Karmann Ghias - what do you think of them?

Been a big admirer of the Karmann Ghia for a long time and if I had the garage of dreams it would definitely be in there!

Seems like they borrow enough from the beetle to make them easy and cheap to work on and the styling is great but what's the thoughts of this community?

Anyone got one and want to share what they are like to live with?

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I would love a Karen Ghia fabulous looking car.

 

Mate has one he's spent all lockdown working on it, they are lovey i would if one could.

 

Love em. Funnily enough by chance I saw this the other day and it made me want one like the one Andy McCluskey drives here

 

Never see em on the road anymore ... but when I was young they were everywhere. But that's the 70s.

 

They are cool, my mate has one and I nearly bought a near mint Razor a few years ago, but I couldn’t really use it practically as my daily , I would say buy a good one, body panels are both eye wateringly expensive and just as difficult to find, they cost more than they’re worth to restore and there’s plenty around if you look, some beetle parts, engine, gearbox etc, but most everything else is different

 

Love them. The green Bernard Newbury one in the 80/90’s I thought was amazing. Wonder where that is now ?

 

I wanted the prototype they had at Volksworld a few years back . Body shell modernised but Ford had just bought Ghia so they couldnt go into production ?? 1976.

 

Beautiful cars. But if you thought your bay was a money pit...

 

I love them but as Said painfully expensive
Kieft & Klok have a selection of them

 

Very high on the want list!!

 

I like them but prefer the square back
Or the fastback

 

I had one up to about 5 years ago.



It was an 1971 ex California car.

I owned it a long time and had restored the chassis, converting it to RHD and lowering it along the way. I fitted a 2007cc lump from a friends beetle.
Those chrome wheels had a 1” band on the rear.

My wife and I fully restored the interior using TMI seat covers, door cards etc.

I loved that car though it was about as waterproof as a teabag. It was the door windows mainly but the bonnet seal wasn’t great either.

It was a great conversation starter whenever it was parked and I used to get flashed and thumbs up etc while out driving.

I only sold it because I took it Volksworld one year and in the car park someone made me a cash offer I couldn’t refuse.

I held on to the money for a while, slightly regretting the sale when I stumbled across my late bay crewcab.

The gear knob from the Ghia is in the crewcab so I still have a piece of him.

The rest is history as they say

Stirlingmoz

 

+1
Never liked the look of the Ghia but lurve the Variant.

 

+1
Had a square back about 30 years ago, bought and sold for about £700......

A fast back looks good even when its tatty, but a square back looks awful if it's anything other than fully sorted.

 

Love the square backs!

 

My biggest car regret is not buying a Convertible RHD KG I saw for sale in San Francisco for $1500 in 1994 , I didn't have the money or a way of getting it home but........

 

I like them, beautiful styling!

 

Always had a soft spot for the Type 34, razors, like something out of the Thunderbirds, not to mention a bit of Chevy Corvair in there too...