lowlight vert tragedy

[fuscavw]

The following is so tragic that is has haunted me these last few days and I feel the need to share it considering how great the loss.

Several weeks ago, a good friend of mine in Utah spotted what looked to be an early ghia vert in plain view along a highway while driving his daily commute. The car had obviously just been pulled out from a building on the property judging from where it was sitting and how it looked. Although nobody was home, my buddy was able to get close enough to see that it was indeed, a mostly complete and all original lowlight, but had significant body damage that extended from the nose to the top of the windshield frame. Despite the damage to the car, and he not being a ghia guy, he wisely decided to pursue it, so he stopped by again and ended up talking to the owner.

The story is this guy's parents had bought it brand new in '59, and two years later, a tree had fallen on the front end which caused them to park it in the barn until they were able to get it fixed. They collected NOS body panels and header bow, and since they evidently knew it would be awhile before they could have the work done, they pulled the whole interior out of the car and wrapped everything in plastic to keep it preserved. Well, the car remained this way for 46 years until his parents passed away and the son decided to pull it out. It won't surprise you that the car only had 19k miles on it! Of course, my buddy expressed interest in buying the car and was told by this guy that he really wanted to restore it, and was even talking to various bodyshops, but that he would let it go if he couldn't afford to have it done. My friend left his number with the guy, and left having done his best to let the guy know that if sold to him, he would take care of it and do the car right. Several days passed and a couple of us convinced my buddy that despite the risks, he desperately needed to go back and make the guy an offer before someone else does. Anyway, after going by many times over several days and finding nobody at home, he finally caught the guy at home but the ghia was gone. Mind you, this was later in the afternoon and he had already been there that morning, and the ghia was still there. Here's the guy's response to my buddy's inquiry as to what happened to the ghia: "I had it hauled off to be crushed because I decided it wasn't worth anything." He then went on to say that he loaded up everthing that went to the car inside and it was picked up earlier that afternoon by a nearby salvage yard. My buddy, as anyone of us would, about fainted. Guy went on to explain that he had lost my friend's number and talked to a few other guys who had stopped to ask about it, and then who went on to offer $100 for the car, so he figured it was worth anything and had it hauled off when the salvage guy showed up to pick up a few other old cars he had. My buddy made a beeline to the yard and upon asking about the ghia, was told he was a few hours too late, was pointed in the direction of a bunch of crushed cubes.

Other than being completely devastated and beside myself as I wonder just what if anything, this guy was thinking, the lesson here without faulting my friend is, on a deal like this, to go with your gut, and never shy away from either being prepared the first time with cash in hand, or going back as quickly as possible with your best offer, despite the risks. I hardly post on this site, but maybe I needed to share this story with others who can appreciate the loss outside of the only three people who knew of this car. I hope you can forgive me for sharing it.

[theghiagirl]

So are there any pictures of this cabriolet? From the story you told it sounded like your friend had seen this car more than once. I would think that he would have remembered to take a camera the second time. I know that if I found a Lowlight cabriolet like this one that you've desribed, I would have taken a ton of pictures, especially with a story like that.

What I think really happened was that the owner told your friend this story so that your friend would stop coming around and bugging him. He probably hauled it back into his building or sold it to someone who stepped up and made him an offer. The story just doesn't jive with me. Why would someone hold onto a car for that many years, take such care in saving all of the original interior, collect NOS panels for the repair and then sell it to a salvage yard for $100? Don't you think that the owner would have gotten some response from the body shops that he visited? I would think that at least one of these body guys would have made a comment about how rare these cars are or how few he has seen. What happened to all of the parts? I don't believe that the guy at the salvage yard would have crushed this stuff too.

Maybe the new owner knows about this website and will post some pictures in the near future.

[fuscavw]

Yep, I know the story is unbelievable, and I wouldn't believe it myself if I didn't know my friend for as long as I have. I wish he would've taken pics too, and most of us would have, but he just isn't the type to carry a camera around. It's impossible to try to make sense of this, but the only thing I can figure is that once his parents died, this guy just didn't care to look into the value of this car, and was so disconnected with reality that on a whim, he simply wanted it out of there. Even when I got my carbio, the people had very little idea as to what the car was, and either didn't have the means or interest to find out.

[kingkarmann]

I am convinced the owner had been approached about selling this Ghia so many times that he moved it and made up the story to stop the inquiries. I don't doubt your story but I doubt the reality simply because I can't fathom how an individual could be as careful to preserve the car as stated in the story and then just let it go. He knows what he has and I think it's hidden away. I hope
_________________
"Depression is a malfunction of the instrument we use to determine reality.”

Mike Gerson

What is your "Bespoke Reality"?

[John Moxon]

Yep me too. The guys reply is just too pat. Not least because every scrap metal dealer I've ever heard of has a sixth sense when it comes to rare cars, no matter what shape they're in.

"Oh yeah, here's the perfectly preserved interior, I've packaged that up neatly too, just throw it in with the car."

Does that sound plausible?

The guys are shooting your friend a line.
_________________
John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[iowegian]

[John Moxon]

[jtdreamcast]

WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i'm glad to see nobody fell for that line of crap. my favorite part is that the scrap yard took the interior parts which have little to no scrap value.
any time i have taken a car to the body shop (i have delt with old fords) sometimes i play dumb. when i do this, the estimator always says "i dont know , the repairs might be more than the car is worth. the last time i did this was with a 69 torino with a 429. not the origional motor, but that combo is worth big bucks. the only thing it needed was a right front fender and some paint thrown on it.
my question is .......... is there a fiction portion of the samba?

the other john m.

[fuscavw]

Stranger things have happened than having an old car that had a tree fall on it get towed away for scrap. I believe that even in the classic car environment of today, this sort of thing does still take place without anyone noticing, let along caring what gets hauled off as junk.

Fairly recently, the wife of another friend of mine called him in a panic to let him know that she had spotted a mango paint bus turning into a recycling yard. He hightaled it over there just as the jaws of death picked it up and crushed its roof. It was a dry and complete bus in original paint. He pleaded with the owner to let him buy it, but was turned down, although he was given 15 min. to pull off whatever parts he could. My friend had only a few screwdrivers and pliers, so he didn't get much (if anyone needs some original mango interior panels let me know, lol). He left as to not witness the final dirty deed completely done. In my experience, most Idaho and Utah people just don't appreciate or recognize the value of these vehicles.

As for the cabrio, as much as I want to believe the owner was just trying to get rid of my friend, the scrap yard dude knew what car my buddy was talking about when he got there and asked about it. Conspiracy? I hope so, given the car we're talking about. I'll have to mentioned your idea to my friend. It at least gives us some hope!