Discussion
Fancy another classic, never owned an aircooled VW and always wanted a Ghia.
Other than rust and the inevitable messing about over the years are there are key things to look for? Obviously I’d like an original matching car but not sure my £15k budget stretches.
I’ve checked Fb and joined a few groups / owners club in there but it seems a bit of an echo chamber when it comes to values as they’ve all a vested interested.
I’ve checked C&C, eBay and Gumtree, plus Volksworld, anywhere else?
Don’t really want to spend more than £15k, would prefer RHD and not too fussed on a bit of a project.
Other than rust and the inevitable messing about over the years are there are key things to look for? Obviously I’d like an original matching car but not sure my £15k budget stretches.
I’ve checked Fb and joined a few groups / owners club in there but it seems a bit of an echo chamber when it comes to values as they’ve all a vested interested.
I’ve checked C&C, eBay and Gumtree, plus Volksworld, anywhere else?
Don’t really want to spend more than £15k, would prefer RHD and not too fussed on a bit of a project.
Rust is your main enemy, much worse than a Beetle due to the design, panels don't just bolt on. Check the front end particularity for any previous damage or rust bodges. Mechanical's are simple and easy to fix like any aircooled VW. At £15k you're looking at a late KG, earlier models particularly lowlights are a lot lot more.
I would recommend keeping a look out on 'The Samba' classifieds, good cars tend to be advertised on there. On the classifieds you need to search by country and model, its a bit clunky. Nothing particularly good on there at the moment. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/
I currently own two VW Beetles and have had a '71 KG Cabriolet in the past, a LHD Californian car. Give me a shout if I can help with anything else.
I would recommend keeping a look out on 'The Samba' classifieds, good cars tend to be advertised on there. On the classifieds you need to search by country and model, its a bit clunky. Nothing particularly good on there at the moment. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/
I currently own two VW Beetles and have had a '71 KG Cabriolet in the past, a LHD Californian car. Give me a shout if I can help with anything else.
Good decision - lovely looking cars - and also good advice above.
I’d strongly recommend putting as rust free as possible at the top of your list regardless of rhd/lhd given your budget. (I’d recommend this regardless of budget…)
You’ll have a lot of fun but bodywork is expensive - much more so than mechanicals. Ask me how I know (and just with beetles/campers - not coachbuilt KG’s!)
Unless you know someone who’s familiar with these (highly recommended) I’d recommend looking at joining the Karmann Ghia owners club forum (and possibly club) as a good source of info and possible cars.
Getting the right car in the first place is key as restoration rarely ends up a financially good plan.
I’ve recently bought my 3rd air cooled VW, have had them for 20+ years and was still very glad I took along a much more knowledgable friend when viewing cars which was invaluable.
Good luck with the search!
I’d strongly recommend putting as rust free as possible at the top of your list regardless of rhd/lhd given your budget. (I’d recommend this regardless of budget…)
You’ll have a lot of fun but bodywork is expensive - much more so than mechanicals. Ask me how I know (and just with beetles/campers - not coachbuilt KG’s!)
Unless you know someone who’s familiar with these (highly recommended) I’d recommend looking at joining the Karmann Ghia owners club forum (and possibly club) as a good source of info and possible cars.
Getting the right car in the first place is key as restoration rarely ends up a financially good plan.
I’ve recently bought my 3rd air cooled VW, have had them for 20+ years and was still very glad I took along a much more knowledgable friend when viewing cars which was invaluable.
Good luck with the search!
Type 1 or Type 3 Ghia? Type 3 are twice the price of Type 1. Parts are harder to find and more expensive as everything is unique to the car. I got a Type 3 Ghia from South Africa for about the same price as a UK Type 1.
Try California Classics or Karmann Konnection for parts.
These are both 1964 cars but the Type 3 (mine) is a much better lookiing car.
Try California Classics or Karmann Konnection for parts.
These are both 1964 cars but the Type 3 (mine) is a much better lookiing car.
Edited by Spydaman on Wednesday 1st June 06:06
Edited by Spydaman on Wednesday 1st June 06:08
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