picture of Ghia
IN THIS ISSUE.....
Remember When: A look at the era
that
spawned Karmann Ghias. Part II: The Automotive scene.
Editorial: Neanderthal and Yuppie argue
over the direction of the future.
"Time Lies": A look at calendar year vs model year confusion.
Q and A's: We speak of pizza power, wheel size, and wiper motors.
Gift Certificates: The best Christmas present
Santa
can give himself.
REMEMBER WHEN....
Part II: The Automotive Scene
O.K. warm up your mind's eye! Now, try to visualize George Washington! Think of him as staring at you from a dollar bill. But, George is wearing blue jeans, a pair of Air Jordans and a House of Ghia T-shirt. His face is screwed into a silly Mona Lisa grin and his fingers are flashing the peace symbol.
What! You can't do it? Try as you might, George will always be wearing
a powdered wig, pantaloons and a waist coat that looks like the iridescent
wing covers on a large beetle?
Yes, George is a product of his time! In fact, he looks out of place in
any other time period.
Similarly, a Bug in silhouette fairly shouts, "I'm a product of
the 1930's!" Thank goodness a Ghia is still as handsome, with the coming
of the '90's, as when it was born. But, a Ghia, too, is a product of its
time, and its time was the 1950's. Last issue we gave you a taste of the
1950's in general, so you could better understand the Karmann Ghia's formative
years. This time, we remind you of the '50's automotive scene. You are
really in tune to the '50's automotively if you:
Remember when NASCAR race tracks were dominated by one car manufacturer?
Year after year in the early '50's, this auto firm kept winning impressive
stock car victories. They made it look easy. (Q1. Name the firm!)
Remember when a real car buff couldn't wait to own an automobile with Ultramatic. (Q2. What car carried an Ultramatic?)
Remember when Mercury's shifted using a Merc-o-matic, and Cadillacs had their Hydra-matic. (Q3. What did Buick call their automatic transmission? Q4. Chevy's first automatic was the 2-speed Powerglide. But, what did Chevrolet call their first 3-speed automatic? (Q5. Fords sported a Ford-o-matic. What was Lincoln's entry into the shiftless wars called?)
Remember when parents wouldn't let their daughters date in a late model NASH! (Q6. For heaven's sake why?)
Remember when you could buy a car straight off the sales floor of your local Sears store. The car was called, what else, an ALL STATE. Now, for the easy questions. (Q7. Who made the ALL STATE for Sears; and Q8. What other automobile did it very closely resemble?) (Incidentally, Sears' venture with the ALL STATE was the third time since 1900 that Sears had tried to market a car. All attempts were dismal failures.)
Remember when , as an Edsel apologist, you turned the talk away from THAT GRILLE to the only truly innovative device on the car...the shifting system. (Q9. O.K., quickly now! What was unusual about shifting an Edsel?)
Remember when the fastest car in town was one of those "letter cars" (Q10. Yep! You guessed it. What's a "letter car"?)
Remember when automobile production numbers were as publicized as any baseball statistic! Chevrolet annually whipped Ford in the sales race, sometimes by huge amounts. But, one Chevy model year was considered so homely by the public, that Ford beat Chevrolet in the sales race for the first time since 1925. (Q11. What model year was Chevy's disgrace?)
Remember when in the early '50's, having a neighbor who owned a foreign
car could only mean the car was either a (Q12) or a (Q13)
(After all, these two cars were far and away the best selling, best known
foreign cars of the Korean War era.)
Remember when car models had names of real character and substance. Then automobiles weren't named after residue from a bowl of alphabet soup! Name the manufacturer associated with the following models. Q14. Hot Shot. Q15. Clipper. Q16. Wasp and Hornet. Q17. Hawk. Q18. Hide-a-way. Q19. Ranger and Pacer. Q-20. Manhattan.
Remember when swank hotels were popular as names of car lines. (Q21. What manufacturer used the Plaza and Savoy name?)
Remember when well-known, upper-class communities had their automotive namesakes. (Q22. What car lines are represented by the following communities, Biscayne and Bel-Air.)
Remember when ranch style living even forced two manufacturers to adopt
the "Suburban" name. (The term "Suburban" was popularized
by the public, not Chevrolet. They officially called the vehicle the public
saw as a Suburban, a Carry-All.) Chevrolet truck based station wagons only
acquired the Suburban handle in the '60's. (Q23. Who used it in the '50's?)
ANSWERS TO "REMEMBER WHEN" QUIZ
(Q 1) Hudson, dominated with a straight 8.
(Q 2) Packard's Ultramatic was praised for its engineering and innovation.
(Q 3) Dyna-flow. (Q 4) Turbo-matic, closely followed by a Turbo-glide. (Q
5) Tricked ya! Lincoln and other firms bought GM's Hydra-matic.
(Q 6) Nash front seats totally reclined, making, when combined with the
back seat, a nifty bed.
(Q 7) Kaiser/Frazer manufactured the All State.
(Q 8) The All-State was a re-emblemed, Henry J.
(Q 9) Shift buttons for automatic transmission models were push-buttons
in the center of the steering wheel.
(Q10) Chrysler's new 300 series cars in 1955 were sporty, huge and very
fast. When the top of the line model was brought out for '56, it was called
the 300B. Each year thereafter, the racy model was shifted one more alphabetic
character toward Z. The letter car died in the mid-sixties. By then, it
was merely a tarted-up, toothless version of a vanilla Chrysler.
(Q11) Current public evaluation is not always the same as contemporary evaluation.
1957 Chevrolets were based on a design three model years old. '57 Fords
were truly new in both styling and chassis. Fords, given the thinking of
the time, were bigger and better. They were certainly much more "attractive",
or so the public thought. 1959 Fords, the third year of the 1957 design,
also bested Chevy's '59 offering--the car with grotesque horizontal fins.
(Q12 & 13) An MG or a Jaguar! (Volkswagen didn't begin to sell impressive
numbers of cars in the U.S. until the middle fifties and didn't begin to
dominate until 1957 or '58.)
(Q14) Crosley
(Q15) Packard
(Q16) Hudson
(Q17) Studebaker
(Q18) The public has always called the car a retractable hardtop, but Ford
went to great pains to always call it a Hide-a-way hardtop.
(Q19) Were 2 of the four Edsel divisions.
(Q20) Kaiser
(Q21) Chrysler Corporation's Plymouth lines.
(Q22) General Motors thru the Chevrolet division.
(Q23) Plymouth had a Suburban passenger car based station wagon, and the
GMC division named its equivalent of the Carry-all, a Suburban.
SELF SCORING ANSWER SHEET Count the number of right answers.
If you got:
19-23 correct, you're a certified dipstick, with a crankcase fettish.
15-18 correct, you're getting old. Do you realize how long ago the '50's
were?|
10-14 correct, you're mind is cluttered with lots of useless trivia, but
you've still got some storage room left.
6-9 correct, you're a product of the '60's and '70's and probably think
REO Speedwagon is a name first used by a rock band.
5-or fewer correct, Reagan and Bush are probably the first Presidents you
personally remember.
"I'm dying." said my friend, Neanderthal. "It must be a heart-attack!"
"Don't die in my Ghia!" I said sympathetically. "I'll never be able to drive the car again with all that bad Karma!"
"You're a funny man, Yuppie! My chest is pulsing! My head is pounding! I'm having trouble breathing, and all you can do is make jokes!"
"O.K.! O.K.! Hang-on! As soon as the light changes, I'll drive you to the nearest hospital."
"I'm going fast, Yuppie! I can tell! My senses and functions are shutting down. Now, all I can hear is a low drumming in my ears."
"Drumming in your ears? Neanderthal, you idiot! Your symptoms are from the stereo in the bed of the mini-truck waiting for the light two cars behind us."
"Stereo! How can that be? I don't hear any music! I hardly hear any noise at all."
"You've been thumped by a Boom car."
"What are you talking about? My chest is vibrating, and it's not doing 2/4 time."
"He's got a 2 million watt stereo system in there, with speakers bigger around than kettle drums. In fact, it's the electronic equivalent of drums!"
"Drum, Scrum! What does that have to do with a tightness in the rib cage and a vibrating chest?"
"The guy with the Boom car has his stereo cranked all the way over on bass. See his doors flex, his metal roof shimmer!"
"Yup, it's got to be against the law! Doesn't it violate the Constitution, or something?"
"Neanderthal, you went to Woodstock, for heaven's sake! What happened to 'do-your-own-thing'?"
"In spite of what the phone company says, if you reach out and touch dozens of people at a stop light, it's gotta be against the law! Even if it is touching with the aid of a Boom car."
"Neanderthal, you're impossible!"
"You mean, because I object to being turned into a human tuning fork, I'm behind the times, a fossil!'
"Well, there is an element of live and let live to life in the modern world."
"Look, Yuppie, if God had wanted mankind to vibrate, he'd have made us as 6 foot versions of vocal cords."
"You're going to resist any change, aren't you? Face it. His right to play his Boom box is protected by freedom of expression, or some such thing."
"Oh, really? Suppose he could afford, and had installed, an electronic gadget that would create so much static electricity your hair would stand on end a block from his car? Is this legal? Is it protected by the Constitution?"
"Hey, the guy's got bad manners, that's all. We don't jail people just because they are uncouth!'
"Wearing a scented perfume that drives fellow elevator passengers to their knees, now that's bad manners. Squashing my ribs, now that's cruelty. Besides Yuppie, don't you ever wonder where all these electronic components come from?"
"From the Japanese!"
"You mean they're still punishing us because we won WWII!"
"Neanderthal, that is uncalled for. Your comment is gross. You should be ashamed!"
"You still don't see what's about to happen, do you! You can't see into the future beyond the next instant. Tell me, what's the iron law of electronic economics!"
"If you're talking about the economic laws illustrated by the history of hand calculators, it means electronic gadgets get much cheaper and much smaller--FAST!"
"Congratulations! Now what's the immutable, inevitable law of teen-aged fads!"
"You know very well that fads move rapidly from older groups to younger... Oh, no! You don't mean...!"
"Precisely! Soon any 13 year old teeny-bopper with out of control hormones, and a biological need to exhibit rebellion against authority, will own a Boom box."
"Why, that's terrible! You could be walking in a mall somewhere and suddenly start vibrating. Or...or! You'll be eating a Big MAC and it'll begin MOVING. Just think of it, white-caps in your Pepsi. Ghastly! Neanderthal, what can we do?"
"Ah, ha! Finally, you bleeding hearts, with your total worship of free enterprise and freedom of speech, realize that human dignity may sometimes exist only if enforced by a swift kick in the pants."
"Now, don't get philosophical on me, Neanderthal. Come up with some practical solutions."
"I've been thinking, if we launched a sneak air raid on Sony, Toshiba, and the like, our bombs would gain us a few months."
"That's sick!"
"O.K.! O.K.! What about this! We could label every teen-ager with a Surgeon General's warning, like we do cigarettes. The label could say, "Contact with any teenager on Planet Earth could cause severe vibration and difficulty in breathing!'
"Isn't that a bit drastic? Couldn't we just tell adolescents, NO!"
"That's a laugh! That's how we got Punk Rock; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Freddie Krueger, Jason and Chainsaw Massacre movies by the score; the tattoo craze; Friday night keggers...need I go on?"
"How depressing. Well, Neanderthal, here's your house. Maybe we can solve this problem during tomorrow's commute. At least, today, you introduced us to our Brave New World."
"You know, Yuppie, it makes one wonder! Why can't mankind be content
to express itself musically merely by singing in the shower?"
Read 'em & Weep
You think you have hard luck! One of our Ghia customers in Maine had his convertible run into by a moose! Notice we didn't say, the car ran into a moose. "I don't know what the moose was thinking," said Barry, "but, it ran into the side of the car and damaged the top frame and glass rear window." No report of damage to the moose!
Then there's the Ghia buff who parked his car up close to a warm building during one of last winter's snowy cold spells! An overnight warming trend created a gigantic icicle. You guessed it! The icicle became too long, broke off and crashed through the Ghia's windshield, piercing the dash! Now, if you want an exercise guaranteed to bring tears to a grown man's eyes; try to explain to an insurance bureaucrat you can't get him evidence of the icicle because it's all melted.
Alice's encounter with the mad Queen, in "Alice in Wonderland", didn't include this exchange...but, it could have!
"What time is it?" Alice asked the Red Queen.
"Why, it's this year, of course. Unless this is Detroit during the months of August thru December, in which case, it is next year."
"But," protested Alice, "it won't be next year until the beginning of the new year. How can time be... well, so flexible?"
"One's birthday is literally the day of one's birth," said the Queen, "unless one is very young and wants to seem older. That's when years are added to one's age. And, if one is old but wants to seem young, years are subtracted from one's age." The Queen seemed pleased with her logic.
"Yes, but that's just people fudging with their ages," sputtered Alice. "The real birthday doesn't change."
"Unless you're Detroit, my dear. Unless you're a CAR."
"But how can a car's age be different than it's birth age?" asked a puzzled Alice.
"BECAUSE THE AUTO INDUSTRY DECREED IT SO," thundered the Queen.
"But, a 1991 automobile should be born in 1991." said Alice, soothingly. "Nothing else would make sense."
"Nearly half of all 1991 cars will be born in 1990, the rest will be born in 1991. It has been so for 60 years; because, remember my dear, this is the car bizz."
"That's not right." said Alice. "Suppose this was 1942. The U.S. was at war that year, and so, no cars were produced in calendar year, 1942."
"You're oh so right, my dear." the Queen cooed.
"Therefore," said Alice confidentally, "no 1942 cars were produced."
"Wrong! Incorrect! Not right!" screeched the Queen. "Many 1942 cars were built from August to December 7th of 1941. All were called 1942 cars!"
"How can that be?" wailed a distressed Alice.
"When were you born?" asked the Queen, politely.
"Not that it matters, but it was Sepetember 17, 1869."
"Well, if you're a person, you'd be a '69 model. But, if you are a car, you'd be a 1870 model." said the Queen.
"That's ridiculous." Alice announced, "Simply ridiculous. Why don't car makers stop doing something so illogical."
"Stop!" shouted the Queen. "Why should they stop! Now, they figure the age of refrigerators, toasters and stoves like they date cars."
"What CAN I believe?" asked a dispirited Alice.
"Believe that TIME passes, hangs heavy, and it can bring great changes! But," said the Queen, "today's lesson is that time lies."
For Ghia buffs the Lesson is -- there is a big difference between
calendar and model year.
Q #13 - I've got a neat Ghia. It's got a...; also a ...; and it
was born November 7, 1969. I know, because VW sent me a letter telling me
the car's birthday. But I'm confused! The car has a wrap-around parklite
lens and according to your information, 1969 cars should have a "bullet-shaped"
parklite lens. Your information must be incorrect, because I'm sure the
parklite assemblies have never been changed. What's happening!
Joe K, Plano TX
A # 13 - Your confusion is understandable. The problem is you are thinking of calendar years and the auto industry talks MODEL years. Since the Depression of the '30's, Detroit has always started selling "next" year's cars in August or September of "this" year. VW adopted the Detroit practice in the mid-1950's. Wolfsburg chose August 1st to start selling NEXT year's models. So, any Ghia built between August 1 of 1969, and July 31, 1970 would be considered a 1970 model Ghia. All years listed in our catalog/price lists are MODEL years.
Joe, you're not alone in not understanding the deliberate confusion of
Detroit's illogical model year vs. calendar year problem. Nearly every
House of Ghia customer has stumbled over this problem at some point. Even
authors of books on Ghias make this mistake. Just because a factory archive
proto-type photo says, taken August of 1959, that doesn't mean the picture
was of a '59 model Ghia. The picture is of a 1960 model Ghia. So, my advice,
think model year. (See this issue's, "Time Lies" editorial.)
Q #14 - I want to do a body off the frame restoration of my '62
Ghia convertible. I managed to find all the bolts holding the body to the
pan, but now, I'm wondering what is the best way to lift the body off the
pan? Will I warp anything?
Charles ,Pasadena CA
A #14 - Pizza power is how we do hefty, but delicate, moving at
House of Ghia. It's amazing how much work can be accomplished by bribing
friends and neighbors with pizza. Six people can lift and move a Ghia body
in a pinch. But, eight is a better number! I suggest leaving the doors in
place and latched. However, if you can truly unbolt all body mounting bolts,
your rockers are strong enough to support both halves of the body without
the doors in place. If one or more of the body mounting bolts "spin"
(i.e. the captive, "caged" nut inside the rocker breaks loose);
all bets on the integrity of the body are off! The reason? The rust "worm"
is attacking your rockers. Rockers weakened! Your Ghia body, if moved, could
break into two major chunks! If your rockers are solid, any common sense
handling of the body off the pan will be possible. If the rockers are rust-rotten,
it's possible that no movement of the body can occur.
Q #15 - What wiper motor will fit a 1965 Ghia that have been changed
to 12 volts?
Chris, Weaverville CA
A #15 - The "drop in" motor for all early Ghias ('56-'66), wishing to convert to 12 volts, is a 1967 Ghia motor ('68 Ghia motors thru Ch # 148-760-153 also work). These motors are a visual clone of your motor. Trouble is, "everyone" knows changing an early Ghia to 12 volts requires this motor/assembly. so, a high demand coupled with a low supply makes these motors almost unobtainable at any price. If you do find one, order a '67 Ghia two-speed wiper switch, otherwise, your '65 switch will give you just one of the motor's two speeds.
Your motor can survive in a 12 volt environment IF you splice into the motor's power supply wire:
1) a Volt-a-drop
2) a resistor 12V to 6V
3) a diode
All of these work by "scrubbing-off" excess voltage and creating
heat. A Volt-a-drop could cook an omlette, so watch where you're placing
it. Franklin, with kite and key, understood electricity. To me, it's "black
magic"! (Where does electricity go when you turn off the switch?) Perhaps,
readers know specific sizes/model number/part numbers on resistors or diodes
for dropping 12 volts to the 6 volts needed for a pre-/67 wiper motor.
Q #15 - I have a '69 Ghia whose stock wheels were scratched and
ugly. So, I got identical 4 lug stock wheels from my buddy's '67 Ghia. He'd
painted them and they looked terrific, but now the wheel trim rings you
sent me won't fit! The trim rings were on my '69 for only a short time.
That the trim rings should warp and won't fit my buddy's wheels is surprising.
(P.S. Fred is too polite to say what he really means: "Why, did you
sell me such a cruddy product!")
Fred, Minot ND
A #15 - Fred, you can try to put '69 trim rings on your buddy's wheels all day long. The only result will be frustration. '67 wheels were 4 inches wide and all '68 1/2-up Ghia wheels were 4 1/2 inches wide. That seemingly tiny change makes a world of difference when installing trim rings. Because all VW 4 bolt hole (lug) wheels were painted silver and look so amazingly similar, most people assume they are the same. NOT SO! A few years ago, when almost every Ghia still used the asembly line wheels they were born with, confusion over wheel size never happened. Today, with many Ghias being junk yard resurrections, wheel size error is common. One chap in Georgia had "stock VW" wheels on his rig with 3 different widths and/or off-sets. Was he angry! He'd superbly painted and detailed these wheels, and even then didn't suspect there was a problem.
Fortunately, here is an easy way to insure you have the same sized wheels. Look between the lug nut holes (this metal is called the lug nut webbing). Stamped in the metal of most wheels is a letter number code. Here's how to break the code. By far the most common wheel is the '68-'72 Beetle wheel (used on '67-'68 1/2 Ghias). It is 4 inches wide -- inside rim to inside rim. Stamped on the webbing is the code 4Jx15 (meaning a 4 inch wide, 15 inch diameter wheel).
Code on Webbing |
Cars It Fits |
Special Info |
4JX15 |
68-72 Beetle & |
Dirt common |
ET-46 |
68 1/2 -up |
Correct for |
The following wheels exist. Developed to handle the rapidly changing Super Beetle suspension, they followed VW's passion for making running changes based on chassis number rather than at logical model year breaks. In sets of 5 (spare should be same size), they'd probably fit Ghias (and some late '74 models may have come with ET-41 wheels). But why try?
ET-34 |
72 or so |
If used on Ghias would put wheel/tire even closer to wheel arch |
ET-41 |
74 or so |
Also fits Ghias. DOES NOT FIT earlier Super Beetles |
Sport Wheel |
"Sun Bug" |
Fits Ghia. Make sure all wheels are truly stamped 4 1/2 wide (see below) |
Sport Wheel |
Again, special promo packs, i.e. wheels & stripe kit |
One style of sport wheel is used on 914 Porsches. This wheel might cause problems on '67-'68 Ghias |
RAMBO DRIVES A KARMANN GHIA?
Not likely! But, if you want an adventure tale in which Ghias are more than a wimpmobile; locate the book, "MERC: The Professional." This book, an autobiography of Frank Camper, describes his activities as a so-called "Private Operator" working for various governments in the security and intelligence fields. Camper's true adventures as a "spy"/mercenary would be enough reason to read the book. But, his hobby is cars. He helped found and organize the UKGOA - United Karmann Ghia Owners of America. And, he was involved with the Porsche factory backed, Brumos Racing team of Peter Gregg.
"MERC: The Professional" is a recent publication of Bantam-Doubleday-Dell.
GHIA TIP!!
Tamara Dieterich has a great tip for those looking for a steering column
to dash buffer; you know, it fits in the steering column to dash clamp.
Well, Ghias thru '66, may want to consider using a sink disposal drain seal.
Tamara used a seal from a Model CD863070 Stanley disposal. Isn't human ingenuity
great!
Of all House of Ghia promotions and sales, the best received has been our yearly "Gift Certificate with a difference". Many of you immediately saw that not only was it a neat way of giving a friend exactly the Ghia part he/she wants or needs; but it was a way to buy a 15% discount on any part we sell. An awful lot of Ghia buffs bought themselves gift certificates. Why not! If you're far-sighted enough to know you need parts in the coming year, why not spend $8.50 on a Gift Certificate from House of Ghia that, when you turn it in, will buy you $10.00 worth of parts. "Why don't other merchants adopt this plan?" most of you wanted to know. And, a related question, "What's in it for you?" I don't know why other retailers don't use the same idea, because at House of Ghia we see lots of benefits.
(1) We sit on your money for, say, a month. There's interest to be gained on that "float". Not a lot, but it helps! (P.S. All other gift certificate sellers earn interest on the "float", but they don't give anything back in the form of lower prices.)
(2) It spreads out our holiday sales period into 3 or 4 months, instead of a hectic month and a half.
(3) January and February, traditional retail "dog-days", have lots more activity because 50 to 60% of all Gift Certificates are redeemed then.
(4) Inventory planning can be much more rational. We don't have to stock up on parts to satisfy a very peaky and hard to anticipate demand. With sales spread over more months, inventory buying can also be stretched. Extra-ordinary demand or fad items can be identified more quickly and reordered; and large pools of unsold merchandise can be avoided. All of this saves us money!
House of Ghia figures, "Why not pass on these savings". So,
we do!