1974 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia With 60's Era Mods on 2040-cars
Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
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For sale is my 1974 VW Karmann Ghia. I've owned this car since August
of 2012, and it's been my extremely reliable daily driver (although I
work from home, so daily driving for me is only the occasional trip to
the grocery store, etc). If you live in the Raleigh/Durham area there's
a good chance you've seen me cruising around in this air cooled beauty.
I've put roughly 8,000 miles on it in these past two years. It fires
up the first time every time, and has not once left me on the side of
the road. If you're looking for a Ghia that is a rock solid car you can
enjoy, drive every day, and not worry about...then this is the Ghia for
you.
If you're familiar with Karmann Ghias, you'll probably immediately notice that this looks like no other 70's Ghia. It's been modified to have the much nicer early bullet front turn signals, early low back seats in the interior, and a killer ORIGINAL flat 4 GT wood steering wheel (not a modern repro). An aluminum dash panel has also been added that houses a voltage gauge, a fuel gauge, and an oil pressure gauge, the oil warning light, the alternator warning light, as well as a toggle ignition switch (the key still needs to be turned to the on position for the ignition switch to work). The hi beam switch and indicator have been moved to the dash just to the right of the clock. The large toggle is conveniently reachable with your right hand still on the steering wheel. The e-brake handle has a 3 digit combination lock. If you don't know the combination, you can't release the parking brake. A nice low-tech theft deterrent! The gas tank was also replaced with an earlier style that requires you to lift the front trunk hood - another throwback to the 60's Ghias. This is a one-of-a-kind Ghia, that has the styling of the earlier 60's Ghias, but with the IRS handling and 1600dp power of the later 70's Ghias. You won't find another one like it. A little history... This Ghia lived most of its life in Wilmington, NC. There the car was eventually disassembled by the original owner in the early 80's and painted black from it's original green. After that the car sat painted and disassembled in the owner's garage for about 15 years. It was then purchased in 2000 by the 2nd owner (also in Wilmington, and who I bought the car from), who finished the assembly and got the car back on the road. He put ~3,000 miles on the car between 2000 and 2012 and sold it to me with roughly 37,000 miles on the odometer, and I brought the car to Raleigh. By his accounts, the mileage is original; and by how well it runs and drives, I don't doubt it. Now being 30 years old, the paint does show its age up close. The clear coat is peeling and cracking in a few areas, and the paint does show signs of checkering on the roof. But it's a very mild patina, and from 5 feet you'd probably never notice it. There are also a few chips and dings from road debris up front. I religiously wash the car, and 4 times a year it gets clay-bar'd and waxed by hand with carnuba wax. In terms of rust, there are some areas in the floor pan and in the lower rear fenders that the previous owner POR-15'd. He didn't do the prettiest job, but it's areas that you can't see unless you're under the car, so it never really bothered me. The rockers appear in pretty good condition with no evident signs of rust. And you can even see in the pics in the photobucket album that the three factory drain holes on each side are still there, open, and functioning. The interior is in excellent shape and presents very nicely. The car runs and drives great, never overheats, and keeps up easily with modern traffic. I've driven this car on a handful of roadtrips through North and South Carolina with no issues whatsoever. One thing I recommend if you're interested in this car, is that you probably will need to know how to double clutch to downshift from 3rd to 2nd. The gearbox does have the usual 2nd gear synchro wear. As long as you double clutch, there's no grinding and it shifts extremely smoothly. If you don't double clutch, the 3rd to 2nd downshift can crunch if the rpms are too high. Again, not an issue if you can double clutch...and honestly if you're not double clutching, you're not driving a manual correctly. I did an entire brake system overhaul in early 2013 (new front calipers and pads, new SS hoses on all four corners, new metal lines up front). At that time the rear shoes still had a lot of meat on them so I didn't replace them. They are now getting close to needing to be replaced. I have a new set of shoes and springs that will be included with the car. There is also a 3rd brake light that has been added for safety. Both door locks work, and the car comes with 3 matching keys. Keep a spare in your wallet in case you accidentally lock yourself out! Since I have owned the car, the following has been done to it: - oil change every 1,000 miles with Castrol GTX 10w30 - new oil strainer gaskets and copper washers at every oil change - replaced the original sump plate with one that has an oil drain plug to make oil changes easier. I still have the original sump plate that will be included with the car - adjusted valves every 1,500 miles to .006 - new valve cover gaskets at every valve adjustment - new tires - greased front axle beams every 6 months - replaced oil in oil bath air filter every 6 months - new wiper blades (the original aluminum aerofoil blades are included with the car) - upgraded headlights to H4 halogen - replaced shift rod bushing - replaced shift rod coupler with urethane coupler - replaced shift lever - new front ATE-style calipers from KGPR - new braided stainless steel hoses on all four corners - new MC to hose metal brake lines up front - new OE german brake light switches - brake system flush and bled - new fresh air controller - new passenger and driver seatbelts - new cap, rotor, wires (Bosch 09001), and plugs (NGK B5HS) - timing set - changed transaxle gear oil with Royal Purple 75w90 - new urethane sway bar bushings I have about 90 pics of the car in this photobucket album: Karmann Ghia Photobucket Album Feel free to ask questions, or let me know if you'd like to come view the car. I can be contacted via craigslist email, or by phone at 919-3 eight 9-nine 9 one 5. I would consider a trade for an excellent condition 70-74 Porsche 914, any color but red. |
Volkswagen Karmann Ghia for Sale
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Auto blog
A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]
Thu, Dec 18 2014Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.
Autoblog Minute: Finalists announced for 2016 Tech of the Year award
Thu, Oct 29 2015Here are the finalists for Autoblog's 2016 Technology of the Year award. Autoblog's Chris McGraw reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute, with commentary from Autoblog executive producer Adam Morath, AutoblogGreen editor-in-chief Sebastian Blanco, and Autoblog senior editor Alex Kierstein. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] It's Fall here in Detroit and for us that means it's time for football, autumn beers, and the fourth annual Autoblog Tech of the Year awards. I'm Chris McGraw and this is your Autoblog Minute. Tech of the Year is one of our favorite things here at Autoblog. It's a time when we get celebrate all the best tech from the industry we love most. [00:00:30] - [00:01:00] [Commentary form Adam Morath, Sebastian Blanco, Alex Kierstein] Past winners include, Tesla's Supercharger network, FCA's Uconnect system and the BMW i8. In 2016 we're doing something a little different for Tech of the Year. We've separated our award into two categories. One award for best tech car, and a second award for best technology of the year. The nominees for best car in 2016 are: [00:01:30] the Tesla Model S, the Chevrolet Volt, and the BMW 7 series. The nominees for best tech in 2016 are: Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Volkswagen's MiB II with AppConnect, Ford Sync 3, Audi's Virtual Cockpit, the Smart Cross Connect App, and Volvo Sensus. [00:02:00] We're going to announce Autoblog's Tech of the Year winners in January at the 2016 North American International Auto Show, in Detroit. For Autoblog, I'm Chris McGraw. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals. Green BMW Chevrolet Ford Hummer smart Tesla Volkswagen Volvo Technology Infotainment Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video
VW Group recalls 27k Touaregs, Audis and Porsches for fuel leak
Tue, Jan 27 2015The Volkswagen Group is one of the most expansive in the entire industry, and shares parts across more product lines than we could wrap our heads around. So when the German megalith finds a fault in one of its components, it has the capacity to spread like wildfire. The latest set of recall notices from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers vehicles from the Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche divisions. The problem revolves around the fuel injection system, which could potentially leak and cause a fire. The recall affects – deep breath now – the 2012 VW Touareg Hybrid, the 2011-12 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid and Panamera S Hybrid, 2011-12 Audi S4, S5 and Q7 and the 2012-13 Audi A7. All told, that amounts to 27,376 units, the owners of which can expect to hear from the manufacturer to have the fuel rails replaced, along with their corresponding seals (having nothing to do with marine mammals writing letters). RECALL Subject : Fuel Injection System Fuel Leak Report Receipt Date: JAN 20, 2015 NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V019000 Component(s): FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Potential Number of Units Affected: 26,008 Manufacturer: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. SUMMARY: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 Audi S4, S5, Q7, 2012 Audi A6, Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid, and 2012-2013 Audi A7 vehicles. In the affected vehicles the fuel injection system may experience a fuel leak. CONSEQUENCE: A fuel leak in the injection system in the presence of an ignition source, increases the risk of a fire. REMEDY: Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel rails and corresponding seals, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin March 10, 2015. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-822-2834 or Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 24AP for Audi customers and 24BK for Volkswagen customers. NOTES: Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov. ### RECALL Subject : Fuel Injection System may Leak Report Receipt Date: JAN 20, 2015 NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V016000 Component(s): ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Potential Number of Units Affected: 1,368 Manufacturer: Porsche Cars North America, Inc. SUMMARY: Porsche Cars North America, Inc.