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Posted by: Jeff Bowlsby Apr 15 2015, 06:15 PM

Yeah right. For you Ghia fans:

http://www.oldbug.com/rodbuster.htm




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Posted by: horizontally-opposed Apr 15 2015, 06:54 PM

Plain awesome.

Nice find!

Posted by: Mueller Apr 15 2015, 06:55 PM

I'd be more impressed if the superchargers had been mirrored versions instead of the drive being on the same side of the supercharger!

j/k....cool build, lots of time and money for sure!

Posted by: bigkensteele Apr 15 2015, 06:55 PM

I remember that car from back in the day. Incredibly impressive engineering and fabrication mixed with horrendous taste.

Posted by: Mueller Apr 15 2015, 07:03 PM

This....

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!

No mention of it every running or driving?!

Posted by: Woody Apr 15 2015, 09:01 PM

How do you cool it?

Posted by: bigkensteele Apr 15 2015, 09:20 PM

It has been so long ago, probably sometime between '90 and '92 when I had my bug and subscribed to all the VW rags. I don't recall if any of the magazines indicated that they had a chance to drive the car. I am pretty sure that I saw it in Hot VWs or VW Trends.

It was a big deal back then because the build was so over the top compared to what anybody else was doing with VWs. Coddington was coming on the scene and rich dudes who grew up in the '50s and '60s finally had the kind of coin to build these outrageous hot rods that completely changed the scene. But nobody ever thought to build a VW in that manner. Until this car, it was Empi wheels, baby tornado mirrors, wing window deletes and a dropped front end. Nobody was spending more than $20k to do a custom VW because there is no way they would ever get back half of what they spent. Even in 1990 dollars, this car had to cost between 50 and 100 large to do unless the owner found some chimpanzees skilled in CNC.

Oddly, I remember liking it back then. I think that it might have been solid red or blue and far more tasteful back in the day. While I still appreciate the craftsmanship, creativity and quality, I can't help but wonder why they decided (apparently recently) to go with the current paint scheme or interior setup. It had to cost a lot of money to "restore" the car - what not modernize it to some degree?

Posted by: Mike Bellis Apr 15 2015, 09:56 PM

I remember that car too. It is very dated at this point. Very specific late 80's look. This will still look like shit in another 20 years. Unlike some of the old Barris customs that are still cool 50 years later.

Posted by: euro911 Apr 15 2015, 11:57 PM

Way over the top for me. I'd only be interested in having the motor

Posted by: Chris H. Apr 16 2015, 05:48 AM

I think I still have the Hot VW's with the rodbuster in it. They re-did that thing a couple of times too. Never figured out why they didn't change the Thunderbird wheels. How about that unusable 3" tv?

Posted by: 76-914 Apr 16 2015, 08:06 AM

What an abomination.

Posted by: JamesM Apr 16 2015, 10:58 AM

Are those inboard brakes on the rear?

Not sure the over-drilling and polish are really going to help the stopping performance much.

Posted by: euro911 Apr 16 2015, 12:02 PM

A friend in my scout troop (back in the late 60's) had a '58 Karman Ghia convertible that had a small Jusdon supercharger on it. I believe the stock motors in '58 were only 36HP

Posted by: horizontally-opposed Apr 16 2015, 12:07 PM

Don't disagree that the decisions regarding taste have aged badly, but this is a cool concept. There is a twin-supercharged 911 somewhere in California. I've only seen a photo, but the engine bay was fantastic with the big cooling can and mirrored Eaton superchargers slung to either side.

Drove a supercharged 993 years ago, and man did that work. Still one of the best air-cooled engines I ever tried.