The
'56 Ghia (1995-96):
 While
glancing through "Fyndbörsen" (a Swedish paper with cars for sale)
in 1995 my eyes got fixated on a '58 Ghia. The thought of owning a Karmann
Ghia had been on my mind for a number of years. Since the rebuild of my
'57 oval was completed and I didn't feel like spending more time and money
on it, this would perhaps be a great next project, I thought. A phone call
to the old man who owned it made me more convinced and interested. Further
investigation revealed what it wasn't a '58 but a '56! (I know the air
intakes in front tell you otherwise, but the front clip had been changed).
Once back home, my dad forbid me to park the car and my mom just shook her head, so I parked the car in a barn for 1 1/2 year before managing to sell it to a friends friend who had just participated in a panel beater course and needed something to practice on. I wish the pictures would do the car justice (in a negative sense), but I think you had to see it to realize just how bad it was. |
Further
phone calls to the old man (a farmer) convinced me that this would make
an excellent next project. I wanted to go and have a look at the car, but
the 1000 km a trip to him would mean made me hesitate. Buying this car
meant more or less to buy it unseen, so I asked him in what condition the
cars was and to be honest (yeah, right..), and he answered; "Not too
bad. Some rust in the floor and the sills. You know, the usual places...".
That sounded encouraging, so a friend of mine and I drove to Östersund
where he lived to make a deal.
When
I finally saw the car I almost started crying. I have never seen a car
in such a bad condition. There were only fragments left of the floor and
the passenger seat was standing directly on the ground! Most of the body
was held together by the paint and a lot of parts were missing. I managed
to calm down, gave him an offer (much lower than what he asked) that was
excepted, loaded the "remains" and started the trip home.