KK July-Sept.indd - Karmann Ghia Owners Club
KK July-Sept.indd - Karmann Ghia Owners Club
KK July-Sept.indd - Karmann Ghia Owners Club
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VOLUME 28<br />
ISSUE No 3<br />
JUL – SEP<br />
2012
Chairman<br />
Clive Richardson<br />
4 Church Farm Cottages<br />
Collier Street, Tonbridge<br />
Kent, TN12 9RT<br />
Tel: 01892 730366<br />
chairman@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Editorial Team<br />
‘<strong>Karmann</strong> Komment’<br />
Peter Skinner<br />
Stuart de Lacey<br />
editor@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Tel: 01386 872737<br />
or 0116-2708120<br />
Type 14 Register Secretary<br />
Peter Mosdell<br />
21 Alterton Close<br />
Woking<br />
Surrey GU21 3DD<br />
Tel: 07545 017703<br />
t1register@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Type 34 Register Secretary<br />
Andy Holmes<br />
2 Scotts Farm Close<br />
Maids Moreton<br />
Buckingham<br />
Bucks, MK18 1RX<br />
Tel: 01280 815341<br />
t3register@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Type 14 Spares Advisor<br />
Alan Beckett<br />
27 Garners Lane<br />
Stockport<br />
Cheshire<br />
SK3 8SD<br />
Tel: 0161 483 0465<br />
t1parts@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Type 34 Spares<br />
Advisor<br />
Mark Poulton<br />
15 Daniell Way<br />
Great Boughton<br />
Chester<br />
Cheshire, CH3 5XH<br />
t3parts@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Membership Secretary<br />
Lynn Skinner<br />
The Acorns,<br />
Oak Tree Road,<br />
Harvington,<br />
Worcestershire, WR11 8NE<br />
Tel: 01386 872737<br />
join@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Events Co-ordinator<br />
Lewis & Lisa Agombar<br />
4 Grange End<br />
Smallfield<br />
Surrey RH6 9NE<br />
Tel: 01342 843017<br />
events@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Ireland<br />
Wayne McCarthy<br />
Florence House<br />
Strawhall<br />
Fermoy, Cork<br />
Ireland<br />
0035 387 22 80818<br />
ireland@kgoc-gb.org<br />
South West<br />
(Devon, Cornwall and Somerset)<br />
Mark Sirett<br />
46 Thorne Park Road, Torquay,<br />
Devon<br />
TQ2 6RU<br />
Tel: 07977 540031<br />
southwest@kgoc-gb.org<br />
International <strong>Club</strong> Liaison<br />
John Figg<br />
13 Hilltop Road, Toms Lane<br />
Kings Langley<br />
Herts<br />
WD4 8NS<br />
Tel:01923 263658<br />
international@kgoc-gb.org<br />
3<br />
Scotland<br />
Stephen Risi<br />
4 Queens Road<br />
Edinburgh<br />
EH4 2BY<br />
Tel: 07751 016428<br />
scotland@kgoc-gb.org<br />
NW England/N Wales<br />
Judith Beckett<br />
27 Garners Lane<br />
Stockport<br />
Cheshire<br />
SK3 8SD<br />
Tel: 0161 483 0465<br />
northwest@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Treasurer<br />
Peter Reilly<br />
97 St Peters Court<br />
Chalfont St Peter<br />
Bucks SL9 9QH<br />
Tel: 07966-133337<br />
treasurer@kgoc-gb.org<br />
<strong>Club</strong> Shop Secretary<br />
Martin & Sonja Rogers<br />
34 North Lane<br />
East Preston<br />
Littlehampton, West Sussex<br />
Tel: 01903 771733<br />
shop@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Northern<br />
Bernie Houldershaw<br />
21 Marmion Terrace<br />
Whitley Bay<br />
Tyne Wear,<br />
NE25 8AS<br />
Tel: 07754 750716<br />
northern@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Midlands<br />
Lee Appleby<br />
25 Pembroke Drive<br />
Stone<br />
Staffordshire<br />
ST15 8XE<br />
Tel: 01785 817408<br />
midlands@kgoc-gb.org Essex &<br />
Anglia<br />
Vacancy<br />
Thames Valley & Chilterns<br />
Mike Kelly<br />
65 Bicester Road<br />
London & South East<br />
Long Crendon<br />
Janet Richardson<br />
Bucks, HP18 9EE<br />
4 Church Farm Cottages<br />
Tel: 01844 201010<br />
Collier Street, Tonbridge,<br />
thames-valley@kgoc-<br />
Kent, TN12 9RT<br />
Tel: 01892 730366<br />
london-se@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Southern<br />
Mike & Dee Shaw<br />
36 Temple Cottage<br />
Corsley<br />
Warminster<br />
Wilts BA12 7QN<br />
Tel: 01373 832484<br />
southern@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Each KGOC (GB) Committee Member is a volunteer, carrying out <strong>Club</strong> duties in their own leisure time. The <strong>Club</strong> has no paid or fulltime<br />
officials, only enthusiasts dedicated in furthering the interests of the <strong>Club</strong> and its members. Could members please bear this in<br />
mind when contacting <strong>Club</strong> Committee Members?<br />
KGOC(GB) web-site address: www.kgoc-gb.org<br />
Website editor Clive Sharpe: webmaster@kgoc-gb.org
Contents<br />
<strong>Karmann</strong> Komment, <strong>July</strong> - <strong>Sept</strong>ember<br />
(VOLUME 28, ISSUE No 3, SUMMER 2012)<br />
1 Front Cover Photos – Grant Walker’s 1960 Coupé<br />
2 2012 Calendar – <strong>July</strong> Courtesy - Markus ‘Buschy’ Buschaus<br />
3 Committee and Local <strong>Club</strong> Contacts<br />
4 Contents<br />
5 Chairman’s Comment<br />
6 Editorial<br />
7 New Members<br />
8 Mailbox<br />
10 Type 34 Territory<br />
13 Photo-Shooting a <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong> – Lorna Branczik on location<br />
16 The KG DNA Files<br />
21 Paul & Heidi Smith’s <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong> Coupé<br />
24 Historic Advert, 1972<br />
25 To Berne – and back in TWO <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>s<br />
29 The ideal 40th Birthday Present?? – Grant Walker’s 1960 Coupé<br />
33 Motoring Madness – French Breathalyser Laws<br />
34 <strong>Ghia</strong>s in the Movies<br />
35 Sam McElroy’s 1972 Coupé<br />
38 Ninove – Martyn Crew<br />
40 Star in a Kar(mann)<br />
42 Information and Adverts Information Section<br />
43 Parts News<br />
44 South Eastern Area Activities – Janet Richardson<br />
45 Pershore Plum Festival<br />
46 Events<br />
55 Calendar August & <strong>Sept</strong>ember<br />
56 Back Cover – Grant Walker’s 1960 Coupé<br />
Deadline for the Autumn Issue 2012 is 1st SEPTEMBER 2012<br />
Printed by Avon Printing Services, 68 Roundponds, Melksham, Wiltshire SN12 8EB<br />
4
Chairman’s Comment<br />
Hi and welcome to this summer edition of <strong>KK</strong>. With the<br />
unpredictable weather I hope you have had a chance to get some<br />
use of your car this year. The very wet April caused the<br />
postponement of the Stanford Hall show - first time ever? It<br />
should take place about the time this is published so I hope all<br />
goes well this time round. The club has a major presence at this<br />
show so we hope to have great event.<br />
With regard to shows, we recently attended a local classic car<br />
show at Deal with Heidi & Elliot. Also exhibiting was Hollis Motors,<br />
for many years a VW dealer until VW took the franchises back.<br />
Barry Hollis spent a while chatting to Elliott and I about our KGs and it turned out to be<br />
very interesting. He had spent time in Wolfsburg learning the trade and told us a few<br />
tales of his time there in the 60s. He drove to Germany in a Type 3 notchback that<br />
developed an engine problem while he was there. The head mechanical engineer<br />
rebuilt the engine for him, adding a few tweaks, which he never fully found out about,<br />
however it was the fastest notch around and when he got back to Kent he put the<br />
engine in a Type 34 <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>. Unfortunately he could not remember the reg<br />
number so we don’t know if the car is still about.<br />
The club’s web site progresses and I hope by the time you are reading this it will be fully<br />
functional. There have been delays as we make adjustments to get it just right and one<br />
of the most testing has been the forum. As I write this there are still final tweaks being<br />
made so I hope by the time you read this it will be up and running. The main forum<br />
change is that whilst it will continue to be visible to anyone, the ability to post will be<br />
restricted to paid-up club members only. This has caused some controversy, especially<br />
from non-club individuals who use the forum. However this is the club’s web site /<br />
forum and our aim is to provide benefits for you, the members. Without paying<br />
members the club would cease to exist, and therefore the forum would die too. There is<br />
a feeling across the internet that everything should be free, but the reality is that it<br />
actually costs money to set up, run and maintain. So why should paying club members<br />
subsidise everybody else??? We hope our club members will continue to make the club<br />
forum “THE” place to be to discuss KG related issues and encourage others to join and<br />
benefit from our resources and expertise.<br />
Finally, on the website front, if you can see anything that you think we should add or<br />
change please let me know. We want to develop it into our members’ site, so picture<br />
galleries of events are the next step.<br />
Enjoy your car over the Summer.<br />
Clive<br />
5
From the Editorial team<br />
Welcome the “Summer 2012” edition of <strong>Karmann</strong> Komment. Please note the “<br />
marks!<br />
Just for once, we thought, let’s try to write an editorial without referring to that very<br />
British obsession: the weather. Not so easy in a year which has so far seen drought,<br />
flood and, as we write, is expecting storm force winds anytime now. We trust that<br />
pestilence and plagues of locusts are not to follow.<br />
As you will probably know, the Stanford Hall show on May 6th had to be called off just<br />
48 hours before the event due to such heavy rainfall in the preceding days that not only<br />
would the grounds have been ploughed up but cherished vehicles would have been<br />
grounded axle-deep in mud. Fortunately, it could be re-scheduled and we hope that all<br />
will be well on <strong>July</strong> 1st, which should see the largest turn-out of <strong>Ghia</strong>s at Stanford for<br />
some years.<br />
But nothing deterred Mike and Astrid Kelly from making another of their now famous<br />
road-trips and getting “To Bern and Back in Two <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>s”, a 1500-mile round<br />
trip. For the full details see p25.<br />
There will be plenty of other events to attend and driving to be done this summer. How<br />
about the Pershore Plum Festival? (See p45.) This event has grown year on year and<br />
what started as a few old cars in the Abbey grounds has blossomed into a week-long<br />
event culminating in the “Plum Fayre Day” on the August Bank Holiday Monday (27th<br />
August). Last year well over 100 cars were on display including a sizable group of VWs.<br />
Take a look at http://www.pershoreplumfestival.org.uk/<br />
Janet Richardson continues her sterling work for the club and is organising events for<br />
those in the South-East, including the Kent Festival near Dover or the Grill ‘n’ Chill, also<br />
in Kent. See p44 for full details; also for news of two great events in the Southern Area.<br />
And in this issue of <strong>KK</strong>, we are featuring some beautiful cars that you just might see out<br />
on the road or at an event: Grant Walker’s stunning 1960 coupé (featured on the front<br />
cover); Sam McElroy’s fully-restored red ’72; Paul and Heidi Smith’s lemon-yellow<br />
coupe; or Lorna Branczik’s pale metallic turquoise ’71 coupé – a fashion icon if ever<br />
there was one. You might even glimpse a Star In A Kar(mann) – Dermot O’Leary<br />
perhaps? See page 40 for a brief résumé of what was said about “our” cars in the Mail<br />
on Sunday earlier this year. For some obscure reason the article seemed to concentrate<br />
on Dermot’s dealings with Simon Cowell – whoever he is?? When you’ve read the article<br />
– please don’t tell the Daily Mail!<br />
6
On page 16 Peter continues his detective work with the origins of the <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>,<br />
now moving on to the “What happened next?” question. This is becoming something of<br />
an obsession with him and it’s amazing to unfold the stories of the individuals<br />
concerned in the gestation and production of the KG and to understand in some cases<br />
what long, productive careers they had. Some of them went on to develop some of the<br />
20th century’s most enduring automotive motoring icons.<br />
By the time you are reading this edition the 2012 KGOC International event will have<br />
happened. We are anticipating a record turn-out including a contingent from Denmark<br />
and looking forward to it as we write. (DON’T even breathe about the weather!)<br />
The club’s new website is now at www.kgoc.org.uk and despite a few teething<br />
troubles seems to be attracting new visitors and interest. Have you seen it yet? As ever<br />
we thank our contributors past and present. Feel free to send us anything KG or ‘Old<br />
Car’ related whenever the urge takes you!! editor@kgoc-gb.org<br />
The <strong>Club</strong> Welcomes The<br />
Following New Members<br />
7<br />
A Skidel production!<br />
Write to the team at<br />
editor@kgoc-gb.org<br />
THE CLUB WELCOMES THE FOLLOWING NEW MEMBERS…………………………………………………………..<br />
first second area type cc year roof col body colour<br />
David Pughe Kent 1 Coupe 1600 1972 Black Irish Green LHD<br />
Jeremy Mansell Shropshire no car<br />
Dave Sutton Dorset 1 Coupe 1300 1963 White Blue RHD<br />
Akbar Jaffer Buckinghamshire 1 Coupe 1600 1971 Chinchilla Grey Chinchilla Grey LHD<br />
Philip Davies Cheshire 1 Coupe 1300 1966 Gold Gold LHD<br />
Charlie Fuller Buckinghamshire 1 Coupe 1600 1972 Ivory Ivory<br />
Kenny Steele Hampshire 1 Cabrio 1966<br />
Christian Hillman Dorset 1 Coupe 1600 1968 Marothon Blue Marathon Blue LHD<br />
Grant Walker Gloucestershire 1 Coupe 1200 1960 Artic White Strato Blue RHD<br />
John Head Suffolk 1 Coupe 1965 Black Black RHD<br />
Carol Igoe Berkshire No details<br />
Martin O'Keefe Kent 1 Coupe 1600 1971 Black Orange RHD<br />
Eduardo Trindade Brazil T34 1600 1964 Red Red LHD
Mailbox<br />
From Our International Correspondent<br />
Here we are then, back from the ‘Land of the Rising Rain’ and the ‘Land of the<br />
Wall-to-Wall Sunshine’ to the ‘Land of the Surprisingly Late Frost, Drought and Chilly<br />
Drizzle’!<br />
The bay-window bus was in Launceston in Tasmania. I’m told it’s a chain of surf shops<br />
found in other Australian cities.<br />
The KG was around about where we were staying with Nic and Ryan and I took the<br />
pictures in Manly, on the other side of the harbour from Sydney.<br />
Rob Simpkin, April 2012<br />
8
Mailbox<br />
Vintage Postcard Series suggested by Ralph Lloyd-Jones<br />
“Julier Passhohe” (Julier Pass, Switzerland)<br />
9<br />
Postcard from<br />
Mike Kelly<br />
“And here’s a pic of our new<br />
Treasurer, Peter Reilly. As you<br />
can see he has the support of<br />
all the <strong>Club</strong> Committee!”
Type 34 KG Territory<br />
by Andy Holmes<br />
This edition predominately concentrates on some brief updates on members’ cars;<br />
what else is there more interesting to include?!<br />
What about another T34 meeting in 2012\3?<br />
As there has been zero interest in holding another T34 meeting this year we shall<br />
continue to meet up virtually through this article, meetings and the club’s website and<br />
Facebook sites. Don’t forget to keep in touch with us here at the club as well as the<br />
more exotic world-wide groups; after all we are the guys close on hand to help with<br />
local knowledge about the cars and are here to help you and also very keen to hear<br />
about your successes and challenges.<br />
Worth the wait - Update from Tim Shotter on the restoration of his 1966 LHD<br />
Sunroof car (T345)<br />
Sadly since the last edition of <strong>KK</strong> not a great deal has happened with my razor. The<br />
pans ordered from Classic Fab didn’t turn up in November or at the end of February - in<br />
fact they only arrived at the end of April. I have to say the product is great, but the time<br />
wasted is ridiculous. I have learned the hard way that if you want Classic Fab parts you<br />
are better off buying them from the American stockists as they at least appear to<br />
receive shipments, unlike us over here in the UK!<br />
My <strong>Ghia</strong> is next in line at Panelkraft for the final work to be done, but as it’s been so<br />
long my place in the queue has been jumped and the cars currently receiving full<br />
restorations will need to be finished off first. All being well, I should have a rolling<br />
project by the end of the month (June) and if I’m lucky it will be on the road for my<br />
wedding! The work on the body is now complete, the poor conversion from LHD to<br />
RHD has been beautifully redone and looks stock, the<br />
rear engine hatch surround from my fastback donor has<br />
been grafted in, and the heater channels have been rewelded<br />
properly rather than tacked - this time along their<br />
entire length not just the areas it is easy to reach. All the<br />
bits that needed repairing have been done; it’s not a full<br />
resto but it’s the right direction to getting it done!<br />
In other news I received a birth certificate from the VW<br />
museum people who have confirmed this car is a 1966<br />
345 <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong> Coupé electric steel sunroof model<br />
with M 139 Sealed beam headlights and red rear lamp<br />
lenses options added and It was originally delivered to<br />
Belgium. If anyone knows any more about it I’d love to<br />
hear more! (JLX 134K)<br />
10
I’m now trying to find parts (aren’t we all?) and getting ready to put it all back together!<br />
I have a mountain of things to source but if anyone has a set of the foam dash covers in<br />
rough condition (as I want to re-cover them) or an original radio (doesn’t have to work)<br />
then please let me know as I could do with them fairly soon!<br />
Gilding the Lily – Wayne McCarthy’s Low mileage 68 model gets a light touch up<br />
In the last edition I mentioned Wayne was looking<br />
forward to bringing his car across to Stanford<br />
Hall, where it won the Concourse in 1987 and<br />
went into hibernation after that until Wayne<br />
bought it. To make the car an absolute stunner<br />
Wayne has addressed the minor paint issues on<br />
the car and treated it to a refinish as in the photo.<br />
Stanford Hall was rained off but Wayne took it to<br />
Stonor which he says was wet and had about half<br />
the crowd as normal. The great news is the <strong>Ghia</strong><br />
is back in its winning ways and won the class. He drove it back home to Ireland and as it<br />
stands now the car has done still just 9,434 miles.<br />
A welcome back to Mick Gilbert and an introduction to his new project car – a 1965<br />
LHD (T343)<br />
Mick is a previous long-time member of the club, having owned two T34s including<br />
what was for a long time the oldest one in the UK which he bought from the original<br />
family (almost a twin for my own car as delivered new). He has balanced his interest in<br />
T34s with that in Volvo P1800s and with retirement on the horizon thought it would be<br />
good to enter the world of T34s again.<br />
He looked at a number of UK cars and thought that they were not for him for various<br />
reasons and started to broaden his search. He saw an advert for an interesting project<br />
car in the US. It was advertised for sale on The Samba in the US as 1965 T34 <strong>Ghia</strong> with<br />
extras (parts) and located out in Arizona. From talking to the son of the seller Mick was<br />
able to establish the following about the history of the car.<br />
“The history I have on the car goes back roughly twelve years; prior to that we don’t<br />
know a whole lot about it. Twelve years ago the car was purchased from a guy here in<br />
Arizona where I live. Ironically it was from a guy I now work with these days. He<br />
purchased the car from the retired Air Force guy down the street who had it stored in<br />
his garage. The guy I work with didn’t get much of a story on the car from the previous<br />
owner other than he is the one who brought it to the USA after working overseas for a<br />
couple of years, but is unsure of what year that happened. My co-worker had sold the<br />
car after he got it running and enjoyed it for a couple of years. The buyer was a guy in<br />
Alabama who bought it during the infancy of The Samba. He had recently retired and<br />
was going to restore it. For a couple of years he collected information on the car,<br />
bought spare hard to find parts then he found the guy who at that time made<br />
reproduction seals for windows etc.<br />
11
The guy ordered everything for the car which cost a pretty penny. Shortly thereafter he<br />
suddenly passed away and his widow listed the car for sale on The Samba again; the<br />
<strong>Ghia</strong> went to a guy in California. The guy in California took the partially disassembled<br />
car and completely took it apart. The plan was to build a show car. He bought the<br />
Klassic Fab Type 3 pan halves for it as the battery side was rotted and the other was<br />
dented up. So both were replaced, the pan was then blasted and painted gloss black,<br />
all the suspension had been completely rebuilt front and back, and trans was installed<br />
to make it a roller. During this time the California guy had located a rotted Type 34 and<br />
scrapped it for parts, hence the extra lids and doors and even more extra parts. About 9<br />
months ago my dad bought the car being that he too recently retired and figured this<br />
would be a fun project to keep himself active. He had owned a Type 34 about 8 years<br />
ago and drove it for a couple of years before selling it to buy a super nice unmolested<br />
‘67 double cab.<br />
Well after getting the car home it sat untouched for a couple of months and he decided<br />
to sell it and the double cab. He wanted to clear the two cars out of the garage so my<br />
mom’s new car could be in there, as well as give him room for his motorcycle and room<br />
to tinker with it. He told me he was getting too old to crawl under cars so the<br />
motorcycle was better for him as it sat up on a table. So I brought it to my house and<br />
listed it for sale for him. If I could afford it I would buy the car from him but I already<br />
have a couple of other money pits awaiting my attention”.<br />
Mick has now arranged for the car to be shipped back to the UK with the used spares<br />
which he will be keen to sort through and swap for the bits he needs for his<br />
restorations. He plans a stock restoration, probably in Cherry red rather than the<br />
original Henna red and with a black roof and interior. Looking forward to hearing of<br />
progress Mick!<br />
Interesting Parts for Sale<br />
For those of you with pre 68 model T34s which featured the ivory coloured plastic<br />
mushroom shaped dashboard knobs you may be interested to learn of a source of<br />
similar shaped radio switches in the US. They are the same shape and the only<br />
challenge is that the colour shown on the web site is light grey. They are for sale via<br />
Beckerautosound in the US, manufacturers of the well know high end spec and cost<br />
radios. Here is a link to the page with the range of replacement knobs.<br />
http://www.beckerautosound.com/Classic/knob_levers.html<br />
12
Photo-shooting a <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong><br />
Lorna Branczik on location with her ’71 coupé<br />
A month or so ago, I received a call out of the blue from Lynn Skinner from the<br />
KGOC enquiring whether my car was ’on the road’ as she had been approached by a<br />
fashion company who needed such a car for a photo-shoot in Notting Hill the<br />
following day.<br />
As luck would have it my car was out of winter storage (albeit drying out ready to be regaraged<br />
until the monsoon was over!) l agreed that I could make myself and the car<br />
available for the following day and Lynn kindly passed on my details to Shelley<br />
Tichborne who is the Creative Director of Mou Limited, a fashion company based in<br />
Pall Mall in London. Shelley duly contacted me and terms were agreed. We agreed that<br />
the car deserved the same fee as the human models. We (now the royal we!) were to be<br />
available from around 10.30 am and be prepared to drive to Notting Hill, then possibly<br />
Little Venice and a location near Harrods for a photo-shoot. Conveniently, the early<br />
filming was in Chiswick Park which is adjacent to my house. Once local filming was<br />
completed I followed their pantechnicon towards Notting Hill. Unfortunately the traffic<br />
was so dire, we decided to break convoy and make our way independently to Notting<br />
Hill.<br />
13
Notting Hill: grand villas, “stunning good looks”, and the ever-fashionable <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong><br />
14
Shelley had been told my car was ‘Green’ which is indeed how it is described in the log<br />
book and on the KGOC list. Actually, describing the car as ‘green’ really doesn’t do it<br />
justice and eyes popped out of their heads with excitement when they saw my car<br />
which is a really beautiful metallic pale turquoise. (I was once told it was a VW Scirocco<br />
colour, re-sprayed from its original Californian red.) I have to say that my car looked<br />
splendid and completely at home parked in front of some very grand 4-storey<br />
Edwardian villas in Notting Hill.<br />
Its appearance was further enhanced by two (human!) models; one a very good-looking<br />
young Anglo-Japanese student and a gorgeous female model whose stunning good<br />
looks were pretty well masked by massive white-rimmed sunglasses and an enormous<br />
hat with a large floppy brim. They duly clambered in and out of the car and walked to<br />
and fro and occasionally I was asked to move the car to the different position. You are<br />
probably wondering by now which fashion products were being photographed? I<br />
confess I’d never heard of them before but they are very upmarket fashion boots which<br />
retail at around £400 per pair! Imagine my delight when I was asked to put on a pair of<br />
the boots, and then my horror as I was asked to ‘scuff them up a bit as they looked too<br />
new’. Well, you will see the photos and judge for yourselves and you can log on to the<br />
Mou website and see for yourself too.<br />
Model and car; ‘behind the scenes’ – hair & make-up artist and wardrobe mistress; the boots<br />
After a couple of hours my KG and I were dismissed; no need to continue on to Little<br />
Venice or Harrods, so we set off back to West London with a few pennies in my pocket<br />
to spend on the car. Just one comment rather upset me – the photographer said my car<br />
was ‘too shiny’ and playing havoc with light refection on the camera lens!<br />
Lorna Branczik April 2012<br />
With thanks to Shelley Tichborne at Mou for providing the featured photographs<br />
www.mou-online.com<br />
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<strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong> – the DNA Files<br />
Investigated by Peter Skinner<br />
I’m always fascinated by those brief bits at the end of a fact-based film which go on<br />
to tell you what happened to the protagonists after the events depicted. I therefore<br />
thought readers might enjoy a brief run-down of the history of <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong> and<br />
some of the more famous people involved in the <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong> story as a further<br />
(intended to be the final – but somehow facts just keep popping out) instalment of the<br />
“Who designed the KG?” series. At times it reads like the old joke – “Greek meets<br />
Greek and opens a restaurant”!<br />
Starting at the very beginning.......... <strong>Karmann</strong> GMBH was founded in 1901 in<br />
Osnabruck, Germany, as a manufacturer of traditional horse-drawn carriage work. They<br />
were quick to spot the potential of the new- fangled horseless carriage. Wilhelm<br />
<strong>Karmann</strong> junior joined his father’s company in 1933 when he was 19, and assumed<br />
control in 1952 on the death of his father. Between 1935 and 1937 he attended the<br />
Institute for Coachwork and Vehicle Construction at Bernau near Berlin. Then he spent<br />
two years as an engineer with Ambi-Budd in Berlin, a company which had pioneered<br />
all-steel body and unitary “chassis-less” car construction. <strong>Karmann</strong> returned to<br />
Osnabruck in 1939 with state-of-the-art knowledge of manufacturing techniques, but,<br />
instead of cars, he had to reorganise the factory to produce military equipment. He<br />
joined the German army in 1941, was taken prisoner by the Americans and returned to<br />
civilian life and the <strong>Karmann</strong> factory in 1945.<br />
It was, as we have heard, Wilhelm who forged the relationship with Liugi Segre – which<br />
is where the KG story starts.<br />
Interviewed in the mid-1980s, <strong>Karmann</strong> still recalled the impact the KG had had and<br />
recalled the ramifications of finding a name for a model. “It was a world sensation, but<br />
it still did not have a name. To capitalise on the Italian-styled body, we thought of<br />
names like Ascona, San Remo, Corona and other lake, mountain, or seaside resorts. But<br />
time was getting short. The car was going on sale in October . . . Finally I said, `How<br />
about calling it the <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>?’ They [the VW directors] looked at me, tried it out<br />
on their lips as if to taste it and decided they liked it. Everyone was in favour of the<br />
<strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong> name.”<br />
This was the first and last time that the <strong>Karmann</strong> name appeared as manufacturer of a<br />
series motor vehicle (although later motorhomes were marketed under the <strong>Karmann</strong><br />
brand name).<br />
Before he died in 1998 Wilhelm Jnr. had cleverly steered the <strong>Karmann</strong> business from a<br />
local industry to a world-wide concern with subsidiaries in Portugal and Brazil, and with<br />
more than 6,000 employees by the mid-1990s. In that time the company developed<br />
16
and produced vehicles as diverse as the Ford Escort convertible, Porsche 968, Jaguar<br />
XJS convertible and the Kia Sportage. They also acted as design consultants on famous<br />
cars such as the Triumph TR6.<br />
A close and ongoing relationship with VW had commenced in 1949 with the Beetle<br />
convertible and became the bedrock of the company’s success, eventually including<br />
more than 700,000 Sciroccos and over 400,000 Golf convertibles.<br />
Interestingly there is a school of thought that if the “Hebmuller” company had not<br />
suffered a disastrous fire at their factory in the same year things might have turned out<br />
differently. At the time of the fire they were working on an initial order for 600+<br />
convertible Beetles, having had their design accepted in preference to the <strong>Karmann</strong><br />
design. On such things can history be defined!<br />
It is a fact that during the entire span of the KG production the lines were continually<br />
shared with the Beetle Cabriolet (pic). Arguably a triumph of clever production<br />
control.....<br />
<strong>Karmann</strong> also commenced production of<br />
the Porsche 911 (or 901 as it was originally<br />
to be known before a lawsuit from Peugeot<br />
established their rights to a three figure<br />
model name with an “0” in the middle).<br />
Wilhelm Karman junior died in 1998.By the<br />
time of the <strong>Karmann</strong> company’s’ demise in<br />
2009 they were the largest independent<br />
motor vehicle manufacturing company in<br />
Germany. However falling demand and<br />
poor cash flow drove the company to file<br />
for insolvency on 8 April 2009. Soon after VW themselves stepped in and bought the<br />
Osnabruck plant, commencing manufacture of the new version of the Golf cabriolet in<br />
March 2011.<br />
So – although primarily remembered (by KGOC members anyway) for the pretty two<br />
door coupé & convertible we know and love, they were in fact prolific designers and<br />
manufacturers of a wide variety of automotive machinery and built for themselves an<br />
enviable niche market as manufacturers, designers and consultants.<br />
Carrozzerai <strong>Ghia</strong> was founded in 1921 by the eponymous Giacinto <strong>Ghia</strong> (1887 – 1944)<br />
with his partner Gariglio (1921). The company initially made lightweight aluminiumbodied<br />
cars, achieving fame with the Alfa Romeo 6C 1500, winning the Mille Miglia in<br />
1929. They also designed special bodies for Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Lancia.<br />
Sadly the <strong>Ghia</strong> factory was destroyed in an allied air raid during 1943, and, although<br />
rebuilt soon after in a different location, the popular version of the story is that<br />
17
Giacinto <strong>Ghia</strong> died soon after this wholesale destruction and on his deathbed reached<br />
agreement for the transfer of the company to Mario Boano and Giorgio Alberti.<br />
Mario Boano - little appears to be recorded about Giorgio Alberti but it is known that<br />
one of Mario Boano’s first actions was to form the <strong>Ghia</strong>-Aigle subsidiary, Switzerland<br />
(1948). The Aigle factory seem to have specialized in custom coach building work and is<br />
on record as having produced some beautiful looking cars on many of the famous<br />
makes chassis available at the time – including Bugatti, Alfa Romeo and MG. He is also<br />
remembered for his distinctive low-roofline designs for prestigious names such as Alfa<br />
Romeo, Lancia, Chrysler K200, and Ferrari.<br />
Boano in the meantime continued to build the company in Turin and in 1953 was joined<br />
by one Luigi Segre. Boano had been keen to emulate Porsche in its adaptation of Beetle<br />
as fundamental to the sports coupé concept. However he was thwarted in his ambitions<br />
because VW stubbornly refused to supply a chassis for further development work.<br />
Sergio Coggiola insisted that the KG “overall design” of what became the <strong>Karmann</strong><br />
<strong>Ghia</strong> was carried out during this period by Mario Boano. His son, Gian Paolo, also<br />
assisted and contributed to the design. You may recall it was he who was later sent to<br />
Paris to collect a Beetle from Charles Ladouche.<br />
Citing “differences” with Segre, Boano left the company in 1953 and founded<br />
Carrozzeria Boano in 1954 with his son Paolo Boano. They were responsible for some of<br />
the gorgeous production from Pininfarina - when Batista ‘Pinin’ Farina left Stablimenti<br />
Farina to work under his own name, he brought Boano with him.<br />
Paolo went on to become a respected designer in his own right. One of his first series<br />
production vehicle designs was the Lancia Aurelia 2000 whilst still working at <strong>Ghia</strong>.<br />
Later at Carrozeria Boano he was given the job by his father of designing a new car to<br />
be based on an American Lincoln chassis. The project was born of Mario Boano’s<br />
acquaintanceship within the Ford Motor Company and Henry Ford II was anxious to<br />
bring the Ford Company into a modern era. He arranged for Boano to be supplied with<br />
a Lincoln chassis. The project was intended for the 1955 Turin Motor Show. It was given<br />
the working title ‘Indianapolis’. Paolo’s design was very futuristic - probably inspired by<br />
airplanes and aviation – and more importantly was very well received at the show.<br />
18
Ford awarded a contract to Boano, who informed Fiat of the contract. This led Fiat to<br />
retaliate by forming the “Centro Stile department” and offered the job of leading it to<br />
Paolo Boano. Carrozzeria Boano was sold to Ezio Ellena – Paolo’s brother-in-law. Father<br />
and son worked for Fiat for many years in Turin, styling the Fiat 600 and the square<br />
style of Simca 1000 (1960), also working closely with Carlo Abarth on the Fiat-Abarth<br />
207 series<br />
Luigi Segre - full ownership of Carrozzerai <strong>Ghia</strong> passed to Segre in 1954. Whatever the<br />
rights or wrongs of the situation between him and Boano it is unarguable that this was<br />
a very productive period for <strong>Ghia</strong>. Under Segre’s leadership the decade between 1953<br />
and 1963 saw many <strong>Ghia</strong> designs, such as the Lincoln Futura concept car, and the<br />
“Saintly” Volvo P1800.<br />
<strong>Ghia</strong> also brought in Pietro Frua, appointing him as head of “<strong>Ghia</strong> Design” during which<br />
time the Renault Floride and Dauphin models were developed. Renault’s chairman,<br />
Pierre Lefaucheux, requested Segre’s and Carrozzeria <strong>Ghia</strong>’s assistance, especially with<br />
integrating the Dauphine’s engine’s air intake at the rear doors.<br />
Via Segre’s relationship with Virgil Exner at Chrysler, a project was born which came to<br />
be known as the “Dual <strong>Ghia</strong>” – not two cars together but a car to be manufactured by<br />
<strong>Ghia</strong> in conjunction with Michigan based Dual Motors. Dual Motors bought the bare<br />
chassis straight from Dodge then shipped them to Italy. For a limited production Italo-<br />
Anglo hybrid, the Dual-<strong>Ghia</strong> was quite a success. Marketing was targeted towards the<br />
rich and famous who could afford the car’s expensive craftsmanship, and customers<br />
included Frank Sinatra. Built in both coupés and convertibles, around 117 Dual-<strong>Ghia</strong>s<br />
were made from 1957 onwards. This was, however, far below the planned 150 cars per<br />
year and many of the production problems were laid at <strong>Ghia</strong>’s door. Even a follow-up<br />
model - the L6.4 - with newer styling and a larger engine, failed to reverse the trend<br />
and only 26 cars of these were completed before high-overhead costs and poor sales<br />
sank the venture.<br />
Various episodes – but especially the “Dual <strong>Ghia</strong>” project - proved that the company<br />
was really not capable of undertaking even modest series production, but now Segre<br />
had shown handsome new body designs to Fiat (the 2300S coupé) and Innocenti (the<br />
950 Spider) and secured contracts to build these cars in quantity. In order to obtain the<br />
space and finance to undertake these contracts, Segre sought assistance from the giant<br />
Olivetti business machine company; as a result, a new corporation was established<br />
jointly by <strong>Ghia</strong> and “Fergat” (a stamping and Wheel making company owned by<br />
Olivetti). The new firm, based literally accross the street from <strong>Ghia</strong>, was to be called<br />
OSI; ‘Officine Stampaggi Industriali’ which translates as “Industrial Stamping<br />
Workshop”.<br />
OSI entered the automotive industry at a particularly favourable time. The<br />
corporation’s president was Arrigo Olivetti, while Segre was managing director; its<br />
plant covered 21.000 sq. m and incorporated two continuous loop production lines,<br />
with provision for a third, plus a 780m long paint line. It employed some 600 people<br />
19
and could turn out aproximately 50 cars a day. The initial product was a small, specialbodied<br />
Austin/BMC coupé sports car. I think it was based on the small Austin Healey/<br />
MG Sprite components. They also produced a Fiat 1500 sports coupé. The company<br />
would later go on to produce the famous Ford/Taunus based coupé – and to employ<br />
many famous “KG” names.<br />
Sadly Segre died in February 1963 at the age of only 44 years from “complications<br />
during surgery” to remove the appendix. Following his untimely death, his widow sold<br />
75% of the shares of <strong>Ghia</strong>. In 1967 Alejandro De Tomaso acquired control of <strong>Ghia</strong>.<br />
During this transition period, <strong>Ghia</strong> had partial involvement in the De Tomaso Pantera,<br />
the famous, brutal 70’s supercar with a high-performance, mid-mounted OHV Ford V8<br />
engine.<br />
From 1973, the <strong>Ghia</strong> name became more widely known and recognised as Ford’s top<br />
trim-level throughout its mainstream model range. The trend began in Europe but soon<br />
spread worldwide, particularly to the US, South American and Australian markets. In<br />
the British market, however, the practice of using the <strong>Ghia</strong> name in such a capacity was<br />
only finally phased out in 2010, in favour of the ‘Titanium’ moniker. Ironically the British<br />
Ford Fiesta retained the <strong>Ghia</strong> trim designation for the longest amount of time of any<br />
model: thirty-one-and-a-half years uninterrupted, from February 1977 to November<br />
2008. Ford Motor Company purchased 84% of <strong>Ghia</strong> from Rowan Industries (owners of<br />
De Tomaso) in 1970. Three years later they purchased the remaining 16%.Today <strong>Ghia</strong><br />
studios are all but swallowed up into the monolith that is the Ford Motor Company and<br />
produce various concept cars under the Ford banner.<br />
The picture below was taken at the 1957 Turin Motor Show. The large white convertible<br />
on the middle right of the picture is the Dual-<strong>Ghia</strong>. Notice also the two Fiat 600<br />
convertible versions and others.<br />
20<br />
The group of twelve men shown<br />
are (from Left to Right) Tom<br />
Tjaarda, Sertgio Coggiola, Sergio<br />
Sartorelli, unknown, Ravetti,<br />
unknown, Luigi Segre, Magnani,<br />
Vajo, Piatto, Nicolotti, and<br />
Odasso. Some of the names<br />
you’ll recognise from the KG<br />
story.<br />
Next time we look at what some of these lesser known characters went on to do in<br />
their often extraordinary careers at the forefront of Automotive design from the 50’s to<br />
the 70’s.
What happened to EGC307H?<br />
Paul and Heidi Smith would like to hear from anyone who knows<br />
Hello, the latest edition of <strong>Karmann</strong> Komment (April-June 2012) has finally stirred<br />
me into responding to the regular requests for contributions.<br />
Whilst looking at the front cover car, and wishing I had a convertible again, something<br />
rang a bell deep in the back of my mind. After looking again, I realised the registration<br />
was the same as a convertible we used to own – but the car is completely different –<br />
colour and earlier year wings. I was wondering whether this was a very old photo<br />
before we owned the car or whether this is its current state, and how it got to how it is<br />
now.<br />
EGC307H in Albert Blue livery at Stonor Park (left) and at the 1991 KGOC-GB International in Bath<br />
We bought the car in early 1994 as our main family car. At the time we were<br />
considering trading our Golf in for a newer (G reg!) one for £4000 at our local VW dealer<br />
– all very sensible with a ten month old daughter and paraphernalia to lug around,<br />
especially considering our second car was a Beetle which being honest wasn’t overly<br />
pushchair or child seat friendly. Having been brought up with air cooled VWs, and<br />
having had a Beetle since I learnt to drive, I’d always hankered after a <strong>Ghia</strong> but always<br />
baulked at the price. And then came the eureka moment when flicking through<br />
Volksworld – we realised the amount we were going to pay for the Golf would buy any<br />
number of <strong>Ghia</strong>s in the small ads. After a few days going through the motions of<br />
saying what a silly idea it would be, whilst simultaneously concocting plans for how to<br />
squeeze all the family gear in, we decided to go for it.<br />
This was when we started to learn about the poetic licence which seems to be part and<br />
parcel of <strong>Ghia</strong> adverts. We spent the next month or so trawling from our home in<br />
21
Wiltshire to Devon, Cornwall, Hampshire, London etc, and viewing a selection of “near<br />
concourse”, “rust free” examples which seemed to translate to something along the<br />
lines of “might have been parked near the concourse at some point”, and “no rust<br />
which wasn’t hidden behind big blisters of thick paint”. Starting to get despondent, we<br />
decided to have a final throw of the dice by combining a visit to the in-laws with<br />
viewing a convertible being sold for £4000 in Ashford, Kent. With low expectations, we<br />
turned up to find a gleaming, gorgeous, 1970 Albert Blue convertible. The seller said it<br />
had been imported from Florida, and had previously been a light blue metallic but been<br />
resprayed recently after an accident. It only had one week left on the MOT, was tatty<br />
in places with a less than good hood, no headlining, white painted seats, patchwork<br />
floorpan, imperfect panel fit but.... it was shiny blue and a convertible. Sold!<br />
After parting with all our savings, I drove the car down to the in-laws in pouring rain<br />
with water streaming in around the windscreen seals, and around the gaps where the<br />
hood didn’t quite meet the windows – major reservations time. The next day was<br />
sunny, always a better sign, and once used to the LHD, and poor rear 1⁄4 visibility, it<br />
started to be fun with the 1600 feeling positively fast compared to the 1200 Beetle on<br />
the motorway home. The MOT followed without any concerns even with the all-red US<br />
rear lights.<br />
Two photos of Paul & Heidi’s current ride - a 1970 coupé: “One when it was unusually clean;<br />
one taking my daughter and two friends to the school prom (a very tight fit!)”<br />
The car worked surprisingly well for us – the travel cot fitted behind the back seat, child<br />
seat on the middle of the back seat so my daughters legs could stretch out between<br />
the front seats, and a fold up push chair next to her. We travelled all around the<br />
country getting deafened by the noise, and with a pile of towels to wedge around the<br />
various leaks when it rained. As a daily driver it was a bit flaky, with no choke making<br />
cold driving a bit lumpy, and no garage meaning it had to be covered over every night,<br />
but five minutes with the roof down was enough to forgive all. We visited several<br />
shows that year – Stonor, Bristol, Malvern and Tatton Park, but best of all was joining<br />
the KG International on the Sunday afternoon and seeing dozens of KGs stretched out<br />
on the grass in front of the Royal Crescent.<br />
22
The following year and things moved on and so did the <strong>Ghia</strong> – I got a company car, and<br />
with a second child on the way, needed the money to move house. We sold it for<br />
£4200 to someone from Swindon who had a very nice Cal look Beetle, and that was the<br />
last we saw of it until the cover of the latest <strong>Karmann</strong> Komment. Seven years later we<br />
again gave in to desire and bought another KG. After a similar succession of badly<br />
described cars, we got a Lemon yellow rust-free 1970 coupé from Osterley. It was a bit<br />
dearer than planned but you get what you pay for and it was a very tidy, useable car.<br />
Ten years on and we still have it and, aside from replacing all the brakes this year, it’s<br />
been really easy to own. After a few years of not using it much – kids too old to fit in,<br />
too young to leave – we’ve started to use it more again going to the Volksworld show<br />
and Dubaid this year. It still brightens up a car park and looks nice, although like most<br />
40+ year-olds it’s a bit ropey close up!<br />
At this year’s Volksworld Show<br />
Anyway, back to the point - we wondered whether anyone knew what had happened<br />
to EGC307H between us selling it and it turning up on the magazine.<br />
Paul and Heidi Smith<br />
23
Historic Advert (1972)<br />
Magazine advert from May 1972,<br />
courtesy of <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong> <strong>Club</strong> Brasil http://kgcbh.blogspot.co.uk/<br />
24
To Bern and back in two KGs<br />
As Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister, so I left to work in West Africa!<br />
No connection, except that two years later, when my contract reached its conclusion, I<br />
returned from my secondment in Mali back to my old job (Ministry of Agriculture) at our<br />
Hull office. First trip to Hull Docks to see some cargo vessels, and people I had last seen<br />
in 1979 called out – “been on holiday Mike – haven’t seen you for a week or two!!!”<br />
However, some people we do remember better! A friend in Mali – a Swiss water-well<br />
‘creator’ in a very dry country - became a life-long friend, and we’ve remained in touch –<br />
his contract with the Swiss Aid Program finished about the same time as mine with our<br />
Foreign Office.<br />
floated the idea in the KGOC (GB) club/<br />
magazine & website, waiting for the<br />
expected masses to make contact. But,<br />
unlike our Hockenheim trip of 2 years ago,<br />
this time it was not to be a ‘full-house’, and<br />
finally we set off in company with Derek<br />
Frow and daughter Tina, and two very<br />
lovely <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>s on a VERY wet<br />
Sunday heading for the Chunnel in the<br />
dark. It was a frightening spray-soaked<br />
25<br />
Back in the UK, and we’d moved from Hull<br />
to Lincoln. Peter visited us in his 1952<br />
Citroen Light 15 from Bern – very first job<br />
on arrival was to grease all the grease<br />
nipples, and then have a cup of tea! He<br />
came again to see us in Maidenhead, and<br />
we saw him some years later in Bern for his<br />
60th birthday, in our Citroen CX Pallas.<br />
Late last year Peter invited us to join him,<br />
still near Bern, for his 70th birthday. I could<br />
see a nice Continental trip developing, so<br />
drive, and we reached the Shuttle grateful<br />
for the slight lessening of the rain, and the<br />
promise of the first early morning coffee.<br />
On the train, we could begin to relax – only<br />
another 1000 miles ahead of us – it can’t<br />
rain ALL THE TIME can It? No, in fact it<br />
didn’t, and we drove along the almost<br />
deserted French motorways to arrive in<br />
Reims mid-afternoon to our pre-booked<br />
hotel – The Crystal. However, it wouldn’t<br />
be normal if we didn’t try to make our
entrance into the hotel road unusual. We could see where we needed to be, so parked as<br />
close as possible, only to find out as the evening progressed, that we were parked in a<br />
no-parking pedestrian “square”. But from our vantage point in a very local bar/café we<br />
watched the amazing interest the two KGs generated – perhaps because we shouldn’t<br />
have been parked there!! The hotel was very good, and we’d planned to stay here again<br />
on the return leg 10 days later. Incidentally, we had stayed previously in Reims, when we<br />
did a Champagne region tour – great fun! The Reims cathedral is also superb – well<br />
worth a visit if you are in the area.<br />
From Reims we drove to Nancy and<br />
explored some of this lovely historic and<br />
town, including the world-famous Place<br />
Stanislas with its gold-leaf wrought-iron<br />
railings, making Nancy a UNESCO World<br />
Heritage site, well-worth a detour to see<br />
and explore. Which is what we did, and<br />
then in the <strong>Karmann</strong>s again to head for<br />
Katja and Goetz at Kaiserstuhl near<br />
Freibourg. So England, France and<br />
Germany in the first two days, without<br />
much stress, and two beautiful cities and a<br />
mass of photos to share – cor!! And...at a motorway stop for grub we saw an amazing<br />
picture – Derek’s <strong>Ghia</strong> and motorbike equivalent in completely matching paint.<br />
We saw Katja and Goetz’s very new house (completed in early 2012!), the splendid views<br />
west over the Kaiserstuhl, and of their German equivalent of the TGV swishing along the<br />
nearby welded rail. Derek and Tina stayed in a nearby local hotel in Riegel – very<br />
comfortable and friendly, with good secure parking - where we met each morning for<br />
coffee and croissants.<br />
It was from Goetz’s house that we drove to the wonderful French national motor<br />
museum at Mulhouse in the Alsace Region. It is world-renowned for its unbelievable<br />
collection of Bugattis. Asti and I had seen it a few years ago, now significantly<br />
remodelled, with many new cars and other makes, and much more eye-catching display<br />
settings, but still the biggest collection of Bugattis. I also lost my wiper arm (worked<br />
loose, but I persuaded Asti to brave the fast city traffic to retrieve it from the road, and<br />
with a little deft fettling it fitted enough to work till changed this week!)<br />
26
The collection is wonderful, and not just for the cars. The main floor area is a series of<br />
intersecting boulevards lined with Parisian-style “gas lamps”. The main special Bugatti<br />
“hall” is unfortunately black ceilinged and walled, making these photos only by flash,<br />
with all the drawbacks of flash photos for most small cameras. Otherwise it’s all a superb<br />
museum! Although we were aware of some rain during our indoor Bugatti museum visit,<br />
we left there for a lovely hot evening visit to the very attractive town of Colmar.<br />
The next day we met Goetz and Juerg (from<br />
Zurich and the Swiss KG <strong>Club</strong>) at the<br />
popular lake resort of Titisee. Juerg “looked<br />
after us” until near the end of our holiday.<br />
We travelled together to Rheinfall of<br />
Schaffhausen – superb waterfall (highest in<br />
Europe). Onwards then to Lake Constance/<br />
Bodensee, with its spectacular views of the<br />
snow-capped Alps, and the sub-tropical<br />
island of Mainau - a delight for us all, but<br />
especially for our professional gardener<br />
Tina!!.<br />
The cars ran very well for over 1500 miles<br />
each, cruising on motorways where possible<br />
around 70 mph, and coping with the variable<br />
weather. They attracted a lot of attention<br />
and we saw a number of other classics as we<br />
approached the Laon citadel town in France<br />
– maybe next year’s Continental drive?<br />
Certainly, this year’s Trip to Bern and Back<br />
was one to remember for many years!<br />
Mike Kelly<br />
27<br />
Juerg showed us around Zurich<br />
(unfortunately a day of heavy rain, but we<br />
could enjoy the rare tram museum) and he<br />
guided us all the way to near Bern, on rainsoaked<br />
motorways. Wet though the drive<br />
was, we were dry in the cars, and the<br />
following day was clear, and eventually<br />
quite hot! The mountain scenery was<br />
breath- taking, with much of that around<br />
Habkern snow-capped. And of course, the<br />
tinkling of the cow bells brought the scenes<br />
to life!
A few of the more vintage motor vehicles on display at the museum;<br />
a fabulous Bugatti and a Royale Esder Roadster<br />
Clockwise from top: some futuristic vehicles at the Mulhouse museum (what did happen to<br />
the future? -Ed); in the Alps at Titisee; the two <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>s; Peter with Astrid; Juerg and<br />
Goetz; Katja .<br />
Clockwise from top: some<br />
futuristic vehicles at the<br />
Mulhouse museum (what did<br />
happen to the future? -Ed); in<br />
the Alps at Titisee; the two<br />
<strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>s; Peter with<br />
Astrid; Juerg and Goetz; Katja .<br />
28
The ideal 40th Birthday present?<br />
Grant Walker recalls what was on his wish list<br />
My love of all things Volkswagen started many years ago when I was about 14 and<br />
on holiday with my parents in Newquay. Unknown to me our holiday coincided with<br />
“The Run to the Sun”. It was the first time I’d ever really noticed a VW Beetle or a<br />
Camper Van but the images of those brightly coloured bugs, vans and hot rods cruising<br />
up and down the coast road made a real impression on me and one that would never<br />
leave. Over the coming years I owned two Beetles: my first car a Texas yellow 1973<br />
Beetle 1303S, and a couple of years later a fully restored 1965 Restocal two-tone beige<br />
and cream Beetle. As I got older and my job started to take me further away from<br />
home the Beetle had to be replaced with something “more sensible”. It was a sad day<br />
when that car disappeared down the road.<br />
Fast forward nearly 20 years and I’m 39, married and fast approaching my 40th<br />
birthday! I’d retained my interest in VWs and the urge to own another had grown<br />
29
stronger. Over the years my taste in VWs had become more defined, and I really longed<br />
for something older and original with only very subtle modification, if any. I was drawn<br />
to the sleek and sexy lines of the <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>. I’d always admired the car as a twentysomething<br />
but the reality of actually owning one was never really any more than a<br />
dream. After several months of browsing websites and showing (read annoying) my<br />
wife various pictures of <strong>Ghia</strong>s she casually remarked “Why don’t you treat yourself for<br />
your 40th? “ I was somewhat taken aback by the suggestion but didn’t need asking<br />
twice! It was March 2011 and the search was on!<br />
I placed a wanted advert on the KGOC forum for a 1960s <strong>Ghia</strong> in good condition.<br />
Several months over the summer passed and by August I was starting to wonder if I’d<br />
ever find THE ONE. Then, like buses, three arrived all at once. I narrowly missed out on<br />
the first due to work commitments and distance. Why are they always 150 miles away<br />
and not just down the road? The second car was also a good ride away but determined<br />
not to be pipped to the post again, I made plans to view the car at the Beach Buggin<br />
VW show. A couple of nights before the show another message and a few photos<br />
arrived in my inbox. The asking price was for more than I was planning to spend, but<br />
the pictures and description of the car were enough to whet my appetite and make me<br />
ask for more details. And low and behold the car was just down the road from<br />
Plymouth in sunny Bognor Regis.<br />
Clockwise: Immaculate front<br />
hood with original Hazet tool kit;<br />
beautiful period interior<br />
30
So that weekend we headed off to Portsmouth for the day, had a great time at the<br />
Beach Buggin show and viewed the second car which was virtually the <strong>Ghia</strong> I’d had in<br />
my mind’s eye when I penned the original wanted advert. Slightly lowered on original<br />
Porsche Fuchs, it looked great and had I not lined up another viewing I probably would<br />
have had it.<br />
Later on in the afternoon, when my wife had seen her fill of VWs, we drove the 20 miles<br />
or so to Bognor to view the third car. We met Simon and it soon became abundantly<br />
clear he had VW blood running through his veins. We spent some time talking about<br />
the show we’d just come from and some of his other VW projects, but for me the<br />
anticipation of what lay waiting in the garage was building. Eventually the wait was<br />
over and as soon as the garage door opened I knew in seconds that my search had<br />
come to an end. Gleaming in the late Autumnal sunshine, the <strong>Ghia</strong> needed no sales<br />
pitch or introduction; my heart was won. After an agonising 3 week wait while Simon<br />
was off on holiday, I was finally the owner of my third VW and my first <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>.<br />
Clearly someone else is also pleased with Grant’s 40th Birthday gift choice!<br />
And finally a bit of history about the car: it left the Osnabruck factory during May 1960<br />
not long into the first RHD production, and headed for the warmer climes of South<br />
Africa where it would spend the first forty or so years of its life. By December 2001 it<br />
had made its way to the Island of Guernsey where it spent a further 9 years until it<br />
finally hit the shores of the UK in 2009, where it stayed until I purchased it last year.<br />
31
I believe the car had previously been lowered on dropped spindles and was running<br />
Sprint Stars, probably the car I always thought I wanted, but in a move bucking the<br />
current trend the car was put back to stock height by Simon and the cross ply white<br />
walls were added. It now looks exactly as it would have done when it left the factory all<br />
those years ago, and I have no intention of changing it. As far as I can tell it’s never<br />
been welded but has had a good quality respray some years ago. It’s still running the<br />
original 1200cc engine which has covered just over 86,000 miles, and although the<br />
electrics are still the original 6v it starts on the turn of the key on all but the very<br />
coldest of days. The interior is still all original and in remarkably good shape.<br />
I have the widest of grins when I’m behind the wheel, as do most of the other drivers<br />
on the road and passers by as they point and wave. My plans for the future are to enjoy<br />
it as much as possible, and maybe look to add a few original accessories.<br />
It’s great to be back in a VW and even better that is a <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>.<br />
Spec:Type 1 <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong> coupé RHD<br />
Produced: May 1960<br />
Originally shipped to: South Africa<br />
Engine: original 1200cc<br />
Electrics: 6 volt<br />
Body Colour: L364 Strato Blue<br />
Roof: L363 Arctic White<br />
Interior upholstery: material blue<br />
Tyres: cross ply wide whitewalls<br />
32
Motoring Madness...........<br />
Zut Alors! – what will the French think<br />
of next??<br />
Have you ever spent time in France<br />
and wondered about the average<br />
Frenchman’s consumption of red<br />
wine?? I well remember some years ago<br />
attending the wonderful motoring<br />
weekend at Laon in France as part of<br />
the KGOC contingent and reflecting that only in France would the day’s<br />
driving events be preceded by the champagne reception!!<br />
However – things appear to be changing and in typically French fashion the Gallic<br />
reaction is – over-reaction! New laws will now make it compulsory for drivers to carry<br />
not one but TWO “Do-it-Yourself Breathalyser” kits. Apparently the idea is that you<br />
always have one spare if you “fail” the first test! They will enable motorists to see if<br />
they are under the French limit of 50 mg per 100ml of blood - which is 30 mg lower<br />
than in the UK.<br />
This is the latest in a series of requirements imposed on drivers by the French<br />
Government. The Daily Telegraph’s motoring correspondent David Millward wrote in<br />
February: “The laws will make the equipment compulsory for all cars on French roads<br />
from <strong>July</strong> 1, with anyone caught without the equipment facing an 11 euro (£9.20) fine.<br />
Around three million Britons a year take their car abroad and the new offence comes<br />
into force on <strong>July</strong> 1 as the holiday season approaches its height”.<br />
Stories are already abounding of French police demanding that UK drivers carry these<br />
items – before the deadline. The going price seems to be around the £2 mark for<br />
devices complying with French safety standards. No doubt the profits from the fines<br />
and the sale of the devices will go to swell the coffers along with the money made from<br />
the sale of warning triangles and fluorescent vests!<br />
Opinions differ: “The new French rule is a genuine attempt to reduce the number of<br />
alcohol related-accidents,” said Neil Greig, the IAM’s director of policy and research.<br />
“France’s lower limit means it’s very easy to be over the limit the morning after as<br />
well.” Andrew Howard, the AA’s head of road safety, added: “They are not a good idea;<br />
because a driver’s metabolism means that the alcohol level doesn’t peak until 45<br />
minutes after drinking. You could pass a test in the car park after an agreeable lunch<br />
and then fail when stopped by the police three-quarters of an hour later. The only<br />
sensible advice remains if you drink don’t drive and if you drive, don’t drink”.<br />
33
<strong>Ghia</strong>s In The Movies<br />
Inspector Clouseau (1968)<br />
Director: Bud Yorkin. Starring: Alan Arkin, Frank Finlay, Delia<br />
Boccardo, and, dans la scène Parisienne de la rue, une voiture<br />
glamourous: un <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong> coupé vert pâle et blanc.<br />
A string of robberies has occurred in Britain and it’s up to Inspector Clouseau to catch<br />
them.<br />
34
Sam McElroy’s re-purchased ’72 coupé<br />
I was in touch with Clive recently and he kindly arranged a valuation for me to<br />
present to my insurance company. More great news - the car went for MOT<br />
yesterday, and amazingly passed first go. This is the first time the car has been<br />
MOT’d despite being 40 years old.<br />
By way of a quick refresh, the car is a 1972 Type 14 rhd coupé and had one lady owner<br />
from 1972 until 1980. I purchased it then with 22,000 miles on it and used it as a daily<br />
driver for 2 years, putting on a further 24,000 miles. I then sold it to a VW collector with<br />
46,000 miles on it in 1982.At some point he decided to restore it and stripped it down,<br />
putting on two new genuine front wings and nose cone about 25 years ago. For some<br />
strange reason he lost interest and the car was left sitting with virtually no paint on it,<br />
no glass in it, and lots of parts lying in 3 cardboard boxes. It was stored in a corrugated<br />
steel barn for about 25 years until unfortunately the collector owner passed away.<br />
By a stroke of fortune I was able to repurchase the car from his family in 2007. It still<br />
had 46,000 miles on it, and incredibly he had not re-registered it so I was still<br />
technically the owner! It was in a very sorry state. I stripped the car to a bare shell, and<br />
left it with a local classic car restoration guy who repaired the metal work (new sills,<br />
35
ear wheel arches, rear valance, fitted Californian rust-free offside door and engine lid),<br />
then painted car in original colours of tangerine and black.<br />
The shell was returned to me in 2008 and I completed the restoration of all mechanicals<br />
and interior over four years until completion- complete new braking system, new<br />
shocks all round, new stainless steel bumpers, soundproofing, new carpet set, new<br />
headlining, renovated seats and door cards, GT wheels refurbed and fitted, engine<br />
stripped, tinware repainted, new flywheel oil seal, gearbox oil seal, new oil cooler, new<br />
clutch kit, ignition system replaced, card refurbed, new NOS fuel pump, new fuel lines,<br />
floorpan and arches painted and waxoyled, tank refurbed and painted, new sender<br />
unit, dashboard repaired and painted, dials renovated, new light reflectors, new front<br />
indicators NOS, new NOS nostrils, new NOS rear lights, new seals all round, Vintage<br />
Speed roof rack - I am sure there’s more !<br />
36
The DVLA had to inspect the vehicle when completed as they had no record of it, to<br />
confirm that chassis number and engine number was original; new registration<br />
document was issued recently retaining the original registration number.<br />
The engine fired up four weeks ago for the first time in 30 years and runs beautifully,<br />
MOT was applied for and passed yesterday. Just need a tax disc now!<br />
37
Ninove, Belgium, 10-11th March<br />
Martyn Crew reports...<br />
38<br />
Cracking weekend. Def back on my list<br />
next year.<br />
I took the camper which was a little more<br />
comfortable than sleeping across the front<br />
seats in the KG! The autojumble wasn’t the<br />
best but I still managed to find something<br />
to spend my money on and ended up with<br />
a te koop number plate! Don’t ask.... If<br />
you want to see any more pics from<br />
Ninove I’ve posted a few on the forum.
Star in a Kar(mann)<br />
Dermot O’Leary and his tempestuous German mistress - why his car’s<br />
got the ex-factor<br />
Some months ago this article appeared in the well-known journalistic organ the<br />
“Mail on Sunday”. Devotees of “the X Factor” will recognise Dermot as one the<br />
hosts of the show. He is apparently well-known for his run-ins with Simon Cowell.<br />
Anyway he can’t be all bad - look at the car he drives! Not too sure about the<br />
description of “My tempestuous Italian Mistress” but I reckon there might those club<br />
members who have the KG instead of (in preference to??) the mistress!!<br />
Incidentally repeated requests to the DM for permission to reproduce have produced<br />
no response whatever – so we decided to “Publish and be Damned!!” (as somebody<br />
once said). Or as somebody else once said – this is published with the help and<br />
cooperation of absolutely no-one!<br />
‘A girlfriend dumped me, out of nowhere. This had been our favourite car, the one we<br />
always fantasised about having, so when she left me I just went, “Sod you, I’m gonna<br />
buy one”,’ said Dermot O’Leary. “It was a spectacular piece of retail therapy.” It’s a<br />
Volkswagen <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>, a beautiful cross between a Beetle and a Porsche. “It does<br />
look gorgeous, but it’s actually quite a tempestuous mistress. For a German car, it’s<br />
very Italian. And it’s quite difficult to drive – no power steering, so it feels like a lorry.”<br />
40
Daily Mail version of KG History - VW aimed to cash in on the post-war boom with a<br />
sports coupé built on the Beetle’s chassis. Coachbuilder <strong>Karmann</strong> was brought in, in turn<br />
enlisting Italian design house <strong>Ghia</strong>. Nearly half a million <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong>s were sold<br />
between 1955 and 1974, but the UK price (£3,100 in 1968) was very high due to vehicle<br />
import taxes designed to protect the UK car industry. A restored <strong>Karmann</strong> <strong>Ghia</strong> will today<br />
probably set you back around £8,000<br />
“I bought a single train ticket to this little garage in Hemel Hempstead that specialises<br />
in them. I turned up with a cheque book and said, ‘Which car am I going to drive away?’<br />
The guy there looked at me as if I was mad, and said, ‘I need to work on them first’.”<br />
“I was disappointed, but I bought a little white one and he sprayed it black and changed<br />
the interiors, changed everything. I rang him every week but he told me to be patient.<br />
Five months later, when I’d almost forgotten about it – and got over the girlfriend – he<br />
called me and said it was ready.”<br />
Dermot paid £6,000 for the car, and about the same for the renovations. He was just<br />
starting out on his television career then, but is now the host of the biggest show on<br />
the box, the hugely popular The X Factor.<br />
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2027403/X-Factors-Simon-<br />
Cowell-Cheryl-Cole-Dermot-OLearys-German-mistress.html#ixzz1o9Clg5Zc<br />
Pictures are by Simon Barker<br />
41
WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY?<br />
On the following pages you will find information on Events, Services<br />
and Products available to you and your families as members of the<br />
KGOC(GB). We encourage you to tell suppliers and service providers<br />
that you are members and that you are in touch with them because<br />
they have advertised in the “<strong>Karmann</strong> Komment”. In many cases<br />
you will be entitled to a discount. It pays to ask!<br />
If you would like to advertise anything which you feel would be of<br />
interest to fellow members we’d be pleased to hear from you.<br />
Contact editor@kgoc-gb.org<br />
WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY?<br />
42
Parts News<br />
Stainless steel luggage racks<br />
Over the years we’ve received many enquiries for quality repro luggage racks which<br />
correctly fit the engine deck lid of a Type 14. Well, fellow-member Francis Coates (no<br />
stranger to these pages) has had a sample stainless steel luggage rack made for his<br />
‘vert. He reckons it’s superb quality, absolutely faithful to the original (which are ‘raked’<br />
to funnel airflow into the deck vents in order to maintain engine cooling if luggage is<br />
carried), fits without need to drill through the engine lid (it bolts up through the vents)<br />
and, best of all, won’t rust!<br />
You wouldn’t expect such an item to be cheap and, of course, you’d be right, but if it’s<br />
quality you’re after, then the photos should tell their own story. Francis tells us that the<br />
maker will only produce a batch of no less than 10, so if ten owners wish to order, he<br />
can proceed. And cost? Around £250.<br />
Interested? Then contact Francis at 01608-643856 or francis_scopedesign@yahoo.co.uk<br />
Floorpans<br />
Another subject of numerous enquiries. To quote<br />
from the advert by Gerson in Florida on The Samba<br />
website: “People were asking for these, so here they<br />
are, EARLY <strong>Ghia</strong> pans, these are hand made pans,<br />
right now we have 5 sets made, depending on<br />
demand we will make more......these are big, heavy<br />
pieces, cold rolled 18 gauge, nice and thick!!!! fix your<br />
ghia right, use the correct floors.......$320 each”<br />
We’ve no first-hand knowledge of these in order to<br />
comment on quality or fit, but they do sound pretty<br />
good.<br />
See: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1310179<br />
43
London & South East Area Activities<br />
44<br />
A total of 26 cars, including 5 <strong>Karmann</strong><br />
<strong>Ghia</strong>s, joined in our Drive-It Day on Sunday<br />
22nd April in Kent & Sussex. We had a day<br />
of glorious sunshine despite the terrible<br />
weather during that month. There was a<br />
great variety of cars including vintage,<br />
veteran and classic. The oldest was the<br />
1929 Ford Model AA Breakdown truck. If<br />
you are in the Rye / Tenterden area the Mill<br />
Toy and Model Museum at Northiam is<br />
well worth a visit.<br />
There is a new show, The Kent VW Festival, over the 27 – 29 <strong>July</strong> weekend which costs<br />
£10 per person, with free camping if you want to stay.<br />
Details at www.kentvwfestival.co.uk<br />
Grill & Chill has moved to the Hop Farm, Paddock Wood (Kent) over the weekend of 21<br />
– 23 <strong>Sept</strong>ember. Pre booked entry is £12.50 per person or £15 on the gate, with<br />
camping £5. http://grill-n-chill.co.uk/tickets/<br />
Janet Richardson 01892 730366 london-se@kgoc-gb.org<br />
Southern area<br />
A brilliant time was had at the Vintage Nostalgia Show held in south Wiltshire on 25th-<br />
27th May. A full report will appear in the next magazine.<br />
The next event in the area is the Classics at the Castle at Sherborne Castle in Dorset<br />
on Sunday 15th <strong>July</strong>. Unfortunately, we have had to pull out of this one due to a friend’s<br />
wedding but if you are interested, visit: www.merlinevents.com<br />
The German Show 2012 will be held at Beaulieu, National Motor Museum on Sunday<br />
22nd <strong>July</strong> 2012. See www.beaulieu.co.uk for more information or find The Germans<br />
Show on Facebook.<br />
Mike Shaw
The Pershore Plum Festival<br />
August Bank Holiday 2012<br />
Why not come and visit the Vale of Evesham for<br />
August Bank Holiday 2012?<br />
We are planning to put together a great<br />
programme of activities to take advantage of the<br />
world famous Pershore Plum Festival in<br />
Worcestershire.<br />
We plan to be based in the old market town of<br />
Evesham on the river Avon, where we are<br />
surrounded by lovely countryside and there is<br />
plenty of local history to explore.<br />
www.eveshamtown.co.uk www.evesham.uk.com<br />
Proposed programme<br />
Sunday 26th August 2012<br />
Late morning<br />
KGOC GB Karting Grand Prix at AKS Karts, Worcester www.akskarting.com (Cost TBA)<br />
Afternoon<br />
Scenic route to Gloucester Quays (www.gloucesterquays.co.uk)<br />
Historic docks with a large antiques centre and discount outlet shopping mall<br />
(reserved KG cars only parking at the Quays)<br />
Monday 27th August 2012 All day<br />
Evening Evening meal - venue to be decided<br />
Arrive at Pershore Plum Festival Classic Car Event<br />
Pershore Abbey grounds (£3 per car - 2011 price)<br />
Last year there was a great turn-out of VW’s and<br />
KG’s – why not come along and join us??<br />
www.plumfestival.org.uk<br />
Why not come along and enjoy a quintessentially British summer event?<br />
To register your interest in the above, please e-mail Clive Sharpe at<br />
Sharp765@btinternet.com<br />
45
EVENTS 2012 CAPITALS for those events in which we are involved<br />
JULY<br />
1st (Sun)... STANFORD HALL, Northamptonshire,<br />
Contact Stuart at events@kgoc-gb.org<br />
6-8th (Fri-Sun)... Dubs at the hall, Holt Hall, Norfolk<br />
www.dubsatthehall.co.uk<br />
Contact events@kgoc-gb.org<br />
21-22nd (Sat-Sun)... British Volkswagen Festival (BVF), Three Counties Showground<br />
Malvern, Worcestershire<br />
info@bvwf.co.uk<br />
28-29th (Sat-Sun)... KENT VW FESTIVAL, Chillifarm, Nr. Dover Kent, CT15 5AH<br />
www.kentvwfestival.co.uk<br />
AUGUST<br />
5th (Sun)...TATTON PARK, Knutsford, Cheshire<br />
Contact Gareth Robbins grobbins@tatachemicals.com<br />
17-19th (Fri-Sun)... VW Festival, Harewood House, Harewood, Leeds, LS17 9LDV<br />
info@vwfestival.co.uk<br />
SEPTEMBER<br />
31st- 2nd (Fri-Sun)... VW Action , Santa Pod Raceway, Wellingborough, Northants.<br />
NN29 7XA<br />
www.vwaction.co.uk<br />
This is a summary of just some of the shows, both VW and general classic, to be held in<br />
2012 and to the best of our knowledge is correct at time of going to press. For further<br />
details of those listed, please contact any of the organisers for specific events, by e-mail:<br />
events@kgoc-gb.org See also <strong>Club</strong> Events on our website: www.kgoc-gb.org<br />
If you have information of any event, local or national, in the coming year that you<br />
feel may be of interest to other members, please let us know. You can also post a<br />
message on the website Message Board.<br />
46
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48
Grant<br />
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is why I think you'll love our insurance deals.<br />
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Because we share your enthusiasm we offer fantastic,<br />
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American Performance Classic Hot Hatch 4x4 Standard Modified
TYPE 34 SPARES<br />
ALL PARTS AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS ONLY<br />
NEW PARTS PRICE<br />
Repair Sections SILLS EACH L & R £130.00<br />
OUTER SILLS CENTRE SECTION ONLY EACH £25.00<br />
FRONT WING LOWER SECTION<br />
(OVER A POST) PATTERN £8.00<br />
FRONT WING LOWER SECTION<br />
(OVER A POST) REPRO £25.00<br />
REAR WING OVER SILL PATTERN £20.00<br />
REAR WING OVER SILL REPRO £45.00<br />
REAR WHEEL ARCHES PAIR £60.00<br />
HEADLAMP BOWL £65.00<br />
Rubber Seals FRONT WINDSCREEN SEAL £50.00<br />
REAR SCREEN SEAL £50.00<br />
FRONT BONNET SEAL £25.00<br />
FRONT BONNET CATCH DEFLECTOR PLATE £15.00<br />
SIDE WINDOW/ROOF SEAL £35.00<br />
Headlamp Seal Grey £30.00<br />
LHS Front Indicator Seal £25.00<br />
RHS Front Indicator seal £25.00<br />
WIRING COVER REAR OF FRONT INDICATOR £5.00<br />
Side Marker seal £5.00<br />
Rubber stop for side window repair NEW £20.00<br />
LHS Front Vent Wing Seal £25.00<br />
RHS Front Vent Wing Seal £25.00<br />
Upper door seal to A post left NEW £30.00<br />
Upper door seal to A post right NEW £30.00<br />
LHS Rear Quarter window seal £17.50<br />
RHS Rear Quarter window seal £17.50<br />
Roof/Rear Quarter Window seal £20.00<br />
Air Deflector plate seal £15.00<br />
Door Handle 4 pieces £20.00<br />
Rear Hood lock seal NEW £5.00<br />
Rear Light Base Seal £6.00<br />
REAR LAMP TO BODY SEAL £8.00<br />
Bumper bracket seal set 4 pieces £50.00<br />
Overrider seal 62-65 set 4 pieces NEW £12.00<br />
Overrider seal 66-69 set 4 pieces £12.00<br />
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Licence plate seal set of 4 NEW £16.00<br />
Heater elbow £2.75<br />
Large Bump Stop £2.00<br />
Small Bump Stop £2.00<br />
Lenses FRONT INDICATOR LENSE N/S £15.00<br />
FRONT INDICATOR LENSE O/S £15.00<br />
REAR LENSE EUROPEAN £30.00<br />
REAR LENSE US £35.00<br />
Miscellaneous FOGLAMP BULB 6V or 12V £3.50<br />
SILL TRIM Pair incl Clips £85.00<br />
SILL TRIM - TYPE 3 SALOON SAME PROFILE £20.00<br />
SUN VISOR CLIP PAIR £25.00<br />
INTERIOR LIGHT £30.00<br />
WOOD FINISH FOR 67-69 DASHBOARD NEW £40.00<br />
SECONDHAND PARTS<br />
ROOF £50.00<br />
N/S REAR WING £10.00<br />
N/S/R QTR GLASS £7.00<br />
CHROME SIDE PLATES (SEAT) £3.00<br />
GLOVEBOX LID WITH KEY £10.00<br />
PADDED DASH TOP £30.00<br />
BUMPER MOUNTING IRON REAR £10.00<br />
BUMPER RIGHT REAR CORNER - POOR £10.00<br />
BUMPER LEFT FRONT CORNER - POOR £10.00<br />
BUMPER RIGHT FRONT CORNER - POOR £10.00<br />
BUMPER RIGHT REAR CORNER £60.00<br />
BUMPER LEFT FRONT CORNER £60.00<br />
BUMPER RIGHT FRONT CORNER £60.00<br />
OVER-RIDER LEFT REAR - ALLOY £10.00<br />
OVER-RIDER RIGHT REAR - ALLOY £10.00<br />
OVER-RIDER RIGHT FRONT - ALLOY £10.00<br />
OVER-RIDER - LEFT REAR - STEEL £10.00<br />
OVER-RIDER - RIGHT REAR - STEEL £10.00<br />
CIGAR LIGHTER 6V £5.00<br />
WIPER MOTOR 6V £50.00<br />
STEERING COLUMN £10.00<br />
All these parts are available from the Type 34 Spares Secretary:<br />
Mark Poulton, 15 Daniell Way, Great Boughton, Chester CH3 5XH<br />
t3parts@kgoc-gb.org<br />
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TYPE 14 KARMANN GHIA PARTS AVAILABLE FROM THE CLUB<br />
Type 14 Stock <strong>Club</strong><br />
Spares available Price<br />
New<br />
VW Skeleton Key Blank (67 – 70) 1 £5.50<br />
VW Skeleton Key Blank (70 – 74) 2 £5.50<br />
Qtr Pillar Weather Strip 3 £7.00<br />
Front Indicator Rubber Mount (60 – 64) (in pairs) 3 £12.00<br />
Convertible Guide Pin Boot (Pair) 1 £5.00<br />
Quality Repro Headlight Chrome Ring (64 – 74 (euro style) 1 £28.00<br />
No Plate Light Housing Chrome Mould End Clips (Pairs) 2 £8.00<br />
Driveshaft Boot 1 £5.00<br />
Second hand<br />
Tail light lens (71 – 74) (hella) (31cm length) second hand -<br />
has slight crack on reversing light lens 1 £2.00<br />
Tail light base (71 – 74) (hella) chrome good needs cleaning (311 945 231 F/G/H) 1 £3.00<br />
Speedometer (MPH) (1966) VDO requires new glass - slight rust on face around<br />
warning lights. Chrome bezel fair (111957023E) 1 £10.00<br />
Rear windscreen – coupe 1 £15.00<br />
Please contact ALAN BECKETT, Type 14 Spares Secretary, for availability on<br />
0161 483 0465, evenings and weekends. Parts are only available to <strong>Club</strong> Members who must<br />
quote their membership number when ordering.<br />
“THE CONTENT OF ANY WRITTEN MATERIAL SUPPLIED OR PUBLISHED BY THE KGOC(GB)<br />
MAY NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF THE WRITER, THE EDITOR, THE<br />
COMMITTEE OR THE MAJORITY OF MEMBERS OF THE KGOC(GB)”<br />
COST OF JOINING THE KARMANN GHIA OWNERS CLUB(GB)<br />
The first year of membership includes £8.00 Joining/Admin fee.<br />
If you join in £(UK) £(EU) £(Non EU)<br />
April to <strong>Sept</strong>ember £30.00 £40.00 £45.00<br />
October to March £19.00 £24.00 £29.00<br />
Annual Subscriptions: UK Members £22.00<br />
EU Members £32.00<br />
Non EU Members £38.00<br />
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