I owned a 1962 KG, way back in the late 1970s...It was a fun car...I quickly did the then trendy thing, and replaced the stock exhaust with a semi-header/glass pack muffler...it gave me maybe 5% more power, and made that little thing sound very "sporty". 26-30 mpg from the 1200cc engine. Nowadays, I would never drive an old VW product...let's face it, they were death traps!...gas tank in your lap, no safety equipment whatsoever, and quirky handling in rain/snow--and forget about having anything resembling a heater/defogger system! But as a younger guy, I felt invulnerable!
No sound like the whirl of the air-cooled motor. Late at night, driving homewards. Complete confidence it would get me there. Otherwise??I never had any issue with the handling, wet or dry?? Non issue as far as I am concerned. Which cars of that era had safety equipment?
@@big566bunny Indeed, much better handling than most "affordably-priced" cars of its era. Engine over the drive wheels made it much better in the snow, mud, or rain, than other cars. Replace the original bias ply tires with high quality radial ply tires, and you are way ahead of all the other "affordably-priced" cars. Seems to me that the main safety issue compared to other cars of the era was not the gas tank position, but engine position relative to any rear-seat passengers. If the car gets struck in the rear by another vehicle, the engine gets pushed into the backs of any rear-seat passengers, striking their spines in the area of their lower back.
Me too (black white top),except I had it from1989 to 2015 and did no mods. Drove away from my wedding reception with my wife first sitting up on the top to wave for pics. We were in our 40s, such fun. I had to sell due to priorities.
What beautiful upholstery! I went to a Karmann-Ghia Owners Club event in Great Britain, and took a fair few photos. That led me to realise this model ATTRACTS re-upholsterers in droves! These are the MOST re-upholstered cars ever! People like to achieve their own "interpretation" of how the interior should look!
I had a 1972 Karmann Ghia with the 1600cc engine and the big bumpers. The mechanics are 100% the same as the VW Beetle. What made the biggest difference to mine was fitting upgraded rear shocks (Spax), that improved the handling a lot. The big problem with these cars is rust, there was no protection applied at the factory.
This Karmann Ghia is a wonderful piece. My biggest concern with its care is that the large gasket surrounding the engine metal appears ready to be replaced. Enough said if one understands the importance of the separation at hand. For those unaware, that gasket has an extremely important duty in the longevity of the engine in keeping the temperature in the proper range, as well as proper cabin heating and cabin air quality. Regarding this, always bear in mind Doctor Porsche's engineering rule for his air-cooled engine. That being, he designed the engine to operate in two different atmospheres, roughly split 50/50 between upper and lower halves of the engine. He accomplished this by creating the engine compartment to be the Clean & Cool atmosphere, and where the upper half of the engine be. The underside of the engine is beneath the engine compartment, and in the outdoors as the lower half of the engine occupies the Hot & Dirty side of the engine. Some average thought will explain why there is a Cool & Clean Half and a Hot & Dirty Half. As well as the reasons for their separation. This why there be completely intact and properly fastened-in engine metal on the floor of the engine compartment, along with the above-mentioned gasket, which must be in good condition, for they are critical in separating the engine halves. Now everybody go check your air-cooled VW's.
It is really very simple. The fan is in the upper part of the engine and it blows cool atmospheric air downward over the cylinder head, cylinders, and oil cooler. The air then becomes hot, and exits the rearward, at the lower part of the engine. I don't have a good view of the rubber flap gasket between the 2 halves of the engine, but it it is indeed in poor condition then there will be poor isolation of the upper half from the lower half, and the hot will rise back up into the upper part of the engine, instead of exiting rearward out from the bottom part of the engine. Then hot air will get blown over the cyl head, and then rise up again, and get hotter, ad infinitum, causing the engine to continually get hotter and hotter, and to wear rapidly and last only a short time.. Ideally your would have a cylinder head thermometer at each cylinder position at each cyl head, and an oil temp thermometer at the oil cooler,, and gauges in the dash showing the temperature at each of these 5 points. Plus a warning light telling you to shut off the engine if any cyl head area or the oil, gets too hot. By the way the 1963 Ghia had a 6 volt system. It looks like this car has a 12 volt battery, and its 6 volt generator has been replaced by a 12 volt "alternator."
had two of these one red with the top in white and those grills over the engine bay for some bags, also a light grey metalized one(ancient shade of this colour not like today, it handles percfect, not that fast but a pleasure to drive it and it drives perfect, in Brazil they released one more bodie in the 70´s as the SP1 and 2 that never riched europe because of the too low front light but also very sporty only not powerfull but a 70´s sport car inside, when having a house in Brazil i drove a 1 for a lot of years
This is car for enjoyment.. something what you will drive in summer vacation.. .. specialy if someone get convertible version of Ghia .. oh man, perfection. I agree steering is little bit tricky on stock.. but tweak/modify that little bit and is really amazing piece of art.
The engine in it is a Dual Port 1600 or bigger. it has an alternator, so it's a 12 volt, not 6 volt. Not sure , but someone got a deal if it was sold as the 1285 engine.
in the 70´s i had a beetle mixed with a porshe 912 ,two good engeniers made it ,they worked with jet fighter planes from a nato airforce field 4kms from my city where there was a big german neighborhood ,as all there were from germany ,the car become fabulous only two seats after the transformation and a high car with especial dirt tires ,the dash was from the Porshe adapted as the engine ,the long seats were the original in the VW also a great blaupunkt soud system ,drove it a lot but couldn´t sell it wasn´t legalised ,it was a VW 1303S
Why would you even want to go faster than 80mph in that vehicle? That is suicidal thinking. I was happy to cruise the freeway at 65. That was the comfortable limit for that car's capability.
I don’t understand the title? The 1963 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia had a 1,295 cc engine: So why would it have a smaller engine (1285). You have a really neat car. I had a 63 back in 64. Was my first VW that I learned to lower myself. Great car. Thanks
You are correct. It had a 1295cc engine and we misspoke in the video. Thank you for the kind words regarding the car. It was a neat little car and we loved having it in the shop.
FORD RETRO VERSION OF THE T-BIRD VOLKSWAGEN BUG, AND OTHER'S RETRO VERSIONS OF VINTAGE POPULAR MAKES AND MODEL'S OF CONSUMERS FAVORITES, KARMANN GHIA WOULD BE AWESOME ESPECIALLY AN ELECTRIC VERSION KARMANN GHIA
I THINK THAT MANY COLLECTOR'S WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO SEE A NEW RETRO VERSION OF THE VOLKSWAGEN KARMANN GHIA DIFFERENT STYLES OF THE VINTAGE MODEL'S BROUGHT BACK LIKE THEY DID WITH THE VOLKSWAGEN BUG, MAYBE AN ELECTRIC VERSION. VERSION
The muffler has never bottomed out since we have had the car and clears the ground when we drive it up on our lift. If it were to go on a trailer with some steep ramps, that is the only time that it would probably bottom out.
Yeah, it is confusing...I know that in 1966, a stock 1300 VW had 50hp...the later 1500 and 1600 had roughly 60hp stock...but so many folks upgraded those engines. A friend of mine had a "dune buggy" contraption, that he had built up with an 1835 engine...rated at a little over 100hp. That thing would fly!
HEAT System sucks as do the wind shield wipers they are terrible, slow and weak....engine and transmission no power, ..i had them, no a/c....kept that piece of garbaGE.....TRY PULLING ONTO THE HIGHWAY THESE DAYS, YOU TAKE YOUR LIFE IN YOUR HANDS.....IT NEEDS TO BE WATER COOLED with 200HP so it has power, heat and a/c and replace those vacum wipers to electric.....
No sweat on the oil leak. They all do, regardless of what some might say. That includes aircooled Porsches. Gorgeous car.
I owned a 1962 KG, way back in the late 1970s...It was a fun car...I quickly did the then trendy thing, and replaced the stock exhaust with a semi-header/glass pack muffler...it gave me maybe 5% more power, and made that little thing sound very "sporty". 26-30 mpg from the 1200cc engine. Nowadays, I would never drive an old VW product...let's face it, they were death traps!...gas tank in your lap, no safety equipment whatsoever, and quirky handling in rain/snow--and forget about having anything resembling a heater/defogger system! But as a younger guy, I felt invulnerable!
No sound like the whirl of the air-cooled motor. Late at night, driving homewards. Complete confidence it would get me there. Otherwise??I never had any issue with the handling, wet or dry?? Non issue as far as I am concerned. Which cars of that era had safety equipment?
@@big566bunny Indeed, much better handling than most "affordably-priced" cars of its era. Engine over the drive wheels made it much better in the snow, mud, or rain, than other cars. Replace the original bias ply tires with high quality radial ply tires, and you are way ahead of all the other "affordably-priced" cars. Seems to me that the main safety issue compared to other cars of the era was not the gas tank position, but engine position relative to any rear-seat passengers. If the car gets struck in the rear by another vehicle, the engine gets pushed into the backs of any rear-seat passengers, striking their spines in the area of their lower back.
You musta had a lemon !
Me too (black white top),except I had it from1989 to 2015 and did no mods. Drove away from my wedding reception with my wife first sitting up on the top to wave for pics. We were in our 40s, such fun. I had to sell due to priorities.
What beautiful upholstery! I went to a Karmann-Ghia Owners Club event in Great Britain, and took a fair few photos. That led me to realise this model ATTRACTS re-upholsterers in droves! These are the MOST re-upholstered cars ever! People like to achieve their own "interpretation" of how the interior should look!
Awesome. 63 Ghia was my 1st car
I had a 1972 Karmann Ghia with the 1600cc engine and the big bumpers. The mechanics are 100% the same as the VW Beetle. What made the biggest difference to mine was fitting upgraded rear shocks (Spax), that improved the handling a lot. The big problem with these cars is rust, there was no protection applied at the factory.
This Karmann Ghia is a wonderful piece. My biggest concern with its care is that the large gasket surrounding the engine metal appears ready to be replaced. Enough said if one understands the importance of the separation at hand.
For those unaware, that gasket has an extremely important duty in the longevity of the engine in keeping the temperature in the proper range, as well as proper cabin heating and cabin air quality. Regarding this, always bear in mind Doctor Porsche's engineering rule for his air-cooled engine. That being, he designed the engine to operate in two different atmospheres, roughly split 50/50 between upper and lower halves of the engine. He accomplished this by creating the engine compartment to be the Clean & Cool atmosphere, and where the upper half of the engine be. The underside of the engine is beneath the engine compartment, and in the outdoors as the lower half of the engine occupies the Hot & Dirty side of the engine. Some average thought will explain why there is a Cool & Clean Half and a Hot & Dirty Half. As well as the reasons for their separation.
This why there be completely intact and properly fastened-in engine metal on the floor of the engine compartment, along with the above-mentioned gasket, which must be in good condition, for they are critical in separating the engine halves. Now everybody go check your air-cooled VW's.
It is really very simple. The fan is in the upper part of the engine and it blows cool atmospheric air downward over the cylinder head, cylinders, and oil cooler. The air then becomes hot, and exits the rearward, at the lower part of the engine. I don't have a good view of the rubber flap gasket between the 2 halves of the engine, but it it is indeed in poor condition then there will be poor isolation of the upper half from the lower half, and the hot will rise back up into the upper part of the engine, instead of exiting rearward out from the bottom part of the engine. Then hot air will get blown over the cyl head, and then rise up again, and get hotter, ad infinitum, causing the engine to continually get hotter and hotter, and to wear rapidly and last only a short time.. Ideally your would have a cylinder head thermometer at each cylinder position at each cyl head, and an oil temp thermometer at the oil cooler,, and gauges in the dash showing the temperature at each of these 5 points. Plus a warning light telling you to shut off the engine if any cyl head area or the oil, gets too hot.
By the way the 1963 Ghia had a 6 volt system. It looks like this car has a 12 volt battery, and its 6 volt generator has been replaced by a 12 volt "alternator."
nice car
had two of these one red with the top in white and those grills over the engine bay for some bags, also a light grey metalized one(ancient shade of this colour not like today, it handles percfect, not that fast but a pleasure to drive it and it drives perfect, in Brazil they released one more bodie in the 70´s as the SP1 and 2 that never riched europe because of the too low front light but also very sporty only not powerfull but a 70´s sport car inside, when having a house in Brazil i drove a 1 for a lot of years
This is car for enjoyment.. something what you will drive in summer vacation.. .. specialy if someone get convertible version of Ghia .. oh man, perfection. I agree steering is little bit tricky on stock.. but tweak/modify that little bit and is really amazing piece of art.
This Karmann Geha is my Love
⭐ Beautiful Truly Was A Pleasure To That Car On The Road Again Brings Back Many Memories Thank you ❤⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
thank you for this video
The engine in it is a Dual Port 1600 or bigger. it has an alternator, so it's a 12 volt, not 6 volt. Not sure , but someone got a deal if it was sold as the 1285 engine.
First thing I noticed also.
What a beauty.
in the 70´s i had a beetle mixed with a porshe 912 ,two good engeniers made it ,they worked with jet fighter planes from a nato airforce field 4kms from my city where there was a big german neighborhood ,as all there were from germany ,the car become fabulous only two seats after the transformation and a high car with especial dirt tires ,the dash was from the Porshe adapted as the engine ,the long seats were the original in the VW also a great blaupunkt soud system ,drove it a lot but couldn´t sell it wasn´t legalised ,it was a VW 1303S
Wow. I had a ‘66 and absolutely loved the car, but it needed more power. Top speed, 80 max.
in a downhill straight road it can achieve higher speeds
Why would you even want to go faster than 80mph in that vehicle? That is suicidal thinking. I was happy to cruise the freeway at 65. That was the comfortable limit for that car's capability.
Love it
I don’t understand the title? The 1963 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia had a 1,295 cc engine: So why would it have a smaller engine (1285). You have a really neat car. I had a 63 back in 64. Was my first VW that I learned to lower myself. Great car. Thanks
You are correct. It had a 1295cc engine and we misspoke in the video. Thank you for the kind words regarding the car. It was a neat little car and we loved having it in the shop.
@@rocksolidmotorsports To me their equally as fun as a 356 Porsche. I wish I had mine back with more inside room. Thanks
Classic Car Clocks NEVER Work.
Dear Santa...
FORD RETRO VERSION OF THE T-BIRD VOLKSWAGEN BUG, AND OTHER'S RETRO VERSIONS OF VINTAGE POPULAR MAKES AND MODEL'S OF CONSUMERS FAVORITES, KARMANN GHIA WOULD BE AWESOME ESPECIALLY AN ELECTRIC VERSION KARMANN GHIA
Remember, Ford made those early 2000s T-Birds....I liked the look, but those cars did not sell very well, for some reason.
Big bore kit? Would then be 1385cc
I THINK THAT MANY COLLECTOR'S WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO SEE A NEW RETRO VERSION OF THE VOLKSWAGEN KARMANN GHIA DIFFERENT STYLES OF THE VINTAGE MODEL'S BROUGHT BACK LIKE THEY DID WITH THE VOLKSWAGEN BUG, MAYBE AN ELECTRIC VERSION. VERSION
Nice car. Not a fan of that exhaust though. Does it bottom out?
The muffler has never bottomed out since we have had the car and clears the ground when we drive it up on our lift. If it were to go on a trailer with some steep ramps, that is the only time that it would probably bottom out.
@@rocksolidmotorsports Is the car still for sale?
@@eeclarkutube the car is sold and heading to California
What kind of side mirror is that?
Is this a 6v or 12v
I have what’s called a parts car 1969 Karma Ghia automatic and I’ve done a lot of work to it most of it myself
Cool!
カッコいい!
👍
Damn the painting is really over 😢. Was it the original paint? Or already repainted?
This Karmann-Ghia had been repainted but 30-40 years ago.
Very nice car, interior is very neat, there's one thing though that worries me, body work above centre top of headlight trim doesent seem right
You mean where the top crease of the fender meets the crome light trim?
I looked at both sides and they seems to be the same
@@johnnyboy1586 yes
@@robertvandervelde60 just looked at a few cars close up on youtube and it does seem like this light trim isn't fitting properly 😐
What was the asking price?
A BIG BORE 1200 AKA 40 HP IS 1385 NOT 1285
Yeah, it is confusing...I know that in 1966, a stock 1300 VW had 50hp...the later 1500 and 1600 had roughly 60hp stock...but so many folks upgraded those engines. A friend of mine had a "dune buggy" contraption, that he had built up with an 1835 engine...rated at a little over 100hp. That thing would fly!
HEAT System sucks as do the wind shield wipers they are terrible, slow and weak....engine and transmission no power, ..i had them, no a/c....kept that piece of garbaGE.....TRY PULLING ONTO THE HIGHWAY THESE DAYS, YOU TAKE YOUR LIFE IN YOUR HANDS.....IT NEEDS TO BE WATER COOLED with 200HP so it has power, heat and a/c and replace those vacum wipers to electric.....
Nice...cardboard is your friend.
Lovely car but would be a death trap in a bad wreck.
Lame.