If you like to let it all hang out then you'll love today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe VW Karmann Ghia. Its price however, might just leave this crazy custom hanging.
How would you like to be the guy that puts the stink in propane? You know they add that rotten egg smell to the otherwise odorless gas as a safety measure, right? It's safe to say that 70% of you thought there was something rotten with the price of yesterday's propane-powered 1990 Audi 200 Quattro Avant, and it went down in a stinkin' Crack Pipe loss.
Did you ever question the decisions Dr. Frankenstein made in the creation of his monster? I mean, giving him a flat top, neck bolts, and green skin? No wonder he threw kids down wells. I think you might have similar convictions regarding the decisions made in the creation of today's wild custom 1970 Karmann Ghia. Then again, maybe you have a fetish for backward-facing mills.
Volkswagen introduced the Type 14 Karmann Ghia in 1955 as a response to the profusion of Beetle-based one-off sporty cars built by the likes of Rometsch, Dannenhauer & Stauss, Drews, Denzel, Beutler, Wendler, and Hebmuller. VW president at the time, Heintz Nordoff, cut off the supply of Beetle platforms to these coach builders and brought to market the Karmann Ghia in their place.
Throughout its life, the Karmann Ghia was powered by VW's air-cooled flat four, but that wasn't good enough for the builder of this custom edition. Or, maybe he just happened to have a spare Pinto four just laying around.
Yep, that's right, this Ghia is now Pinto powered much like the sand rail of yore, Pinto Beans. The 2.3-litre SOHC four sits bass-akwards in the open air just ahead of a big-ass radiator and massive black-painted protective grille.
I'm going to suggest that, much like raw oysters and David Hasselhoff's musical career, this modification is an acquired taste. Other individualistic changes include yet another black grille in front - in lieu of a bumper, cut-down A-pillars, Porsche Pedrinis, and fully kitted out interior and trunk.
The quality of the work looks to be impeccable, appearing to be show-car caliber. Considering that it lacks a lid for either engine or tonneau'd passenger compartment, car shows might be a primary venue for the car, as it's wholly impractical for pretty much anything else.
Customizations of this sort are always such a intimate statement of the builder's own personal vision that oftentimes, when needed to sell for one reason or another, it's difficult to find a buyer who shares that eclectic view. That's a likely case here, and we're going to decide if this custom VW's current owner has issues with his price, as well.
That ad asks $18,000 for this Custom Karmann Ghia, which would be a righteous amount were it an early and completely stock edition. Of course this one is so far from stock it'll never find its way home again, and that obviously will impact its value. What do you think about this Pinto-packing Vee Dub for $18,000? Is that a price that should have it car-showing up in a new owner's driveway soon? Or, is that too much dinero for so daring a custom?
You decide!
Indianapolis Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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