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Thu Apr 23, 2015 2:06 pm

Never seen this addressed, probably impossible, can the top be converted to electric open & close. putting a screen behind the seats to block wind, like the boxter & BMW as well as others. Just a thought.

Thu Apr 23, 2015 2:15 pm

I have never seen it addressed.

With enough time and money I suppose anything is possible although I don't see how you could do it on cars with the glass rear window. I would think you would need to unlatch the window. If you are going to do that (and unlatch the top at the windshield) you might as well do the rest. Its a small roof.

Thu Apr 23, 2015 2:18 pm

Mine is 71, so glass window. Just feel a slight pang of envy when I see these newer cars lower their top with a touch of the button. must be nice.

Fri Apr 24, 2015 8:21 am

stanthedog wrote: Mine is 71, so glass window. Just feel a slight pang of envy when I see these newer cars lower their top with a touch of the button. must be nice.
If it makes you feel any better, on Boxsters with the vinyl rear window (prior to 2005 model year, I believe) you have to take your finger off of the power top button half way through to get out and make the vinyl fold in the center cleanly before you can get back in and finish lowering the top electrically.

I believe the term "Boxster chop" has been coined to describe how owners typically use a gentle karate style "chop" to the center of the vinyl window to start it folding without any creases.
If you don't take the time do this, the vinyl folds with a couple of harsh creases that invariably lead to cracks.

Power tops may not be as convenient as they often appear, particularly on such a small car.

I believe that the wind screen idea is doable with a little imagination and fabrication.
Since there is no "roll bar" directly behind the front seats to attach the wind screen to as on the Boxster, you'd need something more like the windscreen used on the old 1994-1998 Audi Cabriolet.
That uses a two-piece folding frame covered in a mesh screen - one piece lays horizontally over the rear seat, and the other piece angles up vertically toward the top of the front seat headrests.

In fact, the size of that particular wind screen might just be about the right size for use in a Ghia.
While my Ghia is a coupe (and I know that convertible Ghias have a narrower rear seat), I can try holding up the Audi windscreen to see if it might be something easily modified to work with a Ghia.

Fri Apr 24, 2015 1:53 pm

That'd be awsome. Doesn't bother me to much cause I have short hair, but my wife has long curly hair that blows all over the place, she gets a little annoyed but not enough to not ride in or drive it :lol:

Fri Apr 24, 2015 2:27 pm

:wink:

Wed Apr 29, 2015 12:55 am

They sell these wind deflecting screens for Karmann Ghia's everywhere, just like they do for the bug convertible ....a plug and play item.
No real need to go through the hassle to make your own I would say. Unless you want to save yourself some money, have some time on your hand, and like to fabricate.

Wed Apr 29, 2015 5:48 am

tisius wrote: They sell these wind deflecting screens for Karmann Ghia's everywhere, just like they do for the bug convertible ....a plug and play item.
No real need to go through the hassle to make your own I would say. Unless you want to save yourself some money, have some time on your hand, and like to fabricate.
:shock: , .......... :oops:

Guess I should have asked Google before I bothered mentioning the whole notion of trying to modify an Audi Cabriolet wind deflector to fit a Karmann Ghia. :)

I did hold up the Audi part inside the back of my Karmann Ghia coupe and it indeed was a very poor fit.
Seeing as there does appear to be a couple of different styles of Ghia wind deflectors readily available, it wouldn't make any sense to try and modify one made for a different vehicle.

For example,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AutoStyle-1048-Deflector-Volkswagen-Convertible/dp/B00BIOG16Y

http://www.wolfsburgeast.com/en/online-catalog/product/Wind-deflector-Karmann-Ghia-Convertible-2026

http://www.just-winddeflectors.co.uk/volkswagen-wind-deflectors-c41.html

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wind-deflector-VW-Karmann-...4897.l4275

I did also see this other simple style made for a New Beetle, and if you really wanted to make your own lexan wind screen for your Ghia I bet it wouldn't be too difficult to make one like this ...

... once you make a cardboard pattern and get it to fit properly.

Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:44 am

I noticed all the wind deflectors readily available are for the European market and not the USA. I wonder why?

I remember when I was younger having corvettes and the wind use to whip my long hair so badly, I wore a headband to see.... Hats never stayed on for long

Wed Apr 29, 2015 11:53 am

Quote: I noticed all the wind deflectors readily available are for the European market and not the USA. I wonder why?
More metrosexuals...always worried about their hair :wink:

Wed Apr 29, 2015 12:14 pm

c21darrel wrote: Quote: I noticed all the wind deflectors readily available are for the European market and not the USA. I wonder why?
More metrosexuals...always worried about their hair :wink:

I really laughed out loud. Just glad I wasn't drinking coffee. :D

Thu Apr 30, 2015 7:21 am

CiderGuy wrote: c21darrel wrote: Quote: I noticed all the wind deflectors readily available are for the European market and not the USA. I wonder why?
More metrosexuals...always worried about their hair :wink:

I really laughed out loud. Just glad I wasn't drinking coffee. :D
x2! :lol:

Let's keep the laughter going by seeing what Top Gear has to say about hair being blown about while driving with the top down at 2 minutes and 47 seconds:

Thu Apr 30, 2015 9:03 am

KGCoupe wrote: CiderGuy wrote: c21darrel wrote: Quote: I noticed all the wind deflectors readily available are for the European market and not the USA. I wonder why?
More metrosexuals...always worried about their hair :wink:

I really laughed out loud. Just glad I wasn't drinking coffee. :D
x2! :lol:

Let's keep the laughter going by seeing what Top Gear has to say about hair being blown about while driving with the top down at 2 minutes and 47 seconds:

Near the very end where he says: "Arrived blind with Bonnie Tyler in the passenger seat" killed me. Funny stuff.

Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:07 pm

If you don't have the glass back window... Taking the top down takes us a couple of seconds, even including the "boxster chop" - faster than a modern automatic mechanism... (We'll have to remember that phrase: "Boxster chop" - very close to what we use.) Putting the top back up is probably about a draw with the modern cars, because it takes a couple of seconds for one person to latch both sides. (We have a late Ghia, but we removed the glass back window before we replaced the top, because we didn't want to mess with it.)

Of course, you don't get those cool Transformer mechanisms... But perhaps a reason the cars have lasted 40-50+ years, is the lack of cool Transformer mechanisms & associated electrics...?

And, of course, bad-hair days are part of the experience. I deal with the bad hair (I don't have a lot of it left anyway), E can apply a hair-band:

And, yes, even snow on the ground is no impediment to cruising with the top down & wind in hair. Just roll up the windows to cut down the cold wind a bit. (It's salt on the roads, that we won't tolerate...)

Fri May 01, 2015 5:28 am

Ok, so E insisted that I mention that she prefers the "Old Hollywood headscarf" look. Think Grace Kelly.

(Ok, so that's not Grace Kelly, it's Tippi Hedron in The Birds... But it gives the image better than any pic's we could find with Grace Kelly driving.)