Aussie road trip

[kiwighia68]

Just as I expected; this road trip is getting better every day. That night sky is unfortunately not seen here in New Zealand. The country is not known as the Land of the Long White Cloud for nothing.

Great photography, Nicholas.

PS Forget about the hitch-hiker. Solitude is a much unappreciated condition, and that night sky you shared with us is one best enjoyed in utter silence.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015

[56cpe]

Nic - Sorry to see what happened to the Car, but glad you are OK. I have fixed worse. And don't worry if you do lose your Nose badge, I have just made another 48 of them for sale

Regards Jerry KG Co Australia

[xzener]

Sorry to hear about your car... Looks fixable. I've always been jealous of your badge, been brainstorming ways of creating my own. That night sky pic is amazing. Only time I've ever seen anything like that was out in the middle of the Atlantic on an aircraft carrier.
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My 70 beetle was totaled Now to build the Ghia I always wanted. Rest in peace Ruby, I will miss you. Hello <insert Ghia name here>!

[sputnick60]

I made it to Texas.

A different Texas..This is the one on the New South Wales border. Much smaller on than the one in America. I hear not far away is a place called New Mexico. This car was delivered there but a continent away. I have no clue why Australian places would be named after North American places.
Queensland is known as the sunshine state. I have to say travelling through with the top down was extra nice with the sun shinning.

On the road again. I thought you's might enjoy my view of the world today. I certainly enjoyed the scenery rolling by.

One of the most spectacular bits of real estate entering the brisbane area is Cuninghams Gap. Here is the Ghia at the bottom of the decline.

The clouds are ominous for what came ahead

80 kilometres from Brisbane the squalls started. But with the top down and moving continuously almost zero rain fell inside the car. I travelled like that as dry as can be until the last 1200 metres where I was held up by traffic lights and finally got rained on intensivly. On the bright side, the car had a chance to rinse off the dust from the last thousand kilometres and enter town looking nice and clean.

Nicholas
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'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[sputnick60]

I spent a good part of Tuesday with Angus Dowrie at his home at Kangaroo Point in the fashionable Brisbane inner city.
Here he is in the garage with some of his favourites...... The '63 Ghia Phoebe, AND the New Puppy, Freida. Those nose grilles look like a perfect fit

We drove over to the Storey Bridge and did a group photo showing our most photogenic aspects ( or what remains of that )

Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Angus Dowrie]

Nice to actually meet up in person finally! I actually missed your last photos going through Cunningham Gap. I drove Phoebe through the same area not long ago, but I returned via the Waterfall Way, side road going through Killarney and it goes past a series of waterfalls obviously!

Phoebe at the top of Cunninghams Gap, nice lookout in the NP only about a kilometre from the road.

I'm glad I had disc brakes on this road, some very steep sections.

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1963 Australian Delivery RHD Coupe
Build thread;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=610414

[bobnorman]

Wow, sorry to see that Nicholas, must have been a hard thing to go through. As others have wisely said here though, the main thing is that you are ok. A car can be fixed. It has been done before and will be done again… we can rebuild him, better that he was before, better, stronger, faster. We have the technology, we have the capability…

Marsupial mayhem aside, this is the kind of thread I love to see. People in the world enjoying their Ghias. Lovely shots too.
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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289807

[sputnick60]

The action continues as Angus and I both attend the VWDCQ action day on the shores of Moreton Bay in Brisbane.
Here's both our Ghia's in the sunshine with Angus hiding the Roo damage on mine.

There are more Photos on Facebook on the VolksWagen Drivers Club of Queensland Facebook event page

Enjoy.
Nicholas
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'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[The aussie Trimmer]

Two great looking cars Guy’s, Phoebe looks fantastic Angus; and Nicholas, there is an easier way to get a iconic Aussie emblem on the bonnet.
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Cheers,
Kev.
Drive with your lights on (Be aware be seen) help others GIVE Blood

[Angus Dowrie]

[sputnick60]

I've always been a fan of street art as distinct to graffiti or tagging. Lismore, in NSW about 200 kilometres south of Brisbane is an interesting mix of people involved with rural production and people involved with alternate life styles. The art culture started back in the late 60's an early 70's with the Aquarius festival at a village known as Nimbin. It is part of what makes this part of Australia special.

I drove to Cape Byron which is the most easterly point of Australia. Sadly there is no place to park a car and get the money shot with the wonderful back drop of the famous light house and ocean views.

The adventure continues as head to Bellingen tomorrow
Nicholas
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'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[c21darrel]

IMO, you just posted a few "money shots" Very cool Art. Love that!
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GhiaBuild
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=481184
1967 DC build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=693583&highlight=67+dc
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Rich62ghia]

Love reading about your road trip Nicholas and great photos. My two personal favorites would have to be

Stance looks perfect, and I love how you can see the stars reflecting off the paintwork

[sputnick60]

You've no doubt guess the road trip has come to a close, but there are a few loose ends yet to make good. So today I dropped the Ghia off to Chris for the remedial work to commence.

It seems I've become adept at photographing that car and yet hiding the damage from that roo.
Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Angus Dowrie]

It will be good to get rid of that duct tape! (And the dent I guess....)
_________________
1963 Australian Delivery RHD Coupe
Build thread;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=610414

[70 140]

Neat thread Sputnick. Great to see your car together and out on a road trip - even if that means it gets banged up a bit. Nice photos too, always interesting to see other landscapes.

[sputnick60]

Thanks, 70 140 and You look happy there Bluedot, aren’t these cars just fun to share. Even when they go bad its still a fun experience.

I will continue doing road trips just like this one because these cars need to be enjoyed. Some keep them locked up nice and safe because theirs is the enjoyment of a pristine example, but I like taking the risk and being on the open road.

The car is imminently repairable, especially if one has a good insurance company and a good panel guy. Chris Rolfe did the restoration paint and panel and was flexible enough to accept my input on the approach. Clearly he is first choice to remedy this setback.

So far the front of the car has been pulled back in position so the RHS door closes properly again. I might need to replace the nylon in the striker because I used the door too often while the frame was bent. Just a few mm is enough to cause a problem.

The bumper outer blade and the headlight ring were both bent and I’ve had them both down to Electroplating Technology In Queanbeyan. They came back looking prefect with new chrome. Lucky that happened just before christmas which means the long lead time of the January holidays is avoided.

I managed to get a pair of RHD lenses from Vic Brkovec and over the Xmas / New Year break I’ve used those to convert a pair of NOS Euro headlights to RHD. That’s the B plan. Plan A for the headlights is buying a new reflector and marrying that with the one spare OG headlight surround and a new RHD lens. Status VW are then only source for OG Hella glass but they are out of stock for now but will have a new lot arrive sometime soon and hopefully before the shorrock supercharger

There’s an order of metal parts from Karman Erstazteilservice that is poised waiting for the banks to come back to work after the holidays. International transactions are slow at the best of times if you want to avoid paypal commisions you need to act “SWIFT”ly. In this order are two new aluminum nostrils (I’ll need to replace both so they look the same), the RHS airbox, the metal around the airbox and a new headlight bucket (along with the reflector mentioned earlier). There’s also new rubber for the inner guard where it meets the nose panel, as well as the rubber for the trunk lid that has to come off and is likely to get damaged during extraction. Also got the right rubber for the engine lid so it can be re-done to allow that lid to close properly for once.

So now I’ve written all the news I suppose I’ll put the story and progress in this thread instead of the “Entropy” thread. It should be all done by the end of January unless we uncover obstacles along the way.

It’s like doing the restoration all over again. And to think I was considering another project. Bad doggie!

Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[KGCoupe]

[sputnick60]

I can see how you could reach such a conclusion but its more to do with being part of the British Commonwealth and enjoying the game of cricket.

Australia seems to have won the Ashes series this summer.


Nicholas
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'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[John Moxon]