Mrs. preach wanted an air-cooled VW motor, she just did a thing...

The Mrs. has been reading John Muir's VW book and has wanted to get a motor to rebuild and keep for her eventual dream Karman Ghia. Yesterday was an annual AC VW show in Maine. She grabbed $300 out of her fun fund and we went to the show. 

She found an engine. It came with a bunch of parts...

So the current owner fixed the car all up for his wife. Well, she drove it once and HATED it. Now he is selling this to us and looking for a BMW 2002 for his wife. Wife looked at it this afternoon and impressed the guy with her knowledge of Karmann Ghias and she put a down payment on it.

Needless to say my wife is berkeleying stoked as am I. To top it off she pretty much stole the thing as he is just trying to get out of the car and move on to find a BMW.

As per the seeming requirement I am posting this prior to having the car in my yard.

She did pretty good:

Yes I realize it's from Hagarty, it also does not reflect the different engine etc.

In reply to preach :

I think the $300 is just the deposit/down payment and the actual purchase price has not been disclosed.

In reply to secretariata (Forum Supporter) :

It was significantly less than the Hagerty valuation. Runs great, drives great, looks great.

I also have a set of 1972 and older Pedrini 914 rims that you can get Wolfsburg crest center caps for. She likes the moons though.

In reply to preach :

I'm a moron. Didn't observe that you were the OP...  or should it be this one  ...

I read "thing" in title with a capital T.

not disappointed by KG content.

In reply to preach :

I like your wife's style.

We have a rule no mods until paid off.

I may have sent her this though:

That's a great looking car!

That is awesome. I love the lines of the ghias.

Awaiting a pick up time/day. She needs to drive 45 mins away to pay the guy and get the bill of sale, then drive back home to register/plate it and go pick it up. I will be driving it home as it does not have seat belts right now.

First mod will come from the part hoard in the upstairs of my barn. I wm pretty sure I have a pair of seat belts from a '72 914 up there.

I can't wait to drive it and look forward to Karmann and Ghia, our Boxers, to see their new car. Really really can't wait to go on an air-cooled cruise with 2 Karmann bodied cars when my 914 is functioning.

Are you sure you want to use 50 year old seat belts that have stored in a barn?

The fact that your dogs are named that is classic. 

The Maine show is alot of fun.  There are a couple of big enabler groups not to far away.  Other than the Maine Club, there is The Bug Club in southern NH and northern Mass, and the Connecticut VW Association in well, CT.  

Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) said:

Are you sure you want to use 50 year old seat belts that have stored in a barn?

Drove it home with just the old school lap belts.

All of it was a fantastic 45 minute drive home on 35-55mph country roads. I am sad I left my phone in the Golf that the Mrs. drove home.

VIN check tomorrow for a no title NH reg and it will be registered. Inspection for NH Wed, but she has 10 days anyway. Trip to see her mom this weekend in it about 1.5hrs away.

I'll make her a survival kit before she leaves. Best part is that she studied and know her E36 M3 for the most part.

Great looking car! 

In reply to preach :

You're not helping my inner 16 year old that really wanted a Karmann Ghia as a first car.

In reply to preach :

Mrs. Preach has excellent taste in cars. That’s awesome!

In reply to 11GTCS :

She was the catalyst to my Opel, Westfalia, and Cayman purchases too. I have excellent taste in cars and she is a fantastic enabler.

FWIW-

Some of her car history is: 2 Audi TTs, NB Miata, 90s LT1 Caprice, AWD Hemi Charger, now this.

First "long" drive today, 2 hours to her mother's. I hit the hammer store yesterday for an always tool kit for her Ghia. Forgot feeler gages and could not find a single socket there much less a 22mm and 36mm nor a spark plug socket. Spent $125 there. She also got 2 quarts of oil and a fire extinguisher to always have in the car. 

Wow, what a clean looking Ghia!  I'm not usually a fan of white paint on most classics, it looks rather elegant here. Well bought!

We have a rule no mods until paid off.
 

What about after though? Is the plan to keep the stock vibe but add some HP? Or something more Cal Look/resto-custom? Following for updates!

In reply to jerrysarcastic (dork in training) :

Thanks. The white is English White (I think), a 1 year color for Land Rovers. I like it even though I, too, generally do not like white vehicles.

The plans are all on her and will likely grow as she learns the car. So far it is to get the thing running perfect, and add some sort of music but it needs to be hidden as she does not want to cut the dash nor door cards. I am sure she will want more power. Then who knows.

I texted with her las night and she said it was flawless up to her mother's house. All good news.

The amount of comments from co-workers that drive by and the neighbors that walk by has been amazing. Especially for a place that has so many classics in the yard. It is a great edition to the Cayman, Opel, 914, etc.

In reply to preach :

Mrs. Preach also winning in picking the right weekend in August to drive an un-airconditioned car 2 hours here in the northeast.   

On the tunes thing no help on where to hide the speakers but if it has an ashtray I think there are bluetooth remote options that would work if you can hide the amplifier in the frunk or under the seats.

In reply to 11GTCS :

May be a simple as mounting a bluetooth speaker and charge cable. I run a Bose in my shop and have traveled with a JBL for years. Acceptable sound.