Jubiläumstreffen 50 Jahre Karmann Ghia, History

History

On the 14th of July 1955 the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia was presented to the public. Members of the media and business were invited to the Kasino in Georgsmarienhütte, which is close to the Karmann factory in Osnabrück.

50 years on, Karmann Ghia friends around the world are invited to take part in these jubilee celebrations at the historical location, invited by the big Karmann Ghia clubs of Germany with the support of numerous sponsors and helpers.

Once upon a time...

Germany in the early fifties; after the second world war, the economy slowly recovered and cars were no longer just a means of transport. Some small manufacturers were able to offer beautiful coachwork instead of normal VW production line models (e.g. Rometsch, Dannenhauer & Strauss, ...).

Karmann, established in 1901, already had close contacts with Volkswagen through the production of the VW beetle cabriolet - but also with many other renowned car manufacturers. The founder's (1871-1952) son Wilhelm Karmann (1914-1998) approached Volkswagen boss Heinz Nordhoff (1899-1968) in 1950 with the idea of a sports car, based on the beetle. Nordhoff rejected the plan to start with, but Wilhelm Karmann was not easily deterred

The change of heart was achieved through contact with Luigi Segre (1919-1963) of the Carrozzeria Ghia of Turin (today only a design section within the Ford concern). The company Ghia had already bodied many notable sports cars. In 1953 Segre presented the first prototype to Karmann, and although Karmann traditionally preferred the cabriolet, Segre developed a pretty coupe.

Mario Boano, his son Gian Paolo Boano and Sergio Coggiolam of Ghia worked on the design of the car. Various myths and puzzles surround the design, names like Chrysler and Virgil Exner are mentioned. But this cannot be clarified in detail today, as all participants are now dead.

VW boss Nordhoff gave the green light for the Karmann plans in November 1953 - secrecy surrounded the approval of production.

In the summer of 1955 the Karmann was presented to the public and production commenced.

Production of this pretty and successful car came to an end in 1974. It was hopelessly inferior as a sports-car, or even as sporty family car, in comparison for example to the BMW, with its 50 PS and basic mechanical design. VW reached a dead end with their rear engined designs, and solved the problem in 1973 with the introduction of the Passat and Scirocco (at Karmann) and in 1974 the Golf. Many more Volkswagens have been produced at Karmann to date. Earlier Ford bought Ghia, which meant an end to the VW Karmann Ghia production.