Flintstone Floors: 1969 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
You’ve got to love a seller with a sense of humor, especially one who references classic cartoons like The Flintstones to describe a part of the car that they have for sale. This 1969 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia has “Flintstone floors” according to the seller. This holy VW is on Craigslist in Redland, Oregon with an asking price of $3,000.
This isn’t a buff-and-go car, this one will need a lot of work, but the body looks pretty good on it, no? The perfect nose is a telltale sign of accident damage and/or repair and this one is “smooth factory perfect“, according to the seller.
I hate to even say it but you’re used to this by now. Even with 24, as in twenty-four, as in two-solid-dozen photos, there is not one engine photo! Arrgggggh.. the humanity! It should have VW’s 1,493CC four with 53 hp. But, there is hope, the seller mentions that it “Just started after 28 years. Fired right up. No smoke.” They have even provided a YouTube video of the engine. Well done. Hagerty is at $6,400 for a #4 fair condition car and $20,900 for a #2 excellent car.
There is a “Small amount of filler above drivers rear wheel well. Only rust visible, beside pans is in bottom lip of dec lid. Not the end of the world. Heater channels are solid, front and back.” For 1969, the Karmann Ghia moved from swing axles to rear axles which were double-jointed and had semi-trailing arms. You can see that the interior will need a _ton of work but a lot of it may be related to the next photo.
In the name of all that’s good and holy! Literally. My dad had an older Karmann Ghia and it also had a hole in the front floor but it wasn’t quite this big. My wife’s aunt had a Karmann Ghia and her memory of riding in the back seat consisted mainly of trying to keep her feet from hitting the road which was visible through the huge hole in the floors. Maybe that’s just a Minnesota thing? Floors are available, of course, so this is fixable. This whole car is quite fixable even with parts of it looking fairly scary. Have any of you owned a Karmann Ghia?
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Comments
I have my 63 Karmann his tattooed on my forearm. I loved that car.
No picture of your arm…I mean the tattoo…I mean the 63 Karmann ?? (-;
Did you include one of its motor?
After a few years in the Upper Midwest you realize floor pans aren’t necessary to have a good time. Just slow down for the big puddles.
Ghias are special to me- I had ’66 1300 convertible in Sea Blue out of high school and into college. Sweet car and never had a lick of mechanical problems. Do what ever needs to be done to keep that baby going!
Since I was about 16 I’ve had this incredibly stupid idea to stuff the drivetrain from an AWD turbo 911 into a Karmann Ghia.
No roof rack. Pass….
Yep this one is doable, I still pine to do a fastback GT style, Ferrari red with Wolfsburg logos instead of that horse. at the risk of showing mine too often I will because Scotty asked. Before and after.
My father inherited a white Karman Ghia from his father when it was only a few years old. Fun car but it rusted out by the time it was ten years old. It was buried in my friend’s yard the early 1980s. He build a house on a sleep slope and used several junk cars as land fill. It’s the only former car that I know where it is today.
Love the straps. An attempt to hold the rest of the floor in?
First step, buy new floor pans and weld in… $380 for full right and left pans. https://www.jbugs.com/product/141701061-062.html
My very first car in the fall of 1970 was white 64 Ghia. Despite the weather in Montana it wasn’t rusted at all. Montana did and still does not use salt on their roads. They use sand or now liquid de-icer.
The poor man’s Porsche, handled far more securely, and more guts than a VW Bug, but not a lot more. Far better built than the Corvair, but all 3 rusted out, no matter what you did (except, of course, not drive it when the roads were wet, let alone salty). The padded convertible top was so much better than any US convertible top, for example. I drove one a lot in the late ’60’s and it was fun on secondary roads, and somewhat gutless on an uphill on the Interstates.
Very enjoyable cars, I had a 65 Ghia, good in traffic, economical, and had some style. Sold it for a profit. Jump on this. Parts are everywhere. Enjoy.
subie WRX motor? Weber DOCEs?
upgrade suspension/brakes?