New Ghia redo.
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 12:37 am
I found this Karman Ghia in the wild. It had a boring white base and a white interior. Looks much better now with chrome bumpers and a nice tan interior. I've seen photos of another release with a chrome base but the interior is black, so I decided to make my own chrome base with the interior color I wanted and this is that.
This particular model of the Ghia with the different body style and pancake motor was not sold in the USA. However, being a VW fan (as well as a German car mechanic at the time), I was able to get a "grey market" car that an individual had imported on their own. I fixed it up, drove it for a while and sold it off at a nice profit. I've owned so many air cooled VW's of all types. For Ghias; I owned a 59 convertible, 66 coupe, 67 coupe, 68 coupe and a 72 convertible. The 72 convertible had a modified engine, suspension and Empi five spoke wheels. Great looking Ghia that ran and handled very well.
The 67 Ghia coupe, also had some serious engine mods, close ratio gearing in the transmission and suspension mods. That didn't keep me from flipping it over for a good three flip roll over where it landed upright on the wheels. Car was destroyed, but I walked away without a scratch. The engine and transmission found their way into a 66 VW bug (I returned the tranny to stock gear ratios). The disk brakes, Hurst shifter and a few other parts from the ill fated Ghia also went into the bug.
That was one of three bad "accidents" I had with VWs. I was seriously injured in a collision while driving a 61 VW bus (bus was a total loss but, there would a string of split window busses after that one). I tore a customer's 69 VW bug almost in half (Bug VS Tractor Trailer) and walked away from that one too. My first accident in a VW was as a passenger, with three other guys, in a VW bus. Our surf boards were on the roof and destroyed. We were on a notorious stretch of two lane road when an oncoming pick up truck pulled into our lane (to pass a larger truck). The driver had no option but to quickly pull off the road. There was no shoulder, only a water filled ditch. The van rolled over and ended up upside down in the ditch. There were some cut up and banged up guys, I had a broken arm and a deep cut on my back. All of our surf boards were destroyed and I was most upset about that. I had just bought a new board and had only used it once the weekend before. It was broken styrofoam and fiberglass in the blink of an eye.
Here's the customer's bug I drove under a Semi Trailer.
The 67 Ghia coupe, also had some serious engine mods, close ratio gearing in the transmission and suspension mods. That didn't keep me from flipping it over for a good three flip roll over where it landed upright on the wheels. Car was destroyed, but I walked away without a scratch. The engine and transmission found their way into a 66 VW bug (I returned the tranny to stock gear ratios). The disk brakes, Hurst shifter and a few other parts from the ill fated Ghia also went into the bug.
That was one of three bad "accidents" I had with VWs. I was seriously injured in a collision while driving a 61 VW bus (bus was a total loss but, there would a string of split window busses after that one). I tore a customer's 69 VW bug almost in half (Bug VS Tractor Trailer) and walked away from that one too. My first accident in a VW was as a passenger, with three other guys, in a VW bus. Our surf boards were on the roof and destroyed. We were on a notorious stretch of two lane road when an oncoming pick up truck pulled into our lane (to pass a larger truck). The driver had no option but to quickly pull off the road. There was no shoulder, only a water filled ditch. The van rolled over and ended up upside down in the ditch. There were some cut up and banged up guys, I had a broken arm and a deep cut on my back. All of our surf boards were destroyed and I was most upset about that. I had just bought a new board and had only used it once the weekend before. It was broken styrofoam and fiberglass in the blink of an eye.
Here's the customer's bug I drove under a Semi Trailer.
Ghosty.