1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Coupe
The Karmann-Ghia started off as a show car Virgil Exner designed for Chrysler, called the D'Elegance. Chrysler and the Italian coach builder and design house Ghia had a partnership in the 1950s, the result of which was a number of collaborative show and concept cars. One of these, designed in 1952 by Exner and built by Ghia, was known as the D'Elegance. Then came Volkswagen. VW had been mildly interested in a sportier version of the Beetle but hadn't been impressed with the ideas their longtime convertible-building partner, Karmann, had come up with. So, Karmann reached out to Ghia to see if they had any great ideas, and Ghia looked over to the corner of their workshop and saw the forlorn D'Elegance and said "Well, now that you mention it..."And the rest" as they say is history!
For consignment, a Karmann Ghia coupe right out of 1964. Presenting well as a garage/barn find and was previously owned by our consignor's uncle who had the car painted gold, had a crate engine installed as well as performing the beginnings of a 12 volt conversion after the 6 volt generator died. At that point, the uncle's health started to fail and the car sat in a garage until a few weeks ago when it was unearthed. This sports car version from Volkswagen comes to our Hallowed Halls as a running and driving project, but will need work to be roadworthy. Break out your toolbox and with some hard work and sweat equity you'll have a VW at its best with the sports car genre ready for the taking, just fall in love, pay the price and...auf wiedersehen!
Exterior
The closest thing you can get to a Porsche 356, and actually it's handmade from the factory due to the body being made entirely of one piece. Yes, save for the doors, hood and trunk lid, all panels were shaped then welded together then hand sanded down to the shape you see. This one is painted in a Chevrolet gold and the door gaps are straight, however we do note some invasive rust, body filler and repairs in the lower sections all around. These repairs have started to show through with some cracking, blistering and the worst being the lower rear quarters and rockers that are now showing bubbling, but the overall shape of the car and metal is just smooth curves. Lightly tarnished chromed accenting for the bumpers, bumperettes, bedrail guards, badging, small grille openings, and a dual lower trim strip, but all still retaining a shiny finish. Black and stainless surrounds are noted for the windows and the glass is excellent and all clear. Black steel wheels are all around and are topped with VW badged moon caps and trim rings. Schnell! Schnell!
Interior
The interior follows the barn/garage find theme with an overall aged, but complete appearance. This is in the form of a light beige and brown household carpet that floats the sporty but simple interior and meanders under the curved brown steel dash above. Speaking of the dash, the brown steel front is very nice, as are all the inserts, gauges, knobs, lights, factory Sapphire I AM radio, all with just a hint of age and tarnishing. A small black padded dash top is seen above, and is also very nice, no cracks or fading. Fronting this wonderful dash is a white rimmed steering wheel with the Wolfsberg castle emblem in the center. Lightly soiled tan vinyl seats are in bucket form upfront, and a bench in the rear and are framed by nice white vinyl covered simplistic door panels and rear side panels with just a touch of wrinkling. A tight but lightly stained perforated vinyl headliner is seen above and is near perfection.
Drivetrain
As with any VW you need to pop the boot to see the power plant, so we did! Here we were met with a low mileage 1200c 4-cylinder air cooled crate engine. Very little corrosion, and a light coating of dust back here along with a light patina and some surface rust all working with each other on the parts. A rebuilt 1-barrel Solex carburetor is feeding the 4 cylinders, and power goes to a 4-speed manual transmission A 4.12 rear axle ratio is noted for this drivetrain.
Undercarriage
Still well intact with no rust is the unibody frame which uses the floor pans and central panel along with some steel tubing as the structure, and it is all solid. We do note some scale rust on the pinch weld of the rocker panels but all else is just perfectly patinaed black steel. Various under the engine parts are fairly clean and oil free; we note a stock style exhaust system with dual chrome tips. Independent transverse torsion bars for the front, and independent semi trailing arms for the rear suspension provides the ride and handling. Drum brakes with newer hoses are all around to provide the stopping power.
Drive-Ability
TV ads of the day show a Ghia speeding down beach stating the VW Karmann "This is the most economical sports car you can buy", then in the end it tries to break through a paper barrier and fails, with the announcer saying "it's just not the most powerful". After a quick start, this proved to be true, although it has snappy acceleration for its size, shifts beautifully, and cruises fairly quietly, the braking left some things to be desired as the pedal was mushy. Also we read our consignor's notes and all the bulbs need to be changed for the 12 volt conversion, as well as a resistor installed for the radio to function properly.
A great example of an early German sports car that is begging to be taken to the next level. Overall a nice looker with a newer crate engine, a flushed fuel tank and a turn key runner. Now ready for your capable hands to take over and bring this one back to life. Just gemtlichkeit as they used to say!
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the vehicle in person.
