1968 VW Karmann Ghia Coupe, Red/Black w/Highly Custom Gray Interior LOW RESERVE!

1968 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Description

I am parting with my 1968 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. I really hate to, but for health reasons and an upcoming moveI must.
I bought the car in 2013 from an ad I saw online. I loved the color combo of the red/black so I had the car shipped from Montana. The exterior looked pretty nice, so I didn't want to change the "1968" retro look at all. The inside however, left a lot to be desired, so that is where my husband and I really put our creativity and his electrical engineering skills to work!
We decided to go for modern day comfort and convenience in the Ghia, so we got rid of the seats that were in it (they were incorrect) and put in some really nice comfortable charcoal grey seats with accent red stitching from a 2011 Kia Forte. The carpeting is custom fit to the car as is the headliner, doorpanels and quarterpanels. The rear seats were removed to turn this from a family coupe to a two-seater sports car. The rear area is now a fully finished storage compartment. At the rear of this compartment is a custom tuned speaker enclosure with two eight inch woofers. In the footwell are two dome tweeters. The stereo, a JVC with CD/USB, along with the woofers, tweeters & custom crossover provides the Ghia with a nice modern, high quality (not boom boom) sound.
In addition to the stereo, the rest of the dash has been completely modernized. It has a full set of modern VDO gauges, rocker switches for the electric antenna and interior LED lighting. In fact the entire electrical system was scrapped and a fully custom, sophisticated electrical system was designed. Also installed was a battery cut-off switch. The electrical system comes with highly detailed documentation.
The Ghia's "frunk" is nicely finished inside. When you open the lid (I did at carshows), it looks nice to display. The engine compartment has also been detailed. The engine's appearance was "OK" when we purchased the car, but was a bit "blah" so we bought a new "doghouse" tin shroud and had it painted poppy red to match the cars exterior. We also had our good friend who is a VW expert go over the engine and give it a tune-up. The battery was relocated from the engine area to inside the car (under the lid of the rear storage compartment). We redid the engine sound deadening and replaced the seals around the engine (between engine & car body).
There are some parts included that we never installed, such as the quick shift kit, shift coupling and right side mirror. The milage when we bought the car was about 47,000. Since we replaced the speedometer/odometer we have put on 648 miles.
When we purchased the car, we had no intention of working on the body or chassis, we just wanted to start with a complete car and do our interior customization. We realized over time that it does have some rust and there are edges where the body looks like rust was not taken care of before painting. This is circled in the pictures. One of the close-ups shows white areas which might look like fading, but this is actually clouds reflected in the deep shine. Other than the two small areas we mentioned, the car overall has a very nice appearance. We have shown it many times at local car shows. In the attached photos you can see Wayne Carini posing with it!
Overall, the photos are a good representation of the condition. Ideally, you would want to come by and see for yourself. We are in Port St. Lucie, FL, about an hour north of the West Palm Bch airport. If you have any questions or want more photos, please ebay message us or call 772-284-9922.
We are selling the car as-is with no implied warranty. If you need shipping you must arrange it but we can be here most any time to meet them.

Other thoughts:

I bought the car with the premise that the body work was done. It had the paint job/color combo you see in the photos. When the car arrived from Montana, the exterior and paint job did indeed look very nice. After having the car for a while and working with it, it became obvious that nothing was really done to restore the underside or the parts of the car you can't see. While we don't see any structural problems, there is the level of rust one would expect to see on a car from 1968 in these areas. We believe we have set the reserve at a price that takes into account these issues.

The quick shift kit is not necessary. VW's shifting can be a bit "sloppy", but it just adds to the quirkiness. If you like a shorter/stiffer throw in the gear shift, you can install the kit.

Neither myself nor my husband have ever smoked in the car (non-smokers!)

The car was shown at local car shows, but in NO way am I claiming it to be "show-car" perfect.

The successful high bidder will submit a $500.00 non-refundable deposit via Paypal within 2 business days of the close of the auction to secure the vehicle. Buyer agrees to pay remaining balance due within 7 days of the close of the auction. It will not leave our hands until the full amount is safely cleared in our account. You must show us proof of insurance coverage actually on this car (your insurance company can do this with the VIN# over the phone) before picking it up and or taking possession.