1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

The UK only saw a handful of right-hand Type 34s, as import duties made the car seem rather dear compared to home grown offerings such as the MGB GT.

However, that is exactly what we are lucky enough to be offering for sale here. According to the informative ‘Zertifikat’ from Volkswagen, the car left the Osnabruck factory in July 1964, destination Portugal. Why the first owner wished to have the steering wheel on the right we cannot say.

Our seller bought the car some eight years or so from a dealer in Wales. He had acquired the car from a contact in Italy and we are told that is where the car spent most of its life.

Our seller had owned a Type 34 before, so he knew what he was looking for and after the purchase he set about a slow and steady restoration, which took many, many years.

Since completing the work some years ago, just a few hundred miles have been added to the odometer and so with some reluctance, our seller has decided it is time to let someone else enjoy this striking and unusual car.

Have we whetted your appetite yet? If so, read on for more details

Resplendent in Sea Blue with a contrasting white roof, makes for a heady combination. Rewind to 2017 and the body was taken back to bare metal and a full respray was carried out.

The work was carried out by the Karmann Ghia Centre in Watford, who boldly claim to be the UK’s leading Karmann Ghia restoration and sales specialists, with over 30 years of experience. The work progressed rather slowly, with neither our seller nor the workshop in any rush.

The time taken was undoubtedly worthwhile and the result is quite stunning. Our seller paid for the work in stages as it progressed, and sadly did not keep the invoices. The car was intended to be a keeper.

There is the odd mark on the paint, with a small area under the nearside headlight showing some signs of cracking. There is also some rust starting to show through on the rear lid, just above the lock.

Letting the side down are the chrome hubcaps, which we gather were sourced from China. These will need rechroming or replacing.

The rest of the chrome is fine, though a good set to with some chrome cleaner would probably be a good idea.

Whitewall tyres compliment the roof rather well and hark back to the original factory specification.

Step inside and immediately noticeable are the recovered seats in a mix of cloth and vinyl. They look very smart and are paired with matching door cards.

Carpets have been renewed and the replacements appear to have been well fitted.

The black dashboard top is likely to be the original and has faded in the sun. A good clean might just improve the condition a tad.

The blue dash houses the expected gauges, and its simple design is quite a delight. Our vendor also tells us that the Blaupunkt radio in the car is an original from the period (but which didn’t come with the car), has been converted to a digital radio, purchased from Chrome London. It is not, however, plumbed into a speaker yet. In essence, everything that you need but no more.

The front boot is quite generous in size but is a little dusty. A little carpet might improve it somewhat. The spare wheel is housed in the car’s nose and will be readily accessible if required.

The rear boot is also grubby, but a few hours on a Sunday morning with some basic cleaning materials would doubtless be worthwhile.

Lift the boot floor out and the engine compartment is now accessible. The edges are in poor condition with the protective material lifting and broken in places. We would want to address this without delay. All is revealed in our photographs of the area.

We do note that some of the rubber door seals are showing their age, and this might be something to address at a future date.

We always include plenty of photographs of a car’s underside and that is the case here. We would suggest pausing a while to take it all in.

It all looks reasonably sound, but with a little surface rust starting to appear in places we would be tempted to get the car up on some ramps and apply some more protective underseal, especially if all year-round use is the intention.

Our seller informs us that he believes the 45,900 miles showing on the odometer to be genuine. We offer no opinion and will leave it for prospective buyers to make up their own minds.

We would say that our seller concentrated on making the body and interior the best it could be but felt no need to refurbish the mechanicals. We are told the car drives ok but it should be borne in mind the car has covered just a few hundred miles in recent years. It is simple engineering and not beyond the realms of the competent home mechanic.

Made in Germany, exported to Portugal, then to Italy before finally arriving in the UK some eight years or so ago.

After our seller’s restoration, the car was MoTed just once in October 2018. It passed with no advisories, the recorded mileage then being 45,771. Just a few hundred miles have been covered since.

We always like selling rare cars and a right-hand drive Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 34 is about as rare as they come. The car will draw a crowd and is quite the head-turner.

Subject to a great deal of expense during our seller’s ownership, we feel sure the car will attract a lot of interest not just from VW aficionados, but also from the wider classic car community.

To be in with a chance of taking home this lovely car, we would urge you to put in your best bid without delay.

A sale price of £20,000 to £25,000 is confidently predicted.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.