What had I bought...?

So, following a quick inspection on a damp day in November, the Karmann Ghia was mine. Due to the impulsive nature of the purchase, no time had been spent researching Karmann Ghia buying or restoring. My attention therefore immediately turned to the many forums/blogs on the Internet, where I was greeted with countless examples of cars which looked shed loads better than mine, needing 10+ thousand pounds spent on them. Not really what I wanted to see!

The KG was delivered to Paul's workshop which is a fair distance from my house, so it was a few weeks before I was able to check it out properly. As you can probably imagine, most of this this time was spent imagining how rotten it was. We knew the floors needed to be replaced (as the seats had actually fallen through!), so time was booked off work to go and help (or watch) Paul replace them.

All the worry was a waste of time - it was actually a really solid car. The bolts which held what was left of the floor pan to the heater channels came out with ease, and the original paint between the channels and the pan was intact and the channels themselves only needed a single small patch in the drivers foot well. Not bad for a 50year old car.

A few more general pictures of the car are below...


Under the bonnet.



Nose and spare wheel well are in great condition.



Most of the dash bits are there - if anyone has a 59 only horn push for sale, let me know.



Heater channels / inner wings are nice and solid.



Little bit rotten around the battery tray and rear valance. An suggestion to help source these panels would be appreciated.

Given the circumstances, should I really have bought this car...?

I have always wanted a Karmann Ghia. Since buying my 65 beetle at the age of 16, I have been messing around with aircooled Volkswagens. A splitscreen followed the age of 21 which was bought with my girlfriend (now wife) as a substitute for our own place.

Fast-forward to November 2008. I am approaching the big 3-0, and we still have both these vehicles which are shoe-horned into the plot of our tiny 'two-up two down' in the centre of Cheltenham. My wife is on maternity leave from Woolworths with our first born, and I get a call from my friend Paul Wisk of http://www.paulwiskrestos.co.uk/, letting me know of a 59 lowlight for sale. Thanks mate, just what I need - another old car...

We went to take a look at the car, which initially looked like a bit of a dog. As you can see from the photo's below the paint is in a really bad way, it had a single seat, most of the shiny bits were missing, and the floors...err there weren't really any floors. Putting those minor details aside though, it was a lowlight, the wheel arches, heater channels, and nose were in excellent condition, and most of the shiny bits were in the back. The price was good, so I shook on it and drove home, re-assuring myself that we could afford it, and there was no way in the world a company the size of Woolworths could go out of business. I got home to the news that Woolworths were in administration.





Never mind...its only when you don't have the money that an opportunity like this comes along. If I had the cash sitting in the bank, I never would have found the car I wanted. I managed to trick myself and my wife into believing this logic, paid the money and had the car delivered to Pauls resto workshop (I, of course have no room for it), where I was able to take a closer look at what I had parted with my hard borrowed cash for....