Lot details

Year: 1968
Make: Volkswagen
Model: Karmann Ghia Convertible 'Autostick'
Registration: URK 520F
Chassis No: 148/838563
Engine No: H0984919
Odometer: 8,500

• Very rare 'Autostick' semi-automatic example
• Original right hand drive UK supplied car

There are shapes that simply look successful even after decades and are not subject to short-term fashion, these are, in other words, 'design classics'. The Volkswagen Type 14 Karmann Ghia can certainly be counted among them and perhaps a little further 'off the radar' than its more pedigree Italian cousins. Of the three fathers of this global success, Wilhelm Karmann produced them for Volkswagen, with Volkswagen boss, Heinz Nordhoff, approving the delivery of the re-worked and widened Type 1 chassis for Volkswagen, with the Italian Carozzeria Ghia responsible for the design of the Type 14.

First registered in June 1968, this particularly unusual Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Convertible combines right hand drive, UK-market provenance and the seldom-seen Autostick semi-automatic transmission. Introduced as an option in 1967, Volkswagen's innovative Autostick transmission offered clutchless operation through a conventional gear lever and three forward ratios. Having remained in the current ownership for the past decade, the Karmann Ghia has reportedly been used sparingly, principally during favourable weather, and continuously garaged, serviced and maintained. Accompanying the car is an extensive history file spanning several decades, including an original 1967 instruction manual and the early registration document recording its first three owners between 1968 and 1978, when the car relocated from London to Wales. Numerous MoT test certificates from the 1990s document its subsequent return to southern England. The documentation also records structural repairs to the sills and floorpan in 1988, followed by replacement bodywork components in 1991. More recently, the car received a silver repaint in March 2016, together with an engine refurbishment. The body however, is showing signs of rust and would benefit from further repairs. An appealing and seldom-encountered example of Volkswagen's celebrated Karmann Ghia, this well-documented convertible offers the opportunity to enjoy a very rare and distinctive classic in its present condition, with scope for further cosmetic improvement if desired. Consigned by Will Penrose