Vehicle Description
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 4.12rear 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 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 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.
