This cute (you knew I’d use that word with a Ghia) Sunset Orange (if I got my color chart correct!) Volkswagen Karmann Ghia looks like it’s ready to drive away, although there are a few blemishes here and there. The car is for sale here on eBay and is located in Tijeras, New Mexico. The opening bid is set at $5,200, and since the NADA low retail is just over $6,000, this might turn out to be a deal!
As essentially a sporty looking Beetle, a Ghia can be a very practical classic as long as it’s not horribly rusty. I wish the seller of this car wasn’t quite so much a person of few words, because apart from stating that it is in “good” condition, runs “great” and has a “fair” interior, we don’t know anything else about this car. It looks like there may be some rust along the door base, but it’s hard to tell for sure. The slant on the rear bumper tells me it’s at least been tapped back there, but again, it’s hard to know more without details. I’d also like to know why the fuel filler door is a different color.
Funny, you can’t really tell any angle on the bumper from this view! It does look like the car has all its trim, though, even the commonly missing trim rings for the wheels are present. While you may want to improve this car, I certainly wouldn’t be embarrassed to drive it in the meantime!
The interior looks okay, but the pictures are poorly lighted. Again, it would be nice to have more information, especially the condition of the floor pan. Of course, that can be replaced as well, but that’s not a trivial job. In my Ghia dreams, we’ll hope it’s intact!
I can’t tell much about the engine from here, either. Of course, the seller told us it runs great–that should be enough, right? I think not. But it might be worth investigating further if you’re interested in driving off into the sunset–or sunrise! Are you?
I can understand why a seller wouldn’t bother with an extensive write-up for a $500-dollar car. But when they’re asking ten times that amount, assume anything they don’t show to be bad. Especially on ebay. Ask me how I know…
$1500 car at best. Both sills are rotted out (you can see the metal gaps in the photo). If they’re rotted, guaranteed everything else is rotted. Lots of bondo on this one..
Telltale is the seller stating “buyer takes car as-is”..
Just a heads up, I do not see any place to make a comment on Scottys Jeep find.
Fixed it — thanks for letting us know :-)
Here, no more dark photo.
I was working at a VW dealership, mostly finance from 1974 until 1982. My oldest son, born in 1974, was nearly delivered in a Karmann Ghia on the way to the hospital. I was not very experienced in driving a manual transmission, and my wife waited too long to let me know she was in labor. Luckily, we made it on time and he was born about 30 minutes after we arrived.
I’d sure like to find an autostick version for my wife. She has always wanted a Karmann Ghia.
Kevin – Don’t get an “AutomaticStickShift”! I had one in an orange Karmann-Ghia that looked just like this one… same colors inside and out… way back in 1972… so it was only about 3 years old at the time and the transmission was awful even then. Anyone would be much better off just learning to drive a stick. Honest!
For the time they handled incredibly well, went around corners flat, as you rowed through the gears to keep the revs up and the power coming. Very tight as well.
In the top 5 of the one (of many) that got away: I witnessed a rust free California convertible rot to nothing in a field here in the rust belt. Sadder yet is I actually knew it was going to be worth something and yet I did nothing.