Karmann Ghia Celebrating 60 Years of Quirkiness

The Karmann GhiaVolkswagen Karmann-GhiaGermany, 1955 > 19753 series
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offered buyers lots of style and little speed. Underneath its curvaceous, Italian sheet metal, it was mechanically identical to the Volkswagen BeetleVolkswagen BeetleGermany, 1938 > 200339 versions
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, and for many buyers that was ok. The Karmann Ghia celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. 

The idea behind the Karmann Ghia was quite simple. In the mid-50s, Volkswagen looked at its lineup and saw that while it was quite practical with the Beetle and TransporterVolkswagen Transporter Gen.1 [T1]Germany, 1950 > 19678 versions
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, it lacked much style. It wanted to offer a car that would appeal to more people but would not cost much to engineer.

Wilhelm Karmann founded and ran the company that bore his name as an independent auto assembler. In its history, it built cars for several European automakers from PorschePorscheGermany, 1931 > present43 models
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to FordFordUnited Kingdom, 1909 > present33 models
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. It had an especially close relationship with Volkswagen and began building the Volkwagen Beetle Type 1 ConvertibleVolkswagen Beetle Cabriol...Germany, 1949 > present2 photos
in 1949. 

Volkswagen contacted Karmann about building the new model, and Karmann contacted designer Luigi Segre of Carrozzeria GhiaGhiaItaly, 1914 > present2 models
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in Italy to create the design. The car widened the floor pan of the Beetle by 12in and included relatively complicated hand-shaped and smoothed body panels. Because, Karmann was already building the Beetle Convertible, the addition of the Karmann GhiaVolkswagen Karmann-Ghia Gen.1 [Type 14]Germany, 1955 > 19746 versions
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was relatively simple.

It made its public debut at the Paris Motor Show in 1953, Volkswagen debuted the concept, and production began in 1955. 

Karmann built 450,000 Karmann Ghia's from 1955 to 1974. For 1957, Volkswagen introduced a convertibleVolkswagen Karmann-Ghia C...Germany, 1955 > 1960 version, and there were styling refreshes in 1961 and 1970. Mechanically, it followed the Beetle with gradually more powerful engines over time.

The Karmann Ghia story does not quite end there though. In 1961, Volkswagen introduced a second model called the Karmann Ghia 1500Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia 1500Germany, 1961 > 1962 based on the larger Type 3Volkswagen Type 3 Gen.1Germany, 1961 > 19736 versions
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platform. They were quite expensive and never quite as popular as the smaller, standard Karmann Ghia but were in production through 1969. 

There was a third model Karmann Ghia sold exclusively in Brazil from 1970 to 1976. Known as the Karmann Ghia TCVolkswagen Karmann-Ghia TCBrazil, 1970 > present4 photos
, the cars were designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Ghia and used the same running gear as the Type 3 but with clearly Porsche-inspired styling.

The original Karmann Ghia concept is still in VW's collection at its Osnabrück Automobile Collection. It will also be on display at the Schloss Bensberg Classics in Germany from September 6 to 8. 

Karmann went out of business in 2009, and Volkswagen bought some of the remnants of the company, including the Osnabrück factory where the Golf CabrioletVolkswagen Golf VI Cabrio...Germany, 2011 > present2 photos
, the Porsche BoxsterPorsche Boxster Gen.3 [981]Germany, 2012 > 20165 versions
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, CaymanPorsche Cayman Gen.2 [981]Germany, 2012 > present9 versions
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, and the Volkswagen XL1 are now built.