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For Sale: 1955 Karmann Ghia Coupe

About This Vehicle

These photographs document this vehicle in its present condition.

This car is presently in the hands of a collector who realized that he won't live long enough to restore it and so it's time to let it move on to someone else's hands.

By the numbers, this car was made in September of 1955, but there's some evidence it was actually made in October. According to the estate sale where the present owner bought it, the car suffered a serious accident within the first 6 months of service. Since the owner could not find parts, the front of the car was lopped off and the vehicle was modified to provide service in an orchard. It reportedly later served as a golf cart. Remnants of the original body remain but they are not serviceable, so the owner supplied replacement body parts that are also from 1955.

BELOW: This car with the replacement body parts set in place.

Note that the seller is offering along with the car every correct part that he has that is also serviceable or restorable with the exceptions of some New Old Stock parts he has and parts he needs for other cars he's keeping. The parts included amount to very nearly the whole car. It's far easier to list what's missing than what's included!

Also note that the wheels are thought to be original to the chassis and are in good condition.

On This Page

Front Clip

The nose is from body number 1074 - definitely from 1955, probably October. Below, there's an image of this number stamped in the body.

BELOW: The "inner wheel housings" are the hardest part of the car to fix, and extremely vulnerable to damage in a front end accident. Here, both right and left so NO SIGNS of any collision damage! Also visible here, both "end-points" of the nose brace are also in good condition.

BELOW: At left we see that the nose panel has had an impact, but it was modest. Thankfully, nobody who didn't know how tried to fix it! At right we see the trunk flor is perfect and has the '55 style access panel for the shift-rod - note the three screws retaining it.

BELOW: At left we see the left headlamp bucket, an original, doesn't have the typical rust problem at the top! And, we see the turn signal mounting bracket is indeed the 1955-only version with holes punched through left and right of center - later ones aren't punched through here. At right we see the also unique to 1955 wiring guide tube that protects the main wiring loom on its transit from the front to the rear of the car; note how it enters the cabin! Later cars have a rubber boot here and the wiring enters the fender well area where it goes vertical, then enters the cabin at the dash level, very much higher up.

BELOW: In the left image we see the cowl and dash top are in good condition, just a little surface rust and at right we have a close-up of the front lid seal's channel. If you look carefully, you can see that there's a metal channel gripping the extant rubber seal. This seal is a longer version of the Beetle's seal (and can be made from one, or maybe two), but was only used on the Karmann Ghia from start of production until roughly the end of 1955.

Rear Clip

The left rear fender, seen below, has some rust and, having done this repair, we know that it can be repaired using two of the currently available repair panels, the one down low that's the rear rocker area and the one that's for the wheel arch region. The rest of the rear clip likely needs no other rust repair, only media blasting, and standard refinishing.

BELOW: Note that it was realized there's some rust on the rear lid fitted so another one in better condition will be provided and is pictured below.

BELOW: Here we see that the rest of the engine bay is in good condition, too. Note that the right and left wheel housing insulation remains intact.

 

 

Doors & Lids

 

Seats

Note that there are some images in the body section above and in the chassis section below that also show images of the seats.

Chassis

BELOW: The floors are great! They still have the original underlayment!

BELOW: The transaxle is believed to be original to the chassis and even still has the graphite throw-out bearing! And, the starter is mounted, too.

Completion Parts

BELOW: The ultra-rare single-piece bumper with matching guards, mounting brackets and bumper arm covers. And the early swaybar is also seen here sitting on the cowl.

 

 

 

BELOW:The speedometer dates from early 1956. The wiper switch is in the left image, the headlight switch on the right one, partially cropped. The turn signal bulbholders are in fantastic condition (left) and their chrome bezels are also correct for '55 - note the round weep holes! (on right) Also, here are the wiper arms, blades and interconnection rods from motor - and the edges of the pivots can be seen on the right image. The windshield trim joiners are here, front and rear (4 parts). And, the license light housing here is quite straight, no dents. The mirror does not need resilvering and is correct for '55 and has a partial visor for the driver, but with complete mounting bracket.

BELOW: On the left we have: The fly screens are used but replated and in great condition. Ignore the the horn relay seen here - it's only here by accident. The correct 1955 relay can be seen in another image on this page. The emblems are originals in great condition, as are the lenses. The lenses are NOS but have shelf-wear. The rear lense besels are originals, one with good original chrome, the other rechromed by House Of Ghia. The top of latch pillar plates are in fantastic condition, and a repainted horn button and attendant part is hiding in the corner. On the right we have another view of some parts already seen above including the front hood latch, wiper pivots, windshield trim covers, headlight switch, etc.

BELOW: Here we have, left, the air cleaner support brackets (2, the triangle and the shorter of the two on left), the special steering wheel nut, replated, and an NOS quarter window to door glass seal moulding. This NOS moulding was provided because only one good used one was found to be on-hand. On right we have two very nice gauge trim rings and horn button embellishment ring, a re-plated front hood safety catch, and another view of the NOS moulding and steering wheen nut.

BELOW: Here, at left, we have hiding in the far corner the steering colum support, and to its right a very nice battery cover which contains a lot of little pieces. Among these little pieces are both front air control assemblies with knobs, the dash and heater knobs, the rear seat retainer strap cover, and an example of the rear tail lamp bulbholder gasket. In the left foreground we have some original hardware including the body-to-front-axle retaining plates, TWO ignition switches since one of them may be bad, some window winders and a door checkrod. The image at right has the second checkrod, the correct horn relay, unique to 1955, the correct headlamp fuse box unique to 1955, a fusebox, the door switches for the courtesy lamp, and the dimmer switch.

BELOW: At left are the tail lamp bulb holders in very good condition, and at right, the horns, complete with mounting brackets and ground wire - these were taken from a '55, so may have the corrrect Hella date codes (!!) but we didn't look.

BELOW: At left we have the ash tray assembly (with reasonable chrome and the mounting screw inside), the headlamp fuebox cover, the wiper motor, both door striker plates, the brake fluid reservior, shifter with mounting plate and knob, wiper motor with wiring to switch, and both the choke and front hood release cables. At right we have the clock, date coded December of '55 and, because its plastic housing has been lost, a second clock is provided as a core for parts - its plastic housing is in good condition. We also have a glimpse of the speaker grille - it's metal!

BELOW: The rear lid latch needs replating but is otherwise OK.

 

 

List of Parts Included

List of Parts Missing

The following are what's known missing from the car - there may be other items we overlooked.

 


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