On The Road

Karma(NN) will get you in the end !!

by Helen Tait-Wright

This beautiful little car, which I would be very happy to own, is often overlooked. In the years after the war, people had begun to demand better, more stylish and elegant products, and car manufacturers felt the need to produce a “flagship” car to meet this demand and counteract the more bland and functional cars which had been their mainstay. The concept was simple; build a good looking sports coupe, using as many components as possible from a standard saloon. The first Volkswagen Karmann Ghia prototype was unveiled at the 1953 Paris Auto Show. It was well received and many claimed its design. When introduced for public sale in 1955, the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia appealed to the market, and was an instant success, being practical as well as achingly stylish. The Karmann Ghia combined the chassis and mechanicals of the economy VW Beetle, with styling by Luigi Segre of the celebrated Italian design house “Carrozzeria Ghia SpA” and hand-built bodywork by the German coach builder “Karmann”. In short, the KG had the look and feel of a hand built sports car, with the running costs of the worlds most inexpensive to own car. VW had found a market niche for an exotic-looking economy car. The car was incredibly complex to build, being welded and leadfilled by hand from lots of small components. The Karmann factory in Osnabruck was so small, that they couldn’t store even the number of cars required for the press launch in 1955, so the date was pulled forward some months. However, despite the drop dead gorgeous bodywork, the KG was undoubtedly a sheep in wolfs clothing. Named one of the most beautiful products in the world, and often compared to the Porsche Speedster, the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, although never advertised as a sports car, at least had the appearance, if not the power of a luxury sports car. With a 1192cc engine pushing out a feeble 30bhp, which increased in 1960 to 34bhp, the performance figures were never going to set the world alight. However the acceleration was deemed acceptable because the car only weighed approximately 1,750 pounds, or about 150 pounds more than the Beetle, and coupled with the aerodynamic body, the car could reach almost 80 mph. In 1966 the car was equipped with a 1300cc block, which only lasted a year, then, one of VW’s finest engines, the 1500, powered all Ghias until it’s final upgrade to a 1600cc unit in 1971, which continued until the cars demise in 1974.

Since the design of the VW Karmann Ghia was one of its strongest selling points, the basic appearance of the Karmann Ghia model remained unchanged throughout the vehicle’s 17-year history. The KG became a contemporary classic and it democratized automotive fashion. The Ghia was to “automobility” what Christian Dior’s New Look was to the fashion world - a version of automotive haute couture. Although built in reasonable numbers (around 360,000 coupes and just under 80,000 cabriolets), the Karmann Ghia was never turned out in vast mass-produced quantities and so remains quite rare.

Today the Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia is a stylish, affordable collector’s car that’s relatively inexpensive to buy, run and maintain, and is one of the most sought after air-cooled Volkswagen models, especially the convertibles. With engine and suspension components shared with the Beetle, those parts are readily available to current owners. A good selection of surviving examples can be found in America, where many of the cars were exported to, simply because the KG tended to rust, and the US weather was kinder to them than the European climate. As the model approaches its 66th birthday, if you fancy one, the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is a semi-rare collectible which never fails to turn heads.

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gazeLLes Update septemBer 2021

with Helen Tait-Wright and Sue Alemann

As the minutes ticked by towards the DSM copy deadline, and I thought I would be writing to say we weren’t sure if we were going or not, I received the long awaited email saying that we defintely WILL be leaving for the Morocco mid September!

After so many delays and false starts, the news is a great joy,and the excitement level has just gone up a notch! Now the countdown is really on.

Our news this month is all about preparation ….. about making sure Priscilla is in tip top order, about putting on the official stickers, about installing the supports for the equipment the organisers will use to track our progress through the desert, and about checking and double checking all the requirements for technical verification. We have two main pieces of equipment in the car.

FIrstly the Unik which is a very precise trip counter used to measure acurately the distance we travel. This is very important as the rally goal is to travel the shortest distance, and every km counts! Then we have the Iritrack system, which allows the organisers to monitor our position at all times for security reasons, but also allows you at home to track us via the website. Installation of both systems have required a lot of dismantling, drilling and wiring and we thank Chris very much for his patience in doing this. As well as the things we have to do, I have had a little play with upholstering the central cubby box lid to give our principal partners, Giti Tire, more exposure within the car!

On top of all the preparation mentioned above, Sue is continuing with her navigation plotting practice and I drive whenever possible ….. not that that is a hardship! Of course, the weather has been less than summery of late so puddles and mud seem to feature more than dust! Our next big job is a trial packing run to ensure all our gear fits in Priscilla and the things we need to be able to lay our hands on easily are accessible.

We are planning to “officially” leave for Nice from the Bioparc at Doue la Fontaine on 15th September. We do not yet have all the details for you, so please keep

checking in on our social media for news. We do have confirmation of some facts and figures regarding the rally participants, which may be of interest! There are 190 teams registered for the rally, 146 of which are in the 4x4 category, our category. 14 nationalities are represented: France, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Lithuania, UK, Mauritius, Japan, Tunisia, Morocco and, of course, New Zealand with Sue being the first Kiwi participant in the history of the rally.

Just in case you are wondering why there are 381 Gazelles, there is a team of 3 ladies in a truck, one of which is blind! What a challenge for her! She is also the youngest participant at just 20 years of age. The oldest ladies are 70. You will be reading this as our final preparations are underway, and we look forward to reporting on the event on our return !! In the meantime, you can follow us on the live tracking during the event. The website address is www.live2021. rallyeaichadesgazelles.com and, of course, there will be updates from our social media team, Micaela and Jeanette, on our sites; @gitigazelles on Facebook and Instagram, as well as updates on the Giti Tire pages. Don’t forget that our team number is 269! See you on the other side !!