Description
The Karmann Ghia is a LHD 1969 model year and was originally registered in California. It was restored to a very high standard between 2008 and 2010 in California resulting in a feature in the January 2013 edition of Hot VWs magazine. The car was painted in factory Oriole Yellow L11K during its restoration and was fitted with a bespoke Paprika vinyl and Espresso tweed trimmed interior, 2110cc engine and built gearbox. The car is mostly the same as it was when restored in California with only a few changes made since. It was first registered in the UK in June 2018 after being imported. I bought the car privately three years ago making me the fourth owner. Since the purchase the car has done less than 1000 miles.
The bodywork is almost all original metal with only one headlight bucket having been replaced due to accident damage - I tested the paint thickness when I bought the car and there are no areas of filler. The body of the car was re-painted using DuPont Chroma Base and Chroma Premier Appearance Clear, with the underside of body such as wheel wells, above gearbox area, painted in is also painted in 3M Rocker Guard. The floorpan was blasted and powder coated satin black. All bright work was refreshed with the towel rail style bumpers being re-chromed.
Being a 1969 model year car it has the better independent rear suspension (IRS) and ball joint front suspension. The car is lowered at the front with 2. 5" dropped spindles fitted to a stock beam. The rear suspension has Sway-A-Way torsion bars fitted and is lowered one notch on the spring plates. KYB shocks and heavy duty anti roll bars front and rear complete the suspension.
15x5. 5 ET45 Flat Four Fuchs are fitted with Continental 175 55 15 front and 175 65 15 rear tyres, and a 15x5. 5 ET30 Porsche spare wheel.
The interior is based around a Paprika vinyl and Espresso tweed trim. The stock front seats were replaced by Corbeau Sports Seats that were trimmed at the Corbeau factory, a stock rear seat and door panels trimmed by Lenny Copp's West Coast Classic Restoration, and the speaker enclosure behind the rear seat was trimmed by Fine Line Interiors. West Coast Classics carpets were trimmed by Lenny Copp's West Coast Classic Restoration and trimmed rubber matts sit on top of these in the front, with dynamat lining the interior of the car. An SSP steering wheel, Hurst style shifter and refreshed pedal assembly allow you to engage the car, and three point recoil front seat belts keep you in place. In addition to the stock gauges in the dashboard an under dash gauge pod was fitted and houses an Autometer tachometer, and VDO oil pressure and oil temperature gauges. The sound system is made up of 6. 5inch Boston Acoustics speakers in front kick panels, Boston Acoustics 6 x 9s and JL Audio 10" sub in custom enclosure behind rear seat, and an Alpine 9886 head unit mounted to kick panel at bottom of rear seat.
The original 1500cc engine was replaced with a 2110cc engine built (blueprinted and balanced) by VW Performance in Phoenix Arizona. It is based around an AS41 magnesium crank case clearanced to fit an 82mm DPR crankshaft, opened up for 90. 5mm Mahle barrels and pistons, and drilled and tapped for a full flow oil system. The rest of the engines spec is
5. 4 inch CB Performance Con Rods
Engle W-110 camshaft
CB Performance 044 heads (42 x 37. 5mm stainless steel valves, 3 angle valve job, fully ported and polished)
Berg chromoly pushrods
Stock 1. 1 rockers on solid shafts
8:1 compression ratio
Berg degree pulley
alternator
Mallory Unilite distributor and Hyfire V1 ignition system
electric fuel pump
Weber 44 IDF carburettors with CSP bell crank linkage and port matched manifolds
A1 1 5/ 8 stainless steel exhaust system with a coated header and polished box
Empi deep sump
Schadek 26mm oil pump
Canton remote oil filter (has replaceable filter cartridge)
Setrab remote oil cooler with thermostatic valves and electric fan that can be controlled from the dashboard
Berg breather and and custom aluminium breather lines
braided oil hoses
Heat shielding has been installed around the underside of engine bay, and to clean up the engine bay the battery has been relocated to under back seat, custom side panels have been fitted, and pistons to hold engine decklid instead of springs.
The gearbox was built by Porters Precision Transaxles in El Dorado Hills, California with the following spec
IRS Single Side Cover case,
Erco heavy duty side cover
steel forks
hardened keyways
Super diff with VW Thing / Type 181 100mm output flanges
3. 88 Ring and Pinion
stock 1st to 3rd (3. 78 / 2. 06 / 1. 26) with 1st and 2nd being welded for strength, and 4th being a long 0. 82 to provide better cruising.
The gearbox drives a set of Sway-A-Way axles with 100mm VW Type 2 CV joints. A gearbox mid-mount and trapeze / torque bar is also fitted.
Also included in the sale is a luggage rack that fits on the engine lid, and an outdoor car cover which has only been used once. I spent two years looking for a Karmann Ghia and when I found this car it was so close to a wish list of what I could want it was an easy decision to buy it. The finish of the car is so good with every detail thought of. It's a beautiful car to drive with an amazing sound from the exhaust when applying the throttle.
Two copies of the HotVWs magazine the car was featured in are included in the sale
I have a Google Photo Album containing 240 photos that I can provide a link to upon request.
