Spotted; Early Karmann Ghia

[wings&wheels]

..and probably the nicest one I have ever seen. Very nicely restored KG Cabriolet sitting in the lot of a local special interest car shop.

Always liked these, I think they are pretty, but seemingly few survived which is surprising as a fair number were imported. Shame we never got some of the other KG's that the rest of the world enjoyed.

Maybe someday.

Also in the lot were a Pininfarina 2000, Alfa Romeo Graduate Spider and a 964 Cabriolet.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Gorgeous car.

 

[walterjay]

A beautiful car indeed. Growing up in a shop I saw a lot of those come through. Unfortunately they were rust buckets. That is why we don't see many around.

 

[stangguy]

Back in the 60s when I was a teenager, and thought the only brand worth anything was Chevrolet, and would never think of driving a foreign vehicle, I always thought these were really neat looking, and kinda wanted one. Still want one.

 

[ragtoplvr]

They did look nice, in you rear view mirror. On your bicycle. Can you say underpowered. I had a neighbor that loved all things VW. His was still slow despite some upgrades.

Sure you could drop out the motor in 45 minutes or less. You needed to to put in the upgraded oil cooler, stoker crank, big bore cylinders, bigger carb and headers. It was still slow.

Rod

 

[Ed_Flecko]

What do you think it's worth?

$$$

Any guesses?

Ed

 

[wings&wheels]

They did look nice, in you rear view mirror. On your bicycle. Can you say underpowered. I had a neighbor that loved all things VW. His was still slow despite some upgrades.

Sure you could drop out the motor in 45 minutes or less. You needed to to put in the upgraded oil cooler, stoker crank, big bore cylinders, bigger carb and headers. It was still slow.

Rod

There is more to life than outright speed, but yes, you are totally correct, stock they are slow. I'll also admit that I never cared for the stock VW exhaust sound, but it and lack of power are both addressable easily enough.

 

[wings&wheels]

What do you think it's worth?

$$$

Any guesses?

Ed

Hagerty has them at $37K for a #2 and $55K for a #1. I would put this car as a solid #2 once complete (there were 2 pieces of trim missing, but the paint was flawless where they should go so I'm assuming that they will be installed, also some VW boxes in the footwell, think this is nearing completion of it's very nice resto).

 

[SubLGT]

Good looking car, except for the big white stripe.

 

[Ed_Flecko]

Hagerty has them at $37K for a #2 and $55K for a #1. I would put this car as a solid #2 once complete (there were 2 pieces of trim missing, but the paint was flawless where they should go so I'm assuming that they will be installed, also some VW boxes in the footwell, think this is nearing completion of it's very nice resto).

Wow!

Will your auto insurance company use those value estimates when they quote you insurance rates?

Ed

 

[AutoMechanic]

Nice cars for sure. Too bad it wasn’t a Beetle LOL. But still nice cars.

 

[wings&wheels]

Wow!

Will your auto insurance company use those value estimates when they quote you insurance rates?

Ed

Hagerty and other collector providers will. Can be a battle with non specialty carriers.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

I've always liked them but know nothing about them. They are basically a Bug with a sleeker body, yes?

 

[JeffKeryk]

With a decent set of radials, they were a blast to drive.

 

[ecotourist]

Good looking car, except for the big white stripe.

And the whitewalls. I saw a number in the wild and they always had blackwalls.

 

[MParr]

Beautiful cars! I always wanted one. A set of 88mm jugs, a Scat C-35 cam and a dual Weber carb setup would make them haul ass. I forgot the centrifugal advance distributor. But, I never cared for convertibles.

 

[wings&wheels]

Beautiful cars! I always wanted one. A set of 88mm jugs, a Scat C-35 cam and a dual Weber carb setup would make them haul ass. I forgot the centrifugal advance distributor. But, I never cared for convertibles.

I've always thought that these are some of the very few cars that look equally as good in a coupe or cabriolet.

 

[MParr]

I've always thought that these are some of the very few cars that look equally as good in a coupe or cabriolet.

They do look good. I’m just partial to hard tops.

 

[ecotourist]

The tops on convertible Karmanns were particularly nice. They were lined and looked good from the inside as well.

Someone at my first job out of high-school had one and often gave me a ride home in it. Nice cars.

 

[atikovi]

Don't care for those tires or the strips myself. Had this '65 20 years ago and didn't really dig the color at first sight.