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Classics,
Convertible,
Coupe,
Volkswagen
Volkswagen's product portfolio may be as extensive these days as any other carmaker in the business. But if you still think of the original
Beetle as synonymous with the brand, that's probably because a) you're old and b) the Beetle was the company's only product until the mid-50s.
Sixty years ago Wilhelm Karmann (founder of the eponymous coachbuilder) was in Paris for the auto salon and met up with Luigi Segre and his team from Carrozzeria Ghia who showed him what was essentially a "Beetle in a sports coat." A month later they showed it to
Volkswagen chief Heinrich Nordhoff who, setting aside his conservative tastes, approved it for production. And so the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia was born, giving the German marque a second product line. It still used Beetle mechanicals and was built at the same Karmann factory in Onsabrück that was already assembling the Beetle Cabriolet.
It took another couple of years to put the design into production, but from 1955 to 1974, Volkswagen and Karmann built 362,601 coupes and 80,881 of the subsequent convertible that arrived in 1957. Today the Onsabrück factory is part of the VW Group, handling production of the
Golf Cabriolet, XL1 and
Porsche Boxster and
Cayman, and with that original Karmann Ghia prototype as part of its factory collection.
Continue reading Happy 60th to the VW Karmann Ghia
Happy 60th to the VW Karmann Ghia originally appeared on
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21-08-2013, 12:50 AM
