Here's a quick tour of the 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible.
Transcript- Today is a great day, because I am standing right next to a 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible. Today, I'm going to walk around here, give you guys a little design tour, a little analysis. But before we do that, let's look at a little bit of history.
So back in the day, Volkswagen was looking for a bit of a flagship car to go along with the economy cars, so it contacted some interesting folks to go about making that happen. This car was actually designed by Ghia, which is an Italian design company, and then put together by Karmann, which is a German coach building company that Volkswagen and others have used over the years. So the actual design is Ghia.
And if you know much of this car's history, then you may already know about the relationship between this and the Chrysler D'Elegance. So that vehicle is also designed by Ghia, and they bear a striking resemblance. So especially this little kick up from the door into the fender here, it's a very distinctive part of this entire design. But one of the coolest parts about this car is that all of them were hand built, all hand welded, all put together in Germany in Karmann's plant.
So a lot of people say that not a single one of them is the same. This is the first one that I've actually gotten into, but part of that, the cool factor of that is that the entire body is pretty much one. So you're not left with a bunch of cut and seam lines in here, like in many other automobiles. So the only actual pieces are not one piece with this body and welded together. You have the engine cover, the doors, and then, of course, the hood.
There's a storage compartment up here, though, but for the most part, this car is all one piece. You can see how the fender goes into the actual front of the hood here. It goes all the way up into the cowl. It's a very, very interesting design, and this one specifically is the convertible.
Of course, the top is down. It's a sunny day, but many consider this to be one of the best-looking Volkswagens ever made. [INAUDIBLE] that opinion. It's a pretty special looking design. So you can obviously tell. No big grill up front. The engine is in back. It's air-cooled.
This is, of course, based off the Beetle of the time, so the Chassis is actually a little bit wider than a Beetle. But it uses similar running gear, same engine. It's working with about 40 horsepower, so let's check out some details here. So here's Karmann Ghia, your little badge here, so you've probably seen that on any Karmann Ghia you pass by.
I love these little tiny little exhaust tips back here, perfect from the era. A lot of bright work on the back, tons and tons of chrome back here. It really sets off the red paint nicely, and this little hood over the license plate [INAUDIBLE]. Very petite, very small. The wheels, also chrome. Really great looking wheels on this.
Love the chrome down the side as well. Very fancy for a Volkswagen. And then, once again, if you come up front here, tons of chrome. But the actual design of the front almost reminds me of a boat to a certain degree, the way that it's sort of breaking the prow of the waves and whatnot. But you have this very nice-- I mean, this is a really great looking bumper right here.
And then the headlights, pretty traditional with amber signals as well. And then let's look, again, at the Volkswagen logo. You can see this is actually almost two pieces right here. So you have the actual logo and then this little silver and glass-ish piece right there as well.
So now that we've seen the outside, let's take a look inside the Karmann Ghia. You got a little button on the door here. Press that. In you go, so let's look at some of the controls here. Manual windows, of course, and then I have a few buttons over here.
These guys are actually for the defroster system. This pole right here is for the front trunk, front storage. And then once you get further in here, you've got the windshield wipers, windshield wiper fluid, and the lights. Your gauges, pretty simple gauges. Nothing too fancy.
No tachometer, but you do have a speedo, a fuel gauge, and a clock over here. Very nice, and then the radio as well chilling right there. Let's look at the passenger side now. So on the passenger side, you have a little ashtray. Of course, it is 1964 after all.
You have a glove box. You need the key to get into it, but there's a little bit of storage in there. You can see the pedals offset way to the right here. You actually have to move way over there, four speed manual transmission, your emergency brake. And then this guy right here, you have no idea what that is. But it actually controls the airflow through the car, so sort of like fan speed.
Beyond that, no mirror here. You do have a mirror on the driver's side. How very convenient. I love this red paint on the dash. It really looks nice, especially with this nice white painted steering wheel. Really nice little logo on that there.
I'm not really sure what that means. Maybe you guys in the comments can tell me. In case you didn't want to get to the back, the seat pulls in forward, no straps, no nothing. And then it looks like a shelf you have right here. But if you were to actually put this top up, you have the back seat. As it is, it stops the back seat from going up with the top down. So it's only a two seater with the top down. Maybe you could sit back there. You probably don't want to, but yes, you do have a few extra seats back there, if you want--
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