Germany and Italy Unite

By the early 1950s much of West Germany had crawled out of the rubble of World War II. The economy was improving due to aid and investment from Western Europe and the USA. One area where West Germany was doing exceedingly well was in the manufacture of automobiles. 

Following the end of WW II, the Volkswagen factory began to turn out what it called the Type 1, better known around the world as the Beetle. This was exactly what it had been designed to be, basic transportation for the masses. The car did very well in Germany and soon throughout Europe and eventually into the United States. With the upswing in sales VW executives soon saw the need to create a larger flagship car.

The German coachbuilding firm Karmann was hired on to manufacture the car. They in turn contracted famed Italian design house Ghia to clothe this larger VW. Knowing that in order to be a true success this new car would have to sell well in the US, Ghia looked to current designs by Chrysler and Studebakker. Apparently they drew so much inspiration from Chrysler that famed designer Virgil Exner claimed that the car was essentially his Chrysler D’Elegance.

Dubbed in house the Type 14, the car was released in 1955 and greatly exceeded expectations, selling over 10,000 in the first year. Though it had hints of a sports car it was marketed more as being a practical four seater. Originally it had a traditional rear mounted, air cooled 1200 cc flat four engine that, over its life time grew only to 1600 cc. It had few luxury touches and was still as frugal as VW’s image.

Two years into its run a convertible was released. By then it was being sold around the world and had officially taken on the name of its two “parents,” Karmann Ghia. The car became a huge success in the US because of its Italian styling and German reliability. It indeed looked and, to a very small degree, ran like a sport about but had a usable rear seat and a modicum of storage. 

In 1961 the Type 34 Karmann Ghia was released. It was larger and offered up more performance and more storage space than its predecessor. What is remarkable is that initially it was not imported to the US but this country still has what is believed to be more of these cars than any other place in the world, mostly trickling down from Canada.  Still, the car did not sell very well. It offered added features and the somewhat sportier performance all added up to a very un-VW like price. It managed to stick around until 1974 when it was replaced by the 914, known as a Volkswagen throughout Europe and a Porsche in the USA.