1969 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia

The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia was introduced in 1956. It was the result of a joint venture between the German Karmann body works and Ghia. It wore styling by Luigi Serge of the Italian carrozzeria Ghia and hand-built bodywork by the German coach-builder Karmann. It was built on the Beetle floorpan and given its drivetrain. Initially available only in coupe form, a convertible was introduced two years later. Its internal designation was the Typ 14.

The first Volkswagen Karmann Ghia rolled off the assembly line in Osnabruck, Germany in August of 1955 as 1956 models. Production lasted until 1974 and in that time some 365,912 coupes and 79,326 convertibles were produced. More than 445,000 Karmann Ghias were produced in Germany over the car's production life, not including the Type 34 variant. Karmann Brazil produced 41,600 cars locally for South America between 1962 and 1975. The Karmann-Ghia was very successful and popular in the United States, where most of the production was sent.

In 1961, Volkswagen introduced the Typ 34, a variant based on the newly introduced Type 3 platform and featuring angular bodywork. Production doubled soon after its introduction.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2016