Readers' Photos # 77: VW Karmann Ghia

-

 

I know a bloke that's not into cars.  😲.  Hard to believe, eh?  He likes football, as in the AFL.  Each to their own.


But such is the svelte beauty of the Italian-styled Karmann Ghia that, despite having never heard of them, he was moved to admit that today's feature car "... is indeed a thing of great beauty."  Too true!  


So, we've found some automotive common ground.  Just don't anyone hold their breath waiting for any sort of quid pro quo concession about "the footy" from me, though! 


According to the Special Correspondent for Queensland, it's a third-owner 1960 model, aptly finished in "mango green."  It seems very unlikely that the paint's original; it's simply too perfect to have survived sixty years' of use and to have remained so pristine, as can also be said of the chrome.  The whole thing is just so lovely! 

Interestingly, the registration plates are - and are not - original.  The owner told the SCQ  that HGB 760, in white on black, was the car's original rego number when it was first registered in Victoria so, other than now reading QLD where VIC was once written, they're as-was 1960s reproductions.

The engine bay is just as immaculate as the car's exterior!  Forget "eat your dinner off it;"  we're talking "could perform surgery here" levels of cleanliness!



Being of a certain age, the UMPH editorial team got to reminiscing about their Karmann Ghia experiences, with one fondly remembering having test-driven an example in the 1980s with the exorbitant asking price of $5,000!  Another staffer knew of a bloke who bought one for $8,000, which set the Research Department off looking up current prices ...


Any ideas what a Karmann Ghia's worth these days?  Double the 1980s' prices?  Triple??  Quadruple???  Thanks to the UMPH Research Department, we can reveal:


More than I'd pay for a 1960s relic from the football world - Gary Ablett, Sr, comes to mind.  Not even if you repainted him and rechromed his shiny bits!





U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

Photos supplied by RAR.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Electric Fiat X1/9

-
Image
For several years, there have been whispers that an electric X had been constructed in Tasmania's south.  However, no one seemed to know much about the car and how it had been built. That's not to say that it was some kind of skunkworks project; it seems to have simply been an under-the-radar affair, quietly put together by a bloke in his shed.  It was actually so U-T-R that I'd seen it at least twice without me realising that it'd been electrified. The car's since been sold but this is what I could glean from its current owner:  - It's a 1980 model and, as such, was delivered to Australia as a "Series 1.5," meaning that it originally had the Series 1's 1300 cc / four-speed in a Series 2 body with impact-absorbing bumpers and the higher engine compartment lid, as well as the latter's interior; - The motor is a 120 volt DC unit from US company Advanced Motors and Drives, rated at 10 HP / 7.355 kW ( http://evalbum.com/advdc , accessed 03 JUN 24);...
Read more

EJ or EH Holden? (Up-dated December, 2022)

-
Image
EJ or the later EH? Several years ago, I posed the question:  Can somebody please explain the difference between an EJ and an EH Holden ute or van?  The response at the time wasn't overwhelming, so I did a bit of Googling and ferreting through my photos and came up with my own rough guide to EJ and EH identification.  Sedans and wagons are easy to tell apart ;  the EH's vertical rectangular tail lights are a dead give-away.  However, the workhorse versions of both models share the rear-end treatment of the earlier EJ, making it harder to identify one from the other.    No super obvious hints here. Or here ...  . It turns out that the main clues are in the placement of the front   H O L D E N   lettering and GMH lion emblems, the style of the radiator grille and the width of the vents in front of the windscreen, with all EJs - sedans, wagons, utes and vans - having one combination and the EH line-up having th...
Read more

Random # 301: Nanna-Spec KE36 Corolla

-
Image
  Once upon a time - six or seven years ago, actually - there was a lovely pale yellow GC Galant station wagon getting around Hobart.  It was totally nanna-spec; its paint was umarked, the chrome work and hubcaps were immaculate, and its very original interior was pristine. Then someone stuck feathers in its dashboard.  Next, the windows were adorned with Tibetan prayer flags.  And a hubcap went missing.  And the the rear bumper was pushed in, mangling the bodywork behind it.  And a mudguard got dented.  And rust set in.   I fear for this sweet, innocent KE36 Corolla.  Somebody please save it before it's too late.  Nanna needs you to do it. Hello, reader! I've noticed that this seems to be a particularly popular post.  Something to do with Google's algorithms, I guess ... .  But it's not my best piece!  Sure, it's ok, but there are so, so many more interesting classic, sports and performance cars on this site - as wel...
Read more