The Karmann Ghia was Volkswagen’s first luxury car, being received to great fanfare. An iconic car whose design is loved to this day, the Karmann Ghia is regarded as one of the best cars Volkswagen ever produced. Here are some interesting facts about it that you might not know.
The Karmann Ghia was designed and built outside Volkswagen
While all of Volkswagen’s other cars from this time were designed by Volkswagen’s own design team, for the Karmann Ghia VW decided to bring in outside help. The famous Italian design house Carrozzeria Ghia was given the task of designing this car as they had a lot of experience designing upmarket cars. The task of producing the car was given to the German coachbuilding company Karmann. Due to their contributions to the car, it was named the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.
It was inspired by another car designed by Ghia
While the look of the Karmann Ghia is extremely unique, it isn’t a completely unique car. The side profile and rear end of the car was inspired by a different car, the Chrysler D’Elegance. Luis Segre, the designer of the Karmann Ghia, coupled these features with a newly designed front end to give it the classic Volkswagen look.
It was never marketed as a sports car
When it was initially designed, the Karmann Ghia was intended to be a sports car, capable of competing with the British and Italian brands. However, using the engine from the Beetle meant that it was not very powerful. As such, Volkswagen instead focused on marketing the Karmann Ghia as a more upmarket version of the Beetle, which was a much more successful campaign.
It had great fuel efficiency
Although this wasn’t one of the selling points of the car, the Karmann Ghia had great mileage. Road tests in the mid-1960s indicated a real-life mileage of 15 kilometers per litre, which was extremely good for that time. It was even more efficient than the Volkswagen Beetle, thanks to its lighter and lower-slung body. This helped the Karmann Ghia carve out a niche in the market for people who wanted a car with German technology and efficiency with a great Italian design.
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