The multi-continent life story of a VW Karmann Ghia

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

The multi-continent life story of a VW Karmann Ghia

LIFE-CYCLE

Bought new in the US, this Karmann Ghia toured Europe before being delivered to its first owner, where it remained for almost five decades before starting a new life in the UK

17 August 1957 - deposit paid for a Karmann Ghia

Choosing a new car, Betty Saarni wanted something small, stylish and modern. Her passion as an artist in the San Francisco Bay Area of the US extended to designing her own home, a Berkeley-style redwood house with a steep driveway to the carport. In Fifties California, the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia - launched in 1955 and reputedly inspired by a 1953 Chrysler concept car - was punching above its weight. It wasn't fast, but in an era where image was often everything, the Ghia exuded an unpretentious cool that fitted the California mindset perfectly. And because its hand-shaped Italian curves - courtesy of Carrozzeria Ghia - rested on the dependable mechanicals of the Volkswagen Beetle, it was as reliable as it was alluring.

1957/58 Sales invoice from the US, but car originally collected in Germany.

'Back then it cost $1800 which was probably twice the price of a Beetle,' Betty recalled in correspondence with John Moxon, the current owner. 'In those days, import quotas created delays. My first husband, Robert, discovered if the car was collected in Germany and brought in as a personal import under the US Tourist Scheme, it was exempt from quota restrictions. We ordered it on 17 August 1957, paying a $500 deposit to Oliver Imported Cars of Berkeley.'

1958 The Ghia's first day at 1434 Grizzly Peak

Betty's close friends, the Reverend Othmar Tobisch and his wife Margit, agreed to collect the Ghia from VW dealer Hahns of Stuttgart, during their fivemonth European holiday which began on 29 April. 'It was a good deal all round,' Betty explained. 'I got my car quicker and they had cheap holiday transport.' Nevertheless, Robert had a legal agreement drawn up clarifying who owned the Ghia and that it was only lent to the Tobisches for five months. Luckily, the agreement didn't specify the mileage. 'In just three months they had driven over 6000 miles. I know because they'd write postcards to me describing their travels. They had christened the car "Black Condor", other times calling it "Black Beauty".

'The first service was in April at 300 miles in Linz, Austria, then in May at 1500 miles in Florence. By the time of the next service at 6000 miles, they'd visited Vienna, Rome, Pompei, Monaco and Barcelona before a rest in Bordeaux. In June, while in Paris, the door mirror got smashed. They assured me that they would get this, and any stone chips fixed.

1988 Betty and the Ghia take a break in San Francisco

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1988 Golden Gate Park in San Francisco

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John (seated) tells Richard Ghia's true mileage is unknown

The same month they took the ferry to England, driving to Glasgow via London and Birmingham.' A wad of airmail letters describes heading south to Newcastle then taking the ferry to Bergen. Soon Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Hamburg were added to the tally of visited cities before that 6000-mile service in Frankfurt during July. 'They returned the Ghia to Stuttgart on 5 September for shipment to San Francisco. Transported to Hamburg, it was loaded onto the German ship Travestein on 10 September.'

Betty says she'll never forget the first time she saw her car. 'It was in San Francisco docks on 17 October. I'd paid $300 shipping costs and signed a document confirming I'd received a used car. With 9000 miles on the clock, it certainly was used. Othmar left me a present in the form of a Blaupunkt Frankfurt FM/AM radio he'd had fitted a few days after taking delivery.' He also left a note saying despite alpine passes and many hours at 70mph, the fuel economy was a consistent 35mpg over the 9000-mile distance.

2005 Betty painting at East Bay Street in San Francisco

Living across the Bay Bridge in Grizzly Peak, Berkeley, Betty used the Ghia for her commute to San Francisco where she worked as a commercial artist. After her first marriage ended, she married Frank Saarni in 1968 - who she described as the 'love of her life' - and became a watercolour artist and teacher. The Ghia remained her principal mode of transport for the next 39 years in Northern California.

Betty's niece Barbara Saarni Oddone takes up the story from the Sixties. 'I came of age at this time, and Berkeley was full of VW Beetles and Station Wagons. When Betty's Ghia arrived, it was like an emissary from another world, sleek, European and exotic.

2007 John Moxon says hello to his Karmann Ghia

'Owning a Karmann Ghia in the Sixties wasn't just about transportation. It was a statement - the Beetle was utilitarian; the Ghia was sleek and sophisticated.' Barbara recalls her aunt drove it like a sports car. 'Even now, our son remembers rides with her which he found both scary and glorious, particularly one around 1989, when he was nine years old and Betty took him to a car show. Throughout all her life she drove the car like she was a racing driver.

'She was a good driver, though, and the marvel of the neighbourhood. She would effortlessly reverse at speed down her steep driveway to the car port. To get to the house from there, she had to navigate a steep flight of stairs on the side of a cliff in the Berkeley Hills. No other car ever lived in that car port.'

All-original interior is testament to loving ownership

'For Betty, the car was a lifestyle, too, a rolling piece of art that captured the spirit of an unforgettable era. She was crazy about it, and I guess she thought carefully about the colour choice,' says Barbara. Emphasising the VW was fully used, she recalls, 'The Californian climate was kind to cars; they didn't deteriorate because of harsh winters. Still, the lack of air conditioning meant summer drives could get a bit toasty. The heating system was a gamble - adequate in the Bay Area's mild winters, but laughably weak in the chillier reaches of the Sierra Nevada.'

Barbara has a theory why Betty was so emotionally entangled with the Ghia for nearly 50 years. 'Betty was a polio victim with paralysed legs from just two years old. Her parents kept her isolated for years, teaching her to read as well as introducing her to art materials. A little later, her dad would strap her legs to the pedals of a tricycle and push her to keep her leg muscles moving and strengthening. By the age of five she was back on her feet again.

Rare Shorrock supercharger kit makes Ghia unique

'She was also tiny and large American cars didn't suit her size, but the Ghia did. It was like an extension of her psyche. The car was her legs. That's why I think she had such a strong attachment to it. She could go fast and zip around the Berkeley Hills; it gave her so much freedom and was much more than just a car. Even the fact it had a stick shift didn't bother her. And even though it had a small motor, it was light and nippy, and on twisty roads like the Pacific Coast Highway, its responsive handling made it a delight. She wasn't racing the other drivers on the road; she was simply savouring the journey.

'As far as I know Betty never had any collisions while in the Ghia. She took really good care of it, almost like a pet. Even the mechanic from the Bay Area who took care of it for much of its life was attached to it. As an adult education teacher for over 40 years - even into her eighties - Betty's students would know when she was near by the sound of the VW's engine. She was loved by all her art students, and the car was part of her identity.'

Both local and long-distance use for this car

Barbara is adamant no-one else drove the Ghia. 'Betty's Ghia was hers alone. She would take it down the Pacific Coast Highway to Carmel and Monterey, on her own or with a student. The car turned heads; it wasn't uncommon for someone to stop Betty at a gas station and ask about it - where it was from, what it was like to drive. That was part of its charm.

'I always thought my long-legged uncle Frank felt he was crammed into a projectile when he drove with her. Betty and Frank would go on long road trips, but they would take a camper, like a VW Vanagon, which uncle Frank could fit his tall frame into, and that could take all their stuff. These were painting trips, so Betty needed all her art materials.'

'It gave Betty so much freedom and was more than just a car to her'

From Stuttgart via San Francisco to Southampton, this Karmann Ghia has led a full life

Barbara recounts Betty eventually had to let her beloved VW go because she became too frail to drive. 'My cousin John Souter organised the sale. It took a while to sell, but Betty was thrilled John Moxon in England wanted to buy it because she felt they shared the same delight in the car. It couldn't have gone to a better owner because John enthusiastically kept Betty informed of the car's new life in England.'

John Moxon is a leading light in the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia fraternity. He's moderated the Karmann Ghia forum on thesamba.com/vw for more than 20 years. Despite being hooked by the Karmann Ghia's rounded profile in the Nineties, it wasn't until 2007 that ownership of an Osnabruck-built VW became reality when John bought Betty's beloved car. There was one problem, though; John lives in Southampton, and the Ghia was still in Berkeley.

Supercharger boosts engine to around 70bhp

8 September 2007 - Betty's Ghia docks in England

John began his search for a 'Lowlight' Karmann Ghia in 2005. Built from 1956-59, these rare and early versions are very sought after, with headlights that sit lower than those of later models.

'I knew my best chance of getting a Lowlight was in the US because most of the early cars were sold there. They were also for sale at prices I could afford. It took two years of looking at potential buys when, in July 2007, I asked an American friend, Dan Mercer, about a restored 1959 Lowlight model. He then alerted me to the The Bay Area Craigslist sale of Betty's unrestored 1958, which he personally thought was a better proposition. Another of my forum friends, Scott Doonan, who worked in San Francisco, checked out the car. It was sound, so I paid the asking price of $9000 on 28 July 2007

2008 The passing New Forest Hunt admires Ghia

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2008 Ghia at Winchester Cathedral

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2008 Period costume for Le Mans Classic

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2009 Hessisch Oldendorf Vintage VW Show in Germany

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'Even though it had a small motor, its responsive handling made it a delight'

'I've always thought I was very lucky to buy the car. It's only now researching this feature, I realise just how lucky, because I wasn't aware it'd been for sale for more than three months. I thought it'd only been three weeks; US dates are written with the month first - the advert's date read 4/7 rather than 7/4.'

Now in John's ownership, the Karmann left Oakland Container Port on the Hapag-Lloyd Kuala Lumpur Express ship on 8 August 2007, arriving in Southampton a month later on 10 September.

2016 First class: parked up at Redbridge, Southampton

'When I orginally bought the car, the mileage was indeterminate, because Betty couldn't remember how many times it had been around the clock! VW odometers of that period only went to 99k miles before returning to zero. The odometer currently reads 19,500 miles. Betty explained to me the original 36bhp 1200cc engine was replaced in the early Eighties with a later 40bhp unit with larger barrels and pistons, so it now displaces 1385cc. I used to speak regularly with Betty on the phone when I wanted to know anything about the car, and I've tried to respect her 49 years of ownership ever since.

2023 Canon Street, Winchester on the Ghia's 65th birthday

'The Ghia is a survivor rather than a restoration project. It's not a show car. The fabric is amazing for a 67-year-old, and it has no rust or replacement body panels. Many people would have tried to restore the car back to factory specification, but that would have removed much of the car's - and Betty's - history. There are parts fitted from later Karmann Ghia models but that's how the car has survived when original stock parts were no longer available.'

Naturally, as with any classic's change of owner, John has put his own stamp on the car. 'The engine was rebuilt in early 2008, and in 2009 I added the British-made Shorrock supercharger. The engine now delivers around 65-70bhp. Getting a Shorrock supercharger for an air-cooled Volkswagen is nigh on impossible, but Alejandro Martin, the VW scene supercharger guru, supplied a complete kit in both perfect condition and at an affordable price. I collected it from the Hessisch Oldendorf Vintage VW Show in Germany. Sixteen years later, it's still running smoothly, and this car is the only Karmann Ghia in the world with a Shorrock kit.

'Lowlight' model has lower-set headlights than later cars

'I've also fitted Firestone whitewall cross-ply tyres, replaced the pitted and dented US-spec bumpers with the cleaner-looking European-spec versions, upgraded the lighting, and finished off the one repaint Betty had undertaken in the late Eighties.'

John has shown the Karmann at many events around the south of England and has taken even the car overseas, including to the Le Mans Classic in 2008. 'Generally, I prefer the all-marques shows rather than the Volkswagen-only events.' John and Betty stayed in touch right until her passing in 2023, just two weeks shy of her 98th birthday.

'I sent a copy of a book I'd made in 2012 of Betty's Ghia in England which she kept on her coffee table; there can't be many other stories of owners keeping in touch with their cars for 65 years. For me, getting a one-owner, 50-year-old unrestored Ghia is unique. I'd like to think it was waiting for the right new owner.'

2012 John made Betty a book about the Ghia…

2012 …enjoying its new life in England