TheSamba.com :: View topic - Ordering Your Karmann Ghia's "Birth Certificate"

Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:45 am

John Moxon wrote:
I'm sure I did all they requested, in fact I copied and pasted Coad's sample email, filling all the required data.

I'll give it a couple of days until after the Christmas festivities and email an enquiry.

In the end I re-submitted my request through the museum website and the birth certificate came through in about 3 weeks.

The first request must have "got lost in the ether" so if you don't see any movement in say 3 to 4 weeks send them another request.

Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:35 pm

Good to know they were able to come through for you. Were you satisfied with the research results they gave you?

Fri Jan 18, 2008 1:54 am

72Ghia wrote: Good to know they were able to come through for you. Were you satisfied with the research results they gave you?

Yes it had all I expected :) http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2766397

Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:53 am

I HAVE AN OLD CONVERTIBLE GHIA FOR SALE. DOES ANY ONE KNOW HOW I CAN FIND OUT FOR SURE WHAT YEAR IT IS (QUICKLY/ONLINE) WITH OUT ORDERING A BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND WAITING WEEKS? I HAVE TWO PEOPLE INTERESTED IN BUYING IT TOMORROW: HOWEVER, I'M NOT 100% SURE IF IT IS A '58' OR A '57'. I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELP, I WOULD HATE TO SELL AND FIND OUT LATER THAT IT WAS 1 OF 400 '57' CONVERTIBLE GHIA'S MADE.

THANKS
BENNIE (310) 925-9585

Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:51 am

try this link - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/chassisdatingkg.php

Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:17 am

Hi Bennie,

There excist only a few '57 Convertibles (officially 104 are build)

The VIN number you provided in the classified is not correct, but if your VIN starts with 196.... your car is build in the end of may, start of june 1958.

See also my website: www.kglowlightregistry.com

Regards

Patrick

Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:52 pm

Heres an update on Birth Cert costs and response times. Sent my email on the 1st of March. Got this reply email on the 3rd.

Thank you for your e-mail with the order of a vehicle identity certficate.

We have all the informations, which we need to draw up a vehicle identity certificate. We will immediately editing the document.

Yours sincerely
Christine Neefe

The fee just hit my account today. 2 debits on my Visa debit account. One for 55.20 and another for 55 cents. I am assuming this is a card processing fee. Also, I requested engine info in my email. This is how I wrote it. I will post again with info on how they researched my engine number.

I understand that the Museum is no longer able to release the original engine number, but that you will inform me if my engine number listed below is associated with my chassis number.

The Vehicle Identification Number of the vehicle is as follows:
510XXXX

Engine Number:
DXXXXXXX

The car is a 1963 Karmann Ghia Coupe.

Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:06 pm

Well, that was quicker than expected. Just got it today, March 24, so that’s 23 total days from email to door. Cool!

Also, last time I did this, I only got one cert. This time I got two copies. Both had heavy stock paper backers, placed in separate plastic sleeves. Below is the letter that was included regarding the engine number I sent.

The only thing that seems a little strange is the part in the letter where they write "However, we can confirm you the originality separatly if you send us your engine number."

I'm like, that's what I just did, and isn't that your confirmation below? :P
Guess the true meaning was lost in translation.

I am not surprised that the engine is not original, but it still is a little disappointing.

Tue May 20, 2008 2:32 pm

For those looking for a website translation to order a birth certificate at http://automuseum.volkswagen.de/urkunden.html:

Page 1 - First page you come to:

Nachname - Last Name
Fahrgestellnummer - VIN
Modell - A description of the model such as "1971 Karmann Ghia Convertible"

WEITER - Next Page

Page 2
Vorname - First Name
Nachname - Last name - should come over from page 1
Straße - Street
PLZ - Postal Code
Ort - Place - City and State
Land - Country
Email - Email address
Lieferadresse - Delivery Adress
AGB akzeptiert - AGB Accepts - Check the box

Page 3

Bitte überprüfen Sie Ihre Rechnungsdaten - Please review the data

If correct, hit "BESTELLEN" which is Order. If not, go back by hitting "Zuruck" and correct the details.

A pop-up will appear asking for your credit card details. This includes:

Karteninhaber - Name on Credit Card
Wohnort - Dwelling (City and State)
E-Mail Adresse - Email address
Kreditkartennummer - Credit Card Number
Prüfnummer der Kreditkarte - Test Number on the credit card - the "verification number" that is often on the back.
Kreditkarte gültig bis - Credit Card expiration date
Kreditkarte gültig ab - Credit card start date
Issue-Nummer der Kreditkarte - Issuer Number of the Credit Card - Generally blank

If the transaction is successful, you should receive a message that says the following:

Ihre Zahlung wurde erfolgreich abgewickelt

This means your payment was successfully completed.[/b]

Thu May 29, 2008 6:03 pm

So is $55.75 the current rate for a Birth certificate?

Fri May 30, 2008 6:54 am

That sounds about right with a conversion from 35 Euros.

It may seem high but to me I am glad the information is available.

At one time I was heavily into the vintage Corvette hobby. Apparently GM decided at some point to destroy all Corvette production records for cars made before 1967. As a result an entire industry has developed of "experts" that try to determine the authenticity of vintage Corvettes for a very high price.

Likewise a complete industry of counterfeiters has developed to try to outwit the experts (and steal people's hard earned money) by "building" Corvettes with rare options (i.e., High perfromance big block engines).

It is said that more 65-67 big block Corvettes are registered in CA alone than were ever made by GM.

One of the reasons I got out of that hobby and enjoy the vintage VW hobby.

Looking at that, the $55 seems cheap to verify the production of your car.

Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:01 pm

Hey guys, just wanted to share my experience:

I ordered my birth certificate using the museum's website on May 27th, 2008, and was charged US$55 to my credit card. The certificate arrived in the mail today (06/14/2008) in a nice envelope and even has a plastic protecting cover sheet which I like! 17 Days is all it took from order date to receipt!

The car was originally Chrome Blue, which you can still see under layers of black and (earlier) metal-flake PURPLE paint!

Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:57 am

Boleador:

I received mine over the weekend as well for my '71 'Vert. I noticed they were both issued the same day - June 9.

I had asked them to confirm my engine number and they did. My car has the original engine in it. Not a big deal but its nice.

Its interesting that my information came back in German. No real surprises as I knew the original color was yellow with black interior. It has the passenger side mirror and came with whitewalls. The car still has what appears to be the original bias ply WW spare tire. It looks like it has never been used.

Also I noticed that your certificate has no indication when the car left the factory. This data also lacks consistency. I guess the workers were fast that week as my car only took two days. The '70 Ghia I had indicated four days.

Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:25 pm

Hmm...yes strange that yours was in German and mine in English. Pretty good luck that you've still got the original engine!

Any idea as to what the "US Equipment" means?

Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:15 am

boleador wrote: Hmm...yes strange that yours was in German and mine in English.

Yes it's a good idea to put a note in your request: "CERTIFICATE IN ENGLISH PLEASE."

Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:55 am

The US Equipment includes sealed beam headlights and the bumpers with overriders and towel bars. I believe it also might include US specific emissions equipment.

There may be other things included but this is all I can think of.

Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:48 am

I got a seperate sheet with mine explaining US equipment as the following:

M350 :
Seatbelts in front
Mph speedometer
two locking doors
sealed beam headlights
hazard warning system without flasher
laminated windscreen
ram protection
reversing light
drum brake dual circuit brake system
12v system standard
12v system US equipment

M355:
Seatbelts in front
Mph speedometer
sealed beam headlights
hazard warning system without flasher
laminated windscreen
ram protection
12v system standard
12v system US equipment

Hope this is of interest. :wink:

Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:02 am

NOVA Airhead wrote: For those looking for a website translation to order a birth certificate at http://automuseum.volkswagen.de/urkunden.html:

Page 1 - First page you come to:

Nachname - Last Name
Fahrgestellnummer - VIN
Modell - A description of the model such as "1971 Karmann Ghia Convertible"

WEITER - Next Page

Page 2
Vorname - First Name
Nachname - Last name - should come over from page 1
Straße - Street
PLZ - Postal Code
Ort - Place - City and State
Land - Country
Email - Email address
Lieferadresse - Delivery Adress
AGB akzeptiert - AGB Accepts - Check the box

Page 3

Bitte überprüfen Sie Ihre Rechnungsdaten - Please review the data

If correct, hit "BESTELLEN" which is Order. If not, go back by hitting "Zuruck" and correct the details.

A pop-up will appear asking for your credit card details. This includes:

Karteninhaber - Name on Credit Card
Wohnort - Dwelling (City and State)
E-Mail Adresse - Email address
Kreditkartennummer - Credit Card Number
Prüfnummer der Kreditkarte - Test Number on the credit card - the "verification number" that is often on the back.
Kreditkarte gültig bis - Credit Card expiration date
Kreditkarte gültig ab - Credit card start date
Issue-Nummer der Kreditkarte - Issuer Number of the Credit Card - Generally blank

If the transaction is successful, you should receive a message that says the following:

Ihre Zahlung wurde erfolgreich abgewickelt

This means your payment was successfully completed.[/b]

There was one item left off of the translation (or added):
Zahlungsweise: - Manner of Payment – check Kreditkarte (credit card)

Fri Aug 01, 2008 7:28 am

When i requested my birth certificate for my 68 Vert, the version I received from the museum indicated that the original color was Blood Orange (L21E).

I emailed the museum and told them that i was fairly certain the certificate was incorrect as that particular color was not available for the 1968 model year. I received no response from the email, but a few weeks later a new birth certificate arrived with the correct color (Regatta Blue).

Anyway, they seem to be fairly responsive to questions or problems given the potential language barrier issues.

Tue Sep 30, 2008 5:15 pm

I am going to order my birth certificate for my 1970 Ghia coupe on friday. Thanks for all the advice guys. Wish me luck.