For some time I have been seeing Ghias and VW convertables selling for prices way above 914s. What gives?

nostalgia?? for some reason normal people like bugs and ghia's. only weirdos like us like 914's.

actually, i have to admit that i think the ghia is a great looking design.

Because they look good/pretty/cute/handsome/nice/whatever. And because some people have good memories about them. And because people just plain like them!

Heck, I wouldn't turn a nice Ghia down if it were offered to me...

--DD

I sold a nonrunner no motor or Trans. A real pile of junk 71 vw Convert for $2k to some germans . I aksed them what they would give me for it a the guy say $2k. need less to say I snapped up his offer. Steve

My partner in crime here, Brent is selling his 64 Ghia... After a 6 year restoration....

It'll be a feature car in the centerfold of Hot Vws in June/July immediately thereafter it goes up for sale.

Already turned down 28,000 for it. Its done right and is perfect in every meaning of the word.

VW Guys spend more money on their cars than Porsche owners.... some of my customers have 20+ vintage VWS! One guy has bought 17 engines from me, I'm doing 4 for him right now!

was thinking of a ghia when i found the 914. my dad had an old '67, complete with 8-track tape player (to say nothing of the simon and garfunkel tape!) back when the car and i were both young.

A later Ghia with IRS, coupled to a Huge TIV and 944 rear suspension and brakes is a serious ride....

I built an engine for one guy that has over 100K in a Ghia, but he takes it to DE events and annihilates 911s!

I was arranging a deal with a guy I know to TRADE my Ghia for his 74 1.8l 914.
He got cold feet.

Had nothing to do with the fact that my transaxle may have bad synchros. . .
But I could still be talked into it.

Now that I'm about to be gainfully employed again, I'm even thinking about rebuilding the 912 motor and putting that back in. . .

the ghias are just plain sweet, I was going to do a ghia when I found my 914... a buddy of mine has a sweet ghia coupe he is restoring... he paid 600 for it, the owner thought it didn't run... friend cleaned the carb and gas tank, corrected the firing order on the distributor, and it ran like a champ!!

ghais are a sweet and classy looking car, what's not to love?!?!

There was a great article in 1974 in Car and Driver that compared a Ghia Vert to a 55 1500N Speedster. Surpriningly, the cars perfromed nearly identically. They went so far as to say, that the Ghia was the last speedster.

I have it 'round here somewheres. I'll see if I can scan it. If anyone else has it, please post it.

Lastly, the Ghia was and is a very pretty car. Great design and they actually were built fairly well. Rust has claimed most of the east coast cars, so there is a limited number of west coast cars available. Let those prices go up. I'd prefer that they rise, rather than see 914 prices go too high and ruin all of our fun.

Don't get me wrong.
I love every inch of my Ghia. They ARE great cars.

But I've been itching for a car that's a tad more fun to drive. 5-speed options in a Ghia are slim and costly. The 912 motor was a blast, but I'm wanting something with a bit more oomph than that. I'm also kind of tired of carb issues - mostly, the daily struggle that is cold-starting a carbed engine. But the problems I've had with my transaxle after going back to the stock engine have kind of sucked all the fun out of my particular Ghia, as a driver, and as a hobby.

But mainly, the Ghia makes me feel as if I've got to keep pouring money and effort into beauty. Every paint bubble, every scratch, is excruciating. It's a beautiful body, and imperfections really bother me. I feel like if I had a 914, I wouldn't care so much about how it looks, but more about how it runs. And that's really the part of the car-hobby that I enjoy - working on the mechanicals. I'm just not a "paint-n-interior" guy.

LOL, I thought that too.. but I am as meticulous about my 914 as anything! if it had a dent under the carpet I would be upset that it was there... even if no one else even knew...

for "oomph" you could ALWAYS get a reaby engine with the DTM!

I can't believe what I am reading.... all this time I thought I was the only one that came to the 914 via a ghia! I too wanted a convertible ghia and abandoned the idea when my best friend's dad got a 911. I can get a Porsche for less than a ghia! At 16 I was sold, but it was not to be for some time I did not get either the Porsche or the ghia for 14 years. Oh well, better late than never.

-Pete

Especially verts.

After the years go by, and the top leaks, the heater channels and pans rust, and with a Ghia Vert, the pan's the only thing holding the car together, so. . . .

Replacing a top is a $5000 ordeal, if done properly.
It's considered to be about the most difficult Ghia project one could take on one's self. It took Karmann two skilled workers 8 hours to install the top.

Hence, the tops don't often get replaced when they should.

I owned a Ghia once. It was the only car I ever made a profit on. Paid $700.00 in 1988 and sold it a year later for $900.00. It was really rough bodywise but the engine ran just fine. My wife drove it through the winter and kept complaining that there was no heat. After a little research, I found out how to heat the cabin and told her all she had to do was push in the cigarette lighter and when it popped out, wave it around some, then repeat.

Got my 914 after looking at Ghias Convertibles too.

Now, I've got 2 Ghias running around my neighborhood. I just need to get my 914 reliable.



Sang 76/2.0

Ghia's, squarebacks, notchbacks, and fastbacks are all fun cars. Same reason the 914s are fun.... lots of feedback. The 914 gives you more options IMO, not on the chrome side, but more on the track side.

Hey need4speed,

I've got a 73 2.0 914, I'll trade for a Ghia...

I just picked up a 73 Fastback from the paint shop and had it towed to Surefit in San Leandro for a new set of clothes. Will post pix!

I too was inbetween a ghia and a teener. now my mom might be getting a ghia vert. ill be thrilled to drive it.

My wife was really hot for a convertible Beetle, she thought it would be great for tooling around with the two kids.

We found a very good low mileage (less than 50k) '79 Super Beetle Convertible a little over two years ago. It has a decent cheap paint job, a new interior with a new A/C system, and polished Empi style eight spokes with new Dunlop tires. The guy we got it from purchased it from a broker that got it from the original owner, and had to sell it after spending like $1300 getting the A/C put on it. It was a tourist delivery car and there is some of that documentation that we got with it. A southern CA car with really no rust on it. The area under the rear seat is awesome, it's an excellent survivor.

Let me tell you as cool as it is, for me it's just plain scary. There isn't anything to these cars. I would hate to be in any sort of accident with it, let alone with the kids in the car. I feel safer going 10 over in our minivan than I do driving 20 under in the Beetle. Four wheel DRUM brakes, whoo hoo!!! A car with brakes from 1950, and a Bosch AFC fuel injection system, to pump out what 60HP or something like that???

However the appeal this car has is unbelieveable. Everyone comments about it. It is interesting that it attracts more attention than a black '91 C2, a 00 Boxster, the car in my avitar, and two other 914's I've had, combined! I put a "For Sale" sign on it and have taken it off because I get stopped so much. I don't know what the heck to do with it?

Aside from this, there were a few that felt that if the 914 had been the replacement Ghia, it would have knocked em dead. It is a Porsche design however.

PK

Yeah, I often wonder how it would stand up in a collision. I mean, just the heater channels and the tunnel. That's it.

One of the things I originally liked about the Ghia was that it had a back seat. My kids are 8 and 11, and they're starting to grumble about who sits in back. (SUV's have spoiled this entire generation). Get out on the road with the top down, and the sun shining, and they're happy again though. But in terms of accidents, there's no seat belts in back. I installed some, in mine, but they're by no means as safe as seatbelts engineered in by the builders. In fact, in 73 and 74, they converted the back seat into a storage shelf, because the Ghia was on it's way out, and they didn't want to redesign the car for a safe back seat. Anyway, the Ghia had disk brakes in front.