Mar
13
You don’t see VW Karmann Ghias with only a 2 owner history. The first owner had the from new until 2009. That’s loyalty. It it has been refinished in the original color and the second owner has continued improving the Karmann Ghia and making it fully roadworthy. Unfortunately, the original engine was replaced by a newer 1600cc engine that we are told runs very well. Read More
Jan
17
This Karmann Ghia looks really nice in the photos. The listing says the seller has owned the Ghia for only 6 months. And the listing is a Craigslist ad. Nothing against the seller implied here but it is a listing you want to be very careful with. Not that you shouldn’t be careful with every listing. Read More
Nov
26
We have had a few Karmann Ghias on Mint before but none as sharp as this neat convertible. It just looks smashing in Pastel Blue with White interior. The wheels just make it a lot more sporty and a lot less cute. That is good. It has been treated to a total restoration including an engine rebuild, high quality paint and an entire interior refresh. The new soft top is also white to match the interior. Read More
Oct
21
The Meyers Manx is probably more of a West Coast phenomenon. We rarely see them here in the East except occasionally at a cruise night. They are kind of cool when you take it all in. It was the first street-legal Dune Buggy and it featured a unibody shell attached to a shortened VW chassis. So if you want a Buggy like Steve McQueen’s in The Thomas Crown Affair, you should start with a real Meyers Manx and not a rip-off. Read More
Mar
2
We can thank our friend, young Evan D., for alerting us to how cool a Vanagon Syncro is. He works for Patagonia and we don’t believe there are any couch potatoes working there. It is a cult car. And finding one in good shape is as rare as finding a good Land Cruiser FJ60. These were built in 2 factories – Hannover to Steyr-Puch (Graz), where the 4WD powertrain components were installed. Then the half finished vehicles made their way back to Hannover to be completed with the interior facilities. Read More
Feb
22
Concept cars are created to judge public response and the possible success if it is placed in production. Well, back in 1953 VW executives felt they needed a halo vehicle to add to the line-up so they commissioned a styling concept created by Ghia’s Luigi Segre. It was a success. 
They contracted Karmann to build the car in Osnabruck using old style, time-consuming techniques like butt-welding body panels, hand-shaped and smoothed with English pewter – in other words, more money. The rest of the car is Type 1. The marketing people at Doyle, Dane, Bernbach created a classic campaign for the new car aiming at the excesses of true sports cars – Maybe you don’t want to drive a wild-horse, a man-eating tiger or a killer fish…
Feb
6
The Type 181, known in the US as The Thing, shared its mechanicals with Volkswagen’s Type 1 (Beetle), its platform with the pre-1968 Microbus and its concept with the company’s renowned Kublewagen, which had been used by the German military during World War II. 
VW sold many 181s to NATO as an interim model during the development of NATO’s Europa JEEP Concept vehicle. The civilian version was a bare bones beach buggy in the US and a more capable mode of transport in 3rd world countries with poor roads. Now you can imagine that because of the very nature of The Thing, not many have survived intact. And that’s what makes this one unique. It is pretty much all original right down to the orange paint. Read More
Jan
27
I think it is important to name your trusty and much loved vehicle. You depend on them. You take care of them and they bring you to neat places. Why wouldn’t you name your car? The seller or perhaps an owner in the Bus’s history, named this jewel, Doris. It fits.
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