Looking for Australian sales figures of Karmann ghia

I was looking at a book or website or something once with the information of how many karmann ghias, year by year of how many were sold in Australia, have no idea where i saw it and cant seem to find it anywhere, im sure it was on a website.

Can anyone help out with this one?

Thanks

Based on data provided earlier this year by Phil Mathews the following numbers apply.

KG SALES Numbers.


YEAR NUMBER

1959 15
1960 264
1961 284
1962 97
1963 81
1964 28
1965 31
1966 5
1967 0
1968 2

TOTAL 807

Excuse my ignorance but who is Phil Matthews?
Didn't realise that so few were sold in Australia!

Phil74Camper

He co-wrote a book "Knowing Australian Volkswagens"

Look here for more info

http://www.clubvw.org.au/Australian%20VW%20history.htm

so how do i find out how many 1960 K/Ghias are still alive in Qzz , anyone ??
I have one, was supposed to go to Fiji in 1960 ended up in Gympie!!
and I brought it back here 3 years ago after buying it from the 2nd owner in Bundy.
been off rd now but schmick ...20years

id like to know how many Karmann Ghia's are out there period! It would be interesting to know exactly how many were released and approximately how many remain, or at least are registered.

Hey Bushed....put up some pics of your Ghia! I'd Love to see....

I have a 1960 Karmann Ghia. It was destined for Fiji according to the birth certificate. Think it came back to Melbourne.... then unknown until it was bought by a Sunshine Coast fellow some 5 years ago and now she is in Rockhampton.
I would love to know how many are round too.
There are another 2 in Rockhampton. One is a LHD 69 and the other is a little more shy and unknown... it is just Brown....

I love mine soooo much. She is in good condition.

Lets see some pictures of it melolly!

- seems like 60's are the Ghia of choice Down-under. It also sees that plenty of them seem to have settled on the Sunny Coast. Nice!

Is this for real? Those numbers seem very low.

YEAR NUMBER

1959 15
1960 264
1961 284
1962 97
1963 81
1964 28
1965 31
1966 5
1967 0
1968 2

I have a 64 coupe if anyone is counting. Not registered.

Thought I would ask a slightly different question. How many T34 Ghias were sold in Australia? Anyone know the stats?

Not many, they were one of the most expensive VW's at the time. Probably less than 50 in total , most are 1965 models.

geeze, i owned one 27 yrs ago $2000
1 0wner
sold it for $3000 6 months later as we needed a variant!!
stiff as a board suspension would make the car hop sidewise under og single port power

a few posts ago on this thread i asked bushed to put up some pics of his ride he spoke of...its a pretty confusing process so im doing it on his behalf.

Hey nice ride mate!



here's some pics of the 1960, been off the rd 20 yrs. gen 3rd owner,
1600tp now slightly lowered by 14'' wheels. Handles like a dream with
s/s/plate irs dual disc brake system if u wanna post up on avd go 4 it.

Bushed


By isky2 at 2009-09-03


By isky2 at 2009-09-03


By isky2 at 2009-09-03


By isky2 at 2009-09-03

black bumpers! did you have these sprayed or powder coated? the front and rear lids look to be a perfect fit as well. Even when Karmanns are all original Ive noticed these sometimes don't fit correctly..... and Ive never seen tail lights that have the amber on the bottom...Nice work!

black bumpers were sprayed b4 pwdercoating became a better option
so it's easily removed to orig chrome anytime.

there is an illusion of amber due to camera flash...but they are all red tails incl blinker 1960!!
thanks for posting up isky!
B

Hi Isky,

The tail lights with the amber on the bottom half were an optional fitment, at least on Australian delivered cars. My 1964 MY car has them and on my birth certificate it has listed under options "M 009 yellow tail lights".

Is that right! i still like the all red tail lights and the clear bullet front indicators 🙂 So i take it your happy with your birth certificate purchase kg1962? looks to be pretty helpful.

No probs Bushed!

Would love to see a pic of your rear lenses kg1962

My parts book lists M9 with "yellow tail lights " as an option for Australia and Italy.

Generally Australian KG's already came standard with European spec amber topped rear lenses, with the US getting all red.

VW-Variant-L, I will try to take some pics of the tail lights and post them on the weekend.

Isky, the birth certificate was a very worthwhile purchase. Its nice to get a bit of history on the car.

VW-VARIANT-L wrote:Would love to see a pic of your rear lenses kg1962

My parts book lists M9 with "yellow tail lights " as an option for Australia and Italy.

That would make them the equivalent of Beetle 50/50 tail lights as far as the years, and countries of issue are concerned. I wonder if they are as difficult (exy) to reproduce and if they had the same terrible problems with the yellow part turning to crap.

Regards,

Matt.

type_one wrote:Is this for real? Those numbers seem very low.

YEAR NUMBER

1959 15
1960 264
1961 284
1962 97
1963 81
1964 28
1965 31
1966 5
1967 0
1968 2

I have a 64 coupe if anyone is counting. Not registered.

Yes they are that rare...
probably a few were wrecked after accidents in the late 60s 70s when it was found that they were not just a bolted together common vehicle... = expensive to repair...

so they are rare to start with...
and now should be classed as rare, even though We all know there are a few about , especially at VW shows..

a few years ago, at Valla, a late Karmann Ghia owner had driven his Karmann down from north Queensland..
it had been a LHD US import converted to RHD...
it had also been an auto stick [semi auto] as it still had the gearshifter... the tail lamps on this car were like the late model type 3s... only about 2 inches shorter...
this car was immaculate.. but the judges said he had incorrect tail lamps on His car.... so He was very unhappy
and won't be back to Valla....

LEE

68AutoBug wrote:

a few years ago, at Valla, a late Karmann Ghia owner had driven his Karmann down from north Queensland..
it had been a LHD US import converted to RHD...
it had also been an auto stick [semi auto] as it still had the gearshifter... the tail lamps on this car were like the late model type 3s... only about 2 inches shorter...
this car was immaculate.. but the judges said he had incorrect tail lamps on His car.... so He was very unhappy
and won't be back to Valla....

LEE

This could be a Karmann Ghia manufactured in Brazil. The Brazilian Ghias had tail lights very similar to the Type 3 tail lights (as you describe) and a quarter window on the front doors. The dash I think was like the 1967 model but without the woodgrain dash.

So the Ghia number so few in Australia that a VW concourse judge knows so little about them that he makes a bad call. Too bad, because I'd love to see that KG from Valla (or QLD)

BTW mine's a 1966 Ghia Cabriolet undergoing a full off the pan restoration. It is fully dismantled now and starting to go back together slooowly.

Cheers
Nicholas

Hi Sputnick60,

I've seen you're a regular on the samba and seem to know your way around ghias. I don't want to hi-jack this thread but you wouldn't be based in Sydney would you.

PS. I've got a 70 ghia cab. Just wanting to learn as much as possible regarding getting the car sorted so I don't throw my money away.

Send me a pm if you'd like.

nikos

I would like to know how many 60 convertibles were sent here and how many original rhd 60 convertibles are still left over, i have 1, zsolt has 1, anyone else?

sputnick60 wrote:

68AutoBug wrote:

a few years ago, at Valla, a late Karmann Ghia owner had driven his Karmann down from north Queensland..
it had been a LHD US import converted to RHD...
it had also been an auto stick [semi auto] as it still had the gearshifter... the tail lamps on this car were like the late model type 3s... only about 2 inches shorter...
this car was immaculate.. but the judges said he had incorrect tail lamps on His car.... so He was very unhappy
and won't be back to Valla....

LEE

This could be a Karmann Ghia manufactured in Brazil. The Brazilian Ghias had tail lights very similar to the Type 3 tail lights (as you describe) and a quarter window on the front doors. The dash I think was like the 1967 model but without the woodgrain dash.

So the Ghia number so few in Australia that a VW concourse judge knows so little about them that he makes a bad call. Too bad, because I'd love to see that KG from Valla (or QLD)

BTW mine's a 1966 Ghia Cabriolet undergoing a full off the pan restoration. It is fully dismantled now and starting to go back together slooowly.

Cheers
Nicholas

The 1970 and 1971 Kg's came standard with smaller rear tail lights, that look very similar to shrunk down late type 3 lenses but about 2 inches shorter as Lee mentioned.
From 1972 to 1974 they use the same large lenses from the Type 3.
The brasilian KG did use the mid to late 60's type 3 lenses, but I don't believe there are any of these in Australia. Hope this helps.

VW-VARIANT-L wrote:The 1970 and 1971 Kg's came standard with smaller rear tail lights, that look very similar to shrunk down late type 3 lenses but about 2 inches shorter as Lee mentioned.
From 1972 to 1974 they use the same large lenses from the Type 3.
The brasilian KG did use the mid to late 60's type 3 lenses, but I don't believe there are any of these in Australia. Hope this helps.

All true. However, I was referring to this type of rear tail light

That bears some resemblance to the early Type 3 Tail lights


Claro?
Nicholas

i think someone has modified that car with type 3 t/lights, the guards are flared too so.......

sputnick60 wrote:

VW-VARIANT-L wrote:The 1970 and 1971 Kg's came standard with smaller rear tail lights, that look very similar to shrunk down late type 3 lenses but about 2 inches shorter as Lee mentioned.
From 1972 to 1974 they use the same large lenses from the Type 3.
The brasilian KG did use the mid to late 60's type 3 lenses, but I don't believe there are any of these in Australia. Hope this helps.

All true. However, I was referring to this type of rear tail light

That bears some resemblance to the early Type 3 Tail lights


Claro?
Nicholas

Lee referred to a lens looking like a Late type 3 lens = 1970 -1973, but shorter which is the 1970-71 KG type.
The type 3 rear lens grafted into a KG looks good. There is a pale blue KG which has had this done in Victoria, but it is not a brazilian.
The second photo you have shown is a mid 60's type 3 rear lens, used from 1965 to 1969. They used these from the VW type 3 parts bin on the Brazilian KG's, possibly to save costs.

Yes too bad about the flared guards. Yuk!

Those tail lights were not grafted on, however. As you say they are very likely the same as the type 3 of the era. Yes it does look good. Might I say looks better than some other sad examples we've all seen

Well spotted gents😎

Nicholas

Picture of my Australian delivered MY1964 type 1 Ghia's optional M009 yellow tail lights. They're yellow on top, not the bottom. As you can see by the picture the car has been sitting in the garage collecting dust.

Thanks for the pic. My 63 KG has the same amber topped lenses.
I don't believe VW or Hella ever made an amber bottomed KG rear lens, however I did do a test and the lens/ base is symetrical so can be fitted 180 degrees around if you want amber at the bottom 😉

VW-VARIANT-L wrote:Thanks for the pic. My 63 KG has the same amber topped lenses.
I don't believe VW or Hella ever made an amber bottomed KG rear lens, however I did do a test and the lens/ base is symetrical so can be fitted 180 degrees around if you want amber at the bottom 😉

I take it that your '63 Ghia is also an Australian delivered vehicle. Others may know for sure, but I guess the "optional" yellow tail lights may have been standard on Australian delivered cars for ADR reasons.

BTW I have no intention of flipping the tail lights around.😂

It was Australian delivered, think your right about the ADR's too for standard amber.
Mine has amber front indicators also, but in 1960 and 1961 they came with clear ( ? 1962, not sure when the ADR for amber front came in but I have a 1965 Type 3 with original clear bullets).
Given the low numbers of KG's for export to Australia I don't think they made many unique parts or accessories apart from the rear venetian.
It is difficult to tell how many are still currently registered as the pre-65 type1 KG body numbers overlap with beetles, and body style is often only listed as a sedan/ coupe/ roadster not ghia in the registrations (atleast in Victoria).

There must have been some KG's sold in Australia after 1968 - I have the birth certificate for my 1969 KG and it was an Australian delivery (built 8.7.1969, dispatched 17.7.1969 to Melbourne Australia).

thats not many at all mines a 1959

Hi
it was a late German Karmann Ghia ... with the late model bumpers etc ex USA.. [beautiful car]
I believe even later model Karmann Ghias did have the type 3 tail lamps??? or maybe they all the shorter version??

all automatic Beetles and Karmann Ghias were made in Germany.
You can tell by the automatic gearlever -

[1971-1972 US beetles also had odd tail lamps. similar to 1968-70 tail lamps only about 2 inches longer..]

Karmann Ghias also had two late wrap around front blinkers.
one unique to Karmanns and the other from the late model type 3..

cheers

LEE

I can remember seeing the odd early Karmann Ghia's back in the late 50's early 60's...
but I cannot ever remember seeing one with the fancy bumpers or the late model bumpers...

they may have all been special imports...
buying one in 1969 would have been very difficult as VW had been dismantled...
unless a few were shipped in with automatic beeetles??

or maybe all sold in Melbourne etc..???

but ALL Karmann Ghias are rare...
as even in 1958-59-60-61- not many were imported..
they were a VERY expensive car..... IMHO


cheers

LEE