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Looking for Australian sales figures of Karmann ghia

Kuchster - June 10th, 2009 at 06:40 PM

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

58camper - June 10th, 2009 at 07:30 PM

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

kg1962 - June 10th, 2009 at 09:51 PM

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

helbus - June 10th, 2009 at 09:59 PM

Phil74Camper

He co-wrote a book "Knowing Australian Volkswagens"

Look here for more info

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

bushed - July 10th, 2009 at 09:31 PM

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

isky - July 11th, 2009 at 08:00 PM

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....

melolly - August 11th, 2009 at 01:20 PM

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.

axlepressbutton - August 13th, 2009 at 06:40 AM

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!

type_one - August 14th, 2009 at 04:32 PM

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.

kg1962 - August 17th, 2009 at 10:14 PM

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

VW-VARIANT-L - August 18th, 2009 at 10:10 PM

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

bushed - August 18th, 2009 at 10:16 PM

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

isky - September 4th, 2009 at 01:39 PM

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

isky - September 4th, 2009 at 01:43 PM

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!

bushed - September 4th, 2009 at 04:19 PM

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

kg1962 - September 4th, 2009 at 08:46 PM

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".

isky - September 5th, 2009 at 09:54 PM

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!

68AutoBug - September 6th, 2009 at 12:46 AM

Hi

Phil Mathews is on AVD..

He has written books about VWs in Australia
and has a lot of info from the VW factory in Aust etc..

I thought most Karmann Ghias were sold in Australia in 1959.. or that the 15 listed are still on the road...

I didn't know any more were sold thru VW dealerships after 1961...

especially 1968 models...

All the late ones I've seen were imported usually from the USA and converted to RHD...
Now these aren't in the official figures...

I find it hard to believe that that many were sold in Australia.. as I've been into VWs since 1962 and there weren't many Karmann ghias around then and after..

I did however see a body only without doors or bonnet or engine lid and no chassis under a tree in Tamworth many years ago... Fellow wanted to sell it to me... $$$$
that was about 15 years ago...

from memory, a New Karmann Ghia cost nearly double a the price of a beetle...

and the sad part... there are thousands of them sitting in wreckers yards in the USA rusting away...

LEE

PS: as a tail lamp fanatic [probably the only one]
I just love those ultra rare amber at the bottom tail lamps
never seen those before... probably never will... LEE

VW-VARIANT-L - September 6th, 2009 at 03:28 PM

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.

kg1962 - September 6th, 2009 at 11:04 PM

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.

Matt Ryan - September 7th, 2009 at 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by VW-VARIANT-L
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.

68AutoBug - September 7th, 2009 at 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by type_one
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

sputnick60 - September 8th, 2009 at 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 68AutoBug

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

Nikos - September 9th, 2009 at 08:56 AM

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

vwsteve - September 9th, 2009 at 09:02 AM

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?

VW-VARIANT-L - September 9th, 2009 at 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sputnick60

Quote:

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.

sputnick60 - September 10th, 2009 at 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by VW-VARIANT-L
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

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/68437.jpg

That bears some resemblance to the early Type 3 Tail lights

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/584646.jpg

Claro?
Nicholas

vwsteve - September 11th, 2009 at 09:51 AM

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

VW-VARIANT-L - September 11th, 2009 at 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sputnick60

Quote:

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.

sputnick60 - September 11th, 2009 at 10:33 PM

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 :cool:

Nicholas