The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is a sports car that was manufactured from 1955-1975. You could say that these cars are now considered classic cars that would be a great addition to any car collection.
There is a lot of history that backs up this car and no matter what year model you get, these cars look like an old fashion American classic car with an Italian and German twist to the finishes and performance of the cars.
We are going to take a look at the history of this car, the cool features that the cars had, and of course the powertrains that pulled this car on the roads back in the day.
Some of the coolest features that were part of the historic Karmann Ghia cars that were manufactured by Volkswagen.
The history behind the VW Karmann Ghia
The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is a perfectly balanced design car. The first couple of years of the manufacturing process was between 1955-1974. The sports car marketed in 2+2 coupe which was between 1955–1974 and 2+2 convertible which was produced between 1957–1974. The body styles were done by Volkswagen. the Karmann Ghia combined the chassis and mechanical systems of the Type 1 Beetle with styling by Italy's Carrozzeria Ghia and finished off with a hand-built bodywork by German coachbuilding house Karmann.
If you have a look at the final model year which was 1974, the vestigial rear seat was discontinued for North American models. The reason for this was because the car lacked provisions for seat belts. The 1974 year model was marketed as a two-seater car only.
Turns out that more than 445 000.00 of these sports cars were produced in Germany over the production life of these cars. This number does not include the Type 34 variant that was offered. Not to yank on their chain but American industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague, included the Type 14 Karmann Ghia in his list of the world's most beautifully designed products. That is a real pat on everyone's back who helped design and produce this beaut of a car.
The engines that powered the Karmann Ghia over the years
There have been a few different engines that have been used over the years in this models production life.
In 1963, the car had a OHV four-stroke air-cooled flat 4 engine that came with a single Solex 28 PICT carburetor. It was not a fast engine at all as it could only hit around 34 horsepower and gave a torque reading of about 60.8 lb⋅ft. If you wanted to, you could upgrade the engine to an OHV four-stroke air-cooled flat 4 engine that was modified with a double Solex 32 PBIC carburetor and came with an OKRASA long-stroke crankshaft. The engine was a little bit faster. It could go up to 50 horsepower and around 49 lb⋅ft of torque.
In 1972, The TC was introduced. The Type 145 TC was fitted with the 1,584 CC flat-four air-cooled boxer unit and the car could produce 65 horsepower and had a top speed of 86 mph. This model was in a short production run between 1972 until 1975. This car was only offered in South America and it was not exported off the continent.
The coolest feature about the Karmann Ghia
There have been a few cool features on the cars over the years such as a semi-automatic transmission, the back seats were like a bench until the seat belt issue came into play. One of the coolest features on the cars had to come from the Type 34 model. This model had an option for an electrically operated sliding steel sunroof that was optional in 1962. If you have a look at a bit of car history, The Type 34 was the second automobile model in the world to have this option.
Another cool feature is the body shape of the car. It was a unique shaped car. You can see the car has a piece of Italy in the design which is awesome! An awesome thing about this car is the space that it offers. You can put all your luggage in the car as well as the back seats. There is plenty of space in this classic car for all your goodies.
The car sounds like a racket! It might not be able to keep up with other classic cars but once you turn the car on, the sounds are heartwarming.
What is the Hagerty Vehicle Rating of this car?
It is a known fact that people do not only collect cars because they look amazing, but they can also be an investment. The Karmann Ghia cars do have a Hagerty Vehicle Rating. The car is rated at 56. It was once said:
“The HVR, based on a scale of 0–100, measures how a collector vehicle is performing compared to the overall market. A score below 50 means a car is lagging behind the market, 50 means it is keeping pace, and a score above 50 indicates a hot market—the higher, the hotter.”