at one time used a fleet of them. Even the government owned Philippine National Bank has a fleet of them.
To date, we are not certain how many Sakbayans were made. The production records of DMG were destroyed in a fire. I hope that someday, when the vehicle registration records of the Land Transportation Commission is fully computerized and made readily available to the public, I might be able to extract some data.
One thing for sure, based on the examples I have seen running or not running, the fewest is the Country Buggy, followed by the German-sourced version and comparatively most plentiful, the Brazil-sourced version.
To date, a few are in the hands of collectors. Most are grounded and parted for spare parts.
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2 comments:
RIP to wilfredo ruiz
http://www.vwcp.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22097&highlight=dodo+ruiz
There was also a front-engined, front-wheel drive, cab-forward pick-up truck made by DMG, the Trakbayan, which also used the Volkswagen air-cooled flat-4 engine and a 4-speed manual transaxle (presumably the same driveline of the Brazilian Volkswagen Gol BX, not to be confused with the Volkswagen Golf). The Trakbayan was designed in Germany and officially named "Basistransporter", intended as a no-frills utility vehicle to be manufactured in "developing" countries, and has been also made in Malaysia and Mexico. The Mexican version was named "Hormiga", the Spanish word for "ant". I must admit that it's kinda surprising to figure out that Volkswagen ever made such vehicle since its drive layout is pretty much similar to the German-made Tempo Matador vans and it could decrease the market share for the more profitable Typ2 Transporter.
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