Ghia Owner Again...after 48 years

[Leonard Hooks]

Ghia owner again…after 48 years

This story began in 1971 when I needed a new car. Previously, I had four junkers from the time I got out of high school, and going into my senior year of college I wanted something new and sporty. I wanted something European and reliable since all my previous cars had cratered with some malfunction I could not afford to fix. But in Waco, Texas, the only European dealership with a sporty vehicle was Volkswagen. And the Karmann Ghia was perfect.

The look of the Karmann Ghia was great and I knew the new model was coming with a fat bumper change which I did not like. I liked the more classic look of the 71 model. The only way I could afford a new car was to take out a student loan, which was my first in almost 4 years of college. (35 hours a week in a grocery store covered most of it) So I made application for a loan with my fingers crossed, and with a co-signature from my parents, I was able to secure the college loan for $5000. The loan made a nice big down payment so I could keep the monthly payments low and still have enough to finish my senior year.

So I ordered my Karmann Ghia exactly the way I wanted it because the dealer did not have the color I wanted. I wanted a British racing green, and Irish green was close enough. I also wanted a tan interior, which surprised the salesman. He told me every other young person he knew wanted a black interior, (which was the rage at the time), but the look of leather was just perfect with the Irish green.

I had to wait about six weeks for my car to come from Germany, but I got just the one I wanted. The picture below, taken about 6 to 8 months later, is one of the highlights of that car’s history.

That picture of my wife and I leaving our wedding, is the only picture of that car I have. I sold that car in 1977 but the memory of that car has stayed alive through our 53 years of marriage. When we got married, I had the Ghia and she had a 65 Mustang. The Ghia was one of my favorite cars, and of course the Mustang was her favorite car. Years later, she would occasionally look around for Mustangs and in 1999 we bought a well-maintained 65 GT, which we still have and drive once or twice a week.

So naturally in the last few years, I would occasionally look around for Ghias, but never found a really nice Irish green. I had several classic car sites send me emails every time a 70–71 gear would pop up. And I joined several Facebook groups and would occasionally check the Samba.

Then about a month ago, a nice looking, 70 Irish green popped up for sale in North Texas, only 2 1/2 hours away. So we had to go look at it. The current owner had only owned it about five years and had bought it from a close friend in California who owned the car from 1979. We drove it and and fell in love. Within 30 minutes of leaving the owner, we called him and made a deal.

The car was driven daily until 2002 and was cared for intensively. The car came with the owner’s personal logbook where he logged every tank of gas, the mileage, every repair, every oil change, and every modification from 1979 to 2009 when he died. His widow kept up the maintenance and records for 10 years while adding just a few . I have most of the repair tickets from the garage that did probably 90% of the care of that car dating back to 1986.

The documentation is amazing, there are notes with the mileage notations for everything he ever had done to the car, including the note “engine blew up on Hwy 14”. I even have a photograph he took of the speedometer when it rolled over to 200,000 miles. He replaced the engine once and had it repainted in 95. Since 2002 it has spent its life mostly in a garage so that paint job is almost like new with just a few flaws.

The car is in great shape, but still needs a lot of TLC. The previous owner maintained the tradition of recording all the work he had done, including every gas purchase he made on his drive from California to Texas.

It has new dual carbs, new tires, and runs pretty well. No major rust issues. I found one small spot in the low corner under the back seat but otherwise just light surface stuff.

My plans include new carpet, new wood grain dash and probably new seat covers. The current ones are in pretty good shape but it is an off white and not my original tan leatherette. Mostly it just need some TLC.

While the repaint technically keeps her from being a survivor, she truly is one. With 269,000 miles and still going, she deserves some recognition. I So here is my Ghia…after 48 years.

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Ghia again...after 48 years
1970 Karmann Ghia, Irish Green
1965 Mustang
Owned a 1971 Ghia, Irish Green from 71-77
Owned a 1982 Porsche 924

[Rome]

You are a deserving Ghia owner! VW of America official accessory mag wheel covers on your '71!

Did your service records indicate why the fan shroud has so many holes in the upper left quadrant? 2 of them are from the coil bracket mount pulling out (imbedded M6 x 1.0 weld nuts). Were there any other modifications done to the engine beyond those IDF-style carburetors?

You can probably clean up those long white scrapes on the front of the right rocker with some "cleaner wax" which has a very mild abrasive. Or first try rubbing with WD-40.

I'm sure each drive in your '70 puts a big smile on your face. And hopefully also on your wife's.

[John Moxon]

[Abscate]

Beautiful, and patina is code for “ I spent my money on video games instead of a good paint job”

Its a survivor, through and through
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🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🍊 🍊 🍊

[Leonard Hooks]

[Braukuche]

Welcome back to the fold.
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Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now
1989 Westfalia

[OTO X58]

This is an awesome story, thanks for sharing! I’m stoked you essentially got your Ghia back! I’ve always thought they look great in British Racing Green. Preferably with a finer metallic similar to the lowlight metallic colors.

[Karmann Gheezer]

Great story and I'm happy for you and your wife to find your dream Ghia. Interesting that our story is somewhat similar. My wife and I also have been married for 53 years and have lived in Texas the whole time. Although my wife and I only dated in our Ghia during high school, what is really weird is how many people both have a Ghia and a Mustang in their story. I sold my Ghia convertible during my first year of college for 400 bucks. (BIG mistake!) Then purchased a two-year old '66 Mustang that I feel in love with. The silver metallic paint had faded really bad so I repainted it, added a 4 and 8 track stereo player and a set of Uniroyal Tiger Paws. It was the "cat's meow" at the time.

Three months later I made another BIG mistake. One day coming home after class I picked up two hitchhikers on the Gulf Freeway. Long story real short, after 9 hours at gun point the hitchhikers let me out 20 miles outside Midland, Tx in the middle of nowhere. I never saw the Mustang again.

In 1980 I wanted a Ghia just like the one I had owned previously. After searching for 5 years with no luck I went to the VW Dealership in Texas City and was told my '58 Ghia was a first year convertible and had only sold 1325 in the U.S. I knew then it would be a challenge to find another one. Today I have my dream car. A nice '58 Ghia convertible that has been well taken care of with very little rust. Wonder how many other VW enthusiasts have owned a Mustang.

Congratulations on your long marriage. We are both blessed.
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[Leonard Hooks]

[Karmann Gheezer]

Sent you a pm.
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[Leonard Hooks]

After dealing with an ethanol gas issue that prompted me to remove the gas talk sender and peer into the tank to see what it was like, my sender quit working. The old one said VDO. I installed a new sender and the guage is working fine except the needle bounces a little.

Do I need a ground. It did not seem to have one before. The electrical diagram for a 70 shows a ground mark coming off the sender. Where do I connect the ground.
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Ghia again...after 48 years
1970 Karmann Ghia, Irish Green
1965 Mustang
Owned a 1971 Ghia, Irish Green from 71-77
Owned a 1982 Porsche 924

[Heiferman]

Pretty car. I have always been partial to a British Racing Green tone.
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- 1973 Thing, 1970 Ghia, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Leonard Hooks]

My PO replaced the engine core about 20,000 miles ago, but it does not have serial numbers in the normal spot. Is this usual. If there a way to know what type of core it is?
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Ghia again...after 48 years
1970 Karmann Ghia, Irish Green
1965 Mustang
Owned a 1971 Ghia, Irish Green from 71-77
Owned a 1982 Porsche 924

[c21darrel]