Vehicle Description
1969 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
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, purchased by our consignor in 2014 from the 3rd
owner after 21 years of ownership and still retaining its Italian
design spit shine, a 1969 Karmann Ghia. This sports car version
from Volkswagen comes to our halls all buttoned up and running like
a new car thanks to a 2017 engine rebuild. It looks the part as
well bathed in pale yellow, and a very nice interior. VW at its
best with the sports car genre ready for the taking, just fall in
love, pay the price and turn the key...auf wiedersehen!
Exterior
The closest thing you can get to a Porsche 356, and actually
handmade due to the body being made of entirely one piece. Yes,
save for the doors, all panels were shaped then welded together
then hand sanded down to the shape you see. This one is painted in
pale yellow, and the door gaps are straight, however we do note
body filler and repairs in the lower sections all around with the
worst being the lower rear quarters that are now showing bubbling,
but the remainder of the car is just smooth curves. Nice chromed
accenting with the bumpers, badging, small grille openings, and a
dual lower trim strip, are all mirror like finished. Black and
stainless surrounds for the windows and glass are excellent and all
clear. Steel drilled wheels are all around and are topped with VW
badged moon caps. Schnell! Schnell!
Interior
The interior is just beautiful with a touch of upscale design to
add to the mystique. This is in the form of a brown carpet that
floats the sporty but simple interior and meanders under the curved
wood veneered walnut dash above. Speaking of the dash, the walnut
dash front is just perfect, as are all the inserts gauges, knobs,
lights, factory Sapphire AM radio and added Audiovox FM receiver
mounted below. A small black padded dash top is seen above, and is
also very nice, no cracks or fading. Fronting this beautiful dash
is a black leatherette wrapped rim steering wheel with the
Wolfsberg castle emblem in the center. Tan vinyl seats are in
buckets upfront, and a bench in the rear and are framed by nice tan
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 rebuilt 1500cc 4-cylinder air
cooled engine with an 85.5mm piston and cylinder kit along with new
pushrod tubes, gaskets and bearings. No corrosion or rust, not even
much dust back here just a light patina and all working with each
other parts. A rebuilt 1-barrel Solex carburetor is feeding the 4
cylinders, and power goes to a 4-speed manual transmission A 3.76
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 the
left side having recently been replaced. Independent transverse
torsion bars for the front, and independent semi trailing arms for
the rear suspension provides the ride and handling. Disc brakes are
upfront, and drums are installed on the rear with new brake hoses
and wheel cylinders on the rear and a new master cylinder. We note
a new fuel tank, fuel lines and brake lines also.
Drive-Ability
TV ads of the day shows 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. A low to the ground sports car feel is exhilarating and
provides a positive experience overall. All is working for the
controls, but we did note that the passengers window is hard to
roll up and down.
A great example with a fine earlier restoration still holding up
just beautifully. Shiny pale yellow paint, clean, a rebuilt engine,
and well-functioning mechanicals, clean interior, a great example
from 1969. Just ge m�t lich keit as they used to say!
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 650 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.
