When i sold my Jeep, I decided to return to vws and knew it was gonna be a Ghia. After I bought one or two, a friend of mine told me about this 71 sitting on Chapmann Hwy. I first thought it was Roxie, as I had been trying to buy it, so i ride with him and look at it. After checking it out, I finally got ahold of the owner and struck a deal for real cheap and drug it home. That's when i noticed the title. Yes, it was from Tennessee, Sweetwater to be exact, but the previous title was California. The story is the owner in Sweetwater had an accident with it, had a junky repair job done and got fed up. He found a rail buggy frame in a junk yard and drove the Ghia in and traded, pulled his motor, put it in the buggy and drove off. The old guy i got it from had posted a "be on the lookout" there and was called and promptly went and bought it. He decided to make a dollar and put up a for sale sign and I step in. The front ridge now has no filler, the overlaped metal is gone in the fender, and the inch and a half of bondo is gone from the rear quarter. At one point, I thought about selling it myself, but after it was painted and after taking to some tire kickers, I cancelled the ad. I had bolted up a t4 two liter to the tranny and was ready to fire it off when Tiffany told me she wanted to drive it when she got her license. I didn't hesitate to pull the big motor and replace it with a 1600. I like my old Ghia and cant wait to see what it looks like after its next reincarnation (coming soon as money decides to cooperate better).
Some of the details of the Ghia:
100% VW sheetmetal-from 5 Ghias and one Bug.
The headlight buckets are from a '56 Bug, the lights from a '65 Bus.
Shaved front signals,relocated into the grills.
Frenched license plate with original Ghia lp lights.
Shaved rear reflectors,
Relocated antenna,
De-chromed drip rails and side trim.
Removable engine compartment.
Custom dash top and headliner (even though it sags like crap now-lol).
Custom wiring from Watsons Streetworks.
Narrowed beam
'74 Ghia front seats
'72 Ghia rear seat, side panels, and doorpanels.
The engine is stock. OK, that's a lie. It's a 1641 with DRD big valve heads, 120 Engle cam, ratio rockers, steel rods, and 36 Dells with some port matching done. It's a little motor that doesn't know it and will run with most anyone on the road.
Stereo is, well, there. Pyle head unit, Sony 800 watt amp, two Jensen 12's, two cheap 10's, 6 inch Sony Explodes, and 6x9 Explodes as well.
The bumpers even have custom touches as well. I chopped the over riders and filled the backs.
I did it all, just myself and a little Wild Turkey. Nothing was done for me; paint, body work, wiring, brake system, engine all of it. The only things that remain from 1971 are the carpet and the trans, never had to fool with it other than new mounts, a strap kit, and a little gear oil. It was work but I enjoyed every minute of it.
