Model years '56-'60

[cruiser]

Dave!

Wonderful to hear from you again and to gain even further knowledge and insight into the early years of vehicle production from the Karmann factory. Wonderful information and thank you for this entry!

I've always enjoyed reading your contributions throughout the years here in the Ghia forums.

[Loren]

Great contribution Dave, very concise. Hope you and the family are well and glad to see you back on the Samba.

[Lind]

My main point is that model years did exist for every year of Karmann Ghia production. I looked for more than a decade to find the documentation showing it. VW didn't care too much about it, that was marketing and making people feel like they had a newer car. For service and parts, VW always used the VIN number. VW didn't seem to care much about the model year or they would have documented it more back in the day. It was just a silly thing that was used to sell cars in America.

Most of us are car nerds that are passionate about the history and authenticity of our cars, so we do things and define things differently than VW ever intended.

Whenever your car was produced, it is necessary to know more than just the model year for it, and to not believe the model year of the registration documents, but verify for yourself when the car was produced. And call it whatever the hell you like.....
_________________
.
Wanted:
Idaho VW license plate frames or other dealership items.
VWoA literature and early dealership or distributor literature/pictures/information
.

[otahuhu]

I've got to disagree Lind, the fact that salesman's booklet that you've used to illustrate the model years, is dated 1960 just confirms that there were none until 1960ish. I've also looked through all the old VW Bulletins, Workshop Manuals, Parts Manuals and Owners Manuals. There's no mention of model years in any of the official VW documentation of the time until 59-60, prior to then in all the official literature its always just chassis numbers and days, months and years.

These bulletins are typical of the introduction of changes or new models no mention of "for the model year 1956"...

For what its worth My 55 your old 55 with late oct chassis nov build date is written up as 1955 on the birth cert no mention of a 56


Braukuche
"since the 55-early 57 cars had very little apparent changes."
I've had the nov 55 and oct 56 cars next to each other for a few years now and noticed over 50 differences some small but some significant from body to bumpers, exterior and interior trim and upholstery, rubber matts, rubber seals, doors and door glass to engine. Many many changes occurred incrementally often with little or no fanfare.

[Braukuche]

[otahuhu]

x100 That would be very handy for people trying to keep them original for all the years of ghias. It would be a great reference thread.

I would also love to see a copy of the "Attention all service stations" Coupe Karman Ghia i've got originals of the bus and bug versions but i've never seen a 55 ghia version, though I understand they do exist.

[udo dreisoerner]

I am absolutely in favor of holding a lowlight specialist meeting at the lowlights with the different details. together we could see the differences in the cars, get to know each other and deepen friendships. what do you think of this idea?
_________________
Searching for a 1956 lowlight karmann ghia with a VIN number between1273054 and 1273440, and the matching engine with an Engine Number between
1525510 and 1525519 PLEASE OFFER ME ONLY THE CARS THAT I'M LOOKING FOR, THANKS!!

[udo dreisoerner]

there is one more thought regarding different parts that were changed during production. the success of the Karmann Ghia was greater than expected right from the start. there is the possibility that other companies were then commissioned to manufacture these parts for certain parts. these parts could then be different in small details. we don't know if, for example, all the door handles were always made by hooves. I also don't think that all headlight glasses were marked with VW. just like the model year topic, it's all conjecture. my attempts to view the documents of the Karmann company at Volkswagen have been rejected several times. the documents have been waiting to be archived since 2009. as long as this has not happened, all documents remain under lock and key. unfortunately. I fear that at some point it will be too late for us Karmann Ghia lovers to see the documents.
_________________
Searching for a 1956 lowlight karmann ghia with a VIN number between1273054 and 1273440, and the matching engine with an Engine Number between
1525510 and 1525519 PLEASE OFFER ME ONLY THE CARS THAT I'M LOOKING FOR, THANKS!!

[Lind]

I am fine with people calling cars whatever year they like. I presented my evidence, interpret it however you like. I believe that model years were only a marketing thing. Volkswagenwerk in Germany printed the salesman's manual for a reason, they didn't state the reason, but I am confident that it wasn't to give us something to argue about 70 years down the road, (although that would be devious and funny). We can all agree that model years didn't exist in 1954 and did exist in 1965.

Volkswagen, and Karmann changed things whenever they damn well pleased. It seems to me like they changed things for ease of production or technical improvements as soon as possible, and visual changes usually happened at the beginning of August. That could be either because of the July holiday that slowed production for that month, or model years, or both, or some other reason.

It is pretty cool figuring out all these changes, and how the product evolved. I have owned half a dozen Ghias built in 1955 and 1956, and every one was different, but they all look pretty much the same unless you look really close.
_________________
.
Wanted:
Idaho VW license plate frames or other dealership items.
VWoA literature and early dealership or distributor literature/pictures/information
.

[udo dreisoerner]

I find the discussion very exciting and don't see it as a dispute, but as an enrichment of our knowledge. it would be a very good thing to collect our knowledge here in one entry. a low light Wikipedia. I'm trying to get more information about the model year here in Germany.
_________________
Searching for a 1956 lowlight karmann ghia with a VIN number between1273054 and 1273440, and the matching engine with an Engine Number between
1525510 and 1525519 PLEASE OFFER ME ONLY THE CARS THAT I'M LOOKING FOR, THANKS!!

[otahuhu]

Totally agree, as I mentioned to Lind, the important thing is to get to the facts. It's the documented facts/details that make forum's like this so useful and the discovery entertaining.

Udo, I too think a factual and well documented breakdown of the details of Ghia models would be a great resource for anyone interested and godsend to anyone restoring or working on them. There's alot of valuable info online and in the workshop manuals etc but it's amazing what isn't yet documented. Unfortunately there's also alot of undocumented BS that gets picked up in forums and touted as gospel, when in reality it just wastes time and resources.

I'd be happy to contribute where I can with documented examples. Clearly no one understands the nuances of day/month/year specific details than the owners who can literally put their finger on them.

[udo dreisoerner]

I'm looking for an answer in Germany although I'm on vacation at the moment. I am very interested in what the answer to this topic might be. the following thought keeps going through my head: the salespeople were required to use the model year as a sales argument. VW itself also planned according to model years. The workshops then had to use the chassis number as a guide within the model years in order to use the correct parts. but even that was not so easy for the workshops. I remember a book that said about 1956 that the plates for the rear drum brakes were rotated 180° on each side and then a little later the plates were mounted from the right side to the left side. it was in the book that many workshops simply ordered all the parts so that the right part was there.

I now believe that the Karmann had model years from the start. but it may not have been as important then as we would like it to be now. I'll be back home in a week and can then ask more intensively.. I asked the question about the model year in two German forums and am waiting for an answer
_________________
Searching for a 1956 lowlight karmann ghia with a VIN number between1273054 and 1273440, and the matching engine with an Engine Number between
1525510 and 1525519 PLEASE OFFER ME ONLY THE CARS THAT I'M LOOKING FOR, THANKS!!

[Lind]

[Braukuche]

We were talking about the ‘55 bus conundrum at the shop and it makes sense what they did. Even the most clueless customer would have been able to see the difference between a clunky old Barndoor design and the new and improved post Barndoor design, so it would be pretty confusing if both were called ‘55 model year buses, but there must have been some deep discounts to get rid of the late production barndoors in ‘55 still sitting on the dealer lot when the new buses were rolled out.
Once can imagine the same dilemma with Ghias. If you ordered a Ghia in July ‘56 but didn’t get it until Sept ‘56 and there were new model year 57 Beetles on the lot you sure wouldn’t want to be paying more for “last years” model Ghia.
_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now

[udo dreisoerner]

It's a little hard to explain now, but I'll try. There is an association in Germany called the Brezelfenstervereinigung. You can only be a member of this association if you have your very old Volkswagen. pretzel window or split window. oval and special bodies. there are 4 club booklets per year and the last one is always a riddle in which you have to answer questions about the early Volkswagens and you can win prizes. I didn't read the last issue completely and the riddle is always very difficult. I asked a colleague my question about the model year and he drew my attention to the riddle. the question was: when was the model year system introduced and what was the shortest model year for the obal window. The correct answer was that the system was introduced in the 1955 model year and the shortest model year for the oval window lasted 7 months. thus lind's document is correct. I will try to get original documents. perhaps the Karmann Ghia was crucial for the new system model year
_________________
Searching for a 1956 lowlight karmann ghia with a VIN number between1273054 and 1273440, and the matching engine with an Engine Number between
1525510 and 1525519 PLEASE OFFER ME ONLY THE CARS THAT I'M LOOKING FOR, THANKS!!

[Lind]

[udo dreisoerner]

Arround 61% of all im Germany produced Ghias was shipped top USA


I think it is well known that the changes in terms of color, equipment or model year always came after the summer holidays in Germany. karmann used the summer holidays to convert production in the factory to the new versions. hence the period august and september
_________________
Searching for a 1956 lowlight karmann ghia with a VIN number between1273054 and 1273440, and the matching engine with an Engine Number between
1525510 and 1525519 PLEASE OFFER ME ONLY THE CARS THAT I'M LOOKING FOR, THANKS!!

[RockStock]

So Lind, I should really be calling my Feb 55 Barndoor a ‘54…
———
It winds me up when an owner calls their ‘new model’ 1960 Ghia a ‘59…
No, your car is a ‘60! It’s not a Lowlight!
_________________
-StockRocks-

[obus]

[Braukuche]