The car enthusiast community is a pretty fickle bunch; take a fairly slow, swoopy 1958 convertible with classic lines, just the right amount of chrome and enough charisma to make you smile. Put a Mercedes-Benz star on it and call it a 190SL, and it’s a $150,000 – $200,000 car with a well-heeled following; put a Volkswagen badge on it and it’s a $20,000 – $40,000 car with a cult following. But appreciation for the Karmann Ghia is growing, and these early “low light” early models are the most desirable. With a clean restoration and the right classic color combination, I’m left wondering why anyone would choose a 190SL over this:
Tag: Karmann Ghia
It seems these days the blueprint to own a classic car in good condition is to go to a big-headline auction and pay ever-increasing amounts to get the best and most unique example of a particularly popular run of car possible. Look at the 911 and E30 M3, though they’re not alone; the frenzy over prices has created its own “Hemi” moment as prices double on a year over year basis. Where does that leave enthusiasts? With plenty of options, thank you very much. If you want a classic Porsche like the 356 or early 911s but just can’t stomach the incredible bills associated with those cars, why not consider the early Karmann Ghia? Seriously, to someone who was uninitiated, if you took the badges off of each and swapped them around, it would be easy to believe that the 356 was a Volkswagen product and the Karmann Ghia was the Porsche – its sleek lines look, if anything, more sporty than the 356. Classicly styled, long and low and with that trademark flat-four soundtrack that drove several generations, the Karmann Ghia is one of the few classic German cars that is still quite affordable but will make you feel like a million dollars wherever you pull up – especially when presented in the condition of today’s 1956 example:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1956 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia on eBay
2 CommentsA rare bird amongst older Volkswagens, the Type 34 isn’t well known despite being one of the best looking products to come out of Wolfsburg.…
Comments closedProbably like a lot of people out there, I have a neighbor with a Karmann Ghia sitting in his driveway, rotting away. It’s a sad…
2 CommentsYears ago, when my mother was buying her first car, she had her heart set on a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. However, my grandfather thought it…
2 Comments