Vehicle Description
1972 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, the beneficiary of an older restoration on what is
believed to be a 2 owner car and still retaining its Italian design
spit shine, a 1972 Karmann Ghia. This sports car version from
Volkswagen comes to our overstuffed Hallowed Halls all buttoned up
and running like a nearly new car. It looks the part as well as
being bathed in Bahia Red and has 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
Bahia Red and the door gaps are straight, however the remainder of
the car is just smooth curves. A few imperfections are noted in the
finish along with some invasive rust making an appearance on the
lower surfaces in the form of bubbling of prior bodywork and
exposed rust on the blacked out area behind the passenger's rear
wheel. Nice chrome accenting with the bumpers, badging, small
grille openings, and a dual lower trim strip, and are all mirror
like finished. Black and stainless surrounds for the windows and
glass are excellent and all clear and 15-inch steel drilled wheels
are all around and are topped with VW badged moon caps and are
wrapped in like new 165/80R15 blackwall radials. Schnell!
Schnell!
Interior
The interior is just beautiful with a touch of customization to add
to the mystique. This is in the form of a lightly soiled gray
speckled carpet which floats the body hugging low back buckets up
front and large, (for the cars size), rear bench. Deep tuck and
roll inserts and smooth bolsters are the design for the seats and
come to uswith only minimal wear and certainly no tearing. An Empi
shifter is ridingthe hump, as is a wire mesh basket with dual
cupholders. Peering forward we get a glimpse of the dash with its
black front nearly perfect, as are all the inserts, gauges, knobs
and lights. A small black padded dash top is seen above, and is
also very nice, no cracks or fading but there is a small repair on
the lower padded area just under the AM/FM/Bluetooth stereo.
Fronting this beautiful dash is a 4 spoke black plastic steering
wheel with the Wolfsberg castle emblem in the center and is framed
by nice black vinyl covered simplistic door panels and rear side
panels on the sides. Speakers have been added to the front kick
panels and a tight 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 very well-done restoration on the 4
cylinder 1600cc air cooled engine. No corrosion and just slight
dust here and all clean and all working with the other parts. A
1-barrel Solex carburetor is feeding the 4 cylinders, and power
goes to a 4-speed manual transmission before turning the rear tires
via a 4.13 axle.
Undercarriage
Still well intact with no rust for the unibody frame which uses the
floor pans and central panel along with some steel tubing as the
structure, and it is all solid. Some of the underbody is seen in a
patinaed and surface rusted condition,but all remains structurally
solid. The engine parts are looking very clean and overall leak
free, meanwhile we note independent transverse torsion bar
suspension for the front, and independent semi-swing arm suspension
in the rear providing the ride and handling. Disc brakes are
upfront, and drums are installed on the rear. The exhaust system is
short but sweet in condition.
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 had snappy
acceleration for its size, shifted beautifully, and cruised fairly
quietly. A low to the ground sports car feel is exhilarating and
provides a positive experience overall. All is working for the
controls save for the heater blower not blowing and some excess
noise from the throwout bearing along with a bit of smoking from
the tail pipeupon cold start up.
A great example with a fine earlier restoration still holding up
just beautifully. Shiny red paint, 2 owners, clean and
well-functioning mechanicals, and a slightly customized and clean
interior. Overall a great example from 1972, 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.
