The loveable Beetle needs no introduction, but the Karmann name probably isn’t quite so familiar to most.
Karmann were a German coach building company formed in 1901, which in 1935 was asked by Ferdinand Porsche, designer of the Volkswagen, to develop a convertible version of “The Peoples Car “.
Of course, the Second World War got in the way but post war, the Karmann company presented their design ideas and subsequently received an order to produce 1,000 Mark 1 Beetle convertibles.
These were very successful, and a partnership was formed to continue production at Karmanns works in Osnabruck Germany.
Over two million examples were produced and sold worldwide until convertible production ceased in 1979.
Born in 1978, this Beetle is from towards the end of convertible production.
First registered in California we believe; little is known of its early life although with the car is a copy of a 1984 Californian registration document registration document.
Brought over from the US and registered in the UK in September 1991, the current owner bought it in Newcastle from the chap who imported it & only a month after registration.
Mostly used over the summer months, it’s stared at a number of family & friends weddings and been used for local trips around the dales, with the odd car meet thrown in over the years.
There’s a current V5c in the vendor’s name, an old Californian registration document from 1984, some US receipts from the mid ‘80s & copies of most MoTs since UK registration.
There are also a few receipts for bits and bobs under the current ownership, but most works since 1991 have been just routine servicing items.
As can be seen from the photos, the interior of this car has been well looked after and kept original.
Replacement door cards were fitted many years ago as were replacements for the faulty seatbelts (originals avail ).
A faulty speedo showing approx. 40,000 miles was replaced with a second-hand one showing 14,900 , again many years ago and this now reads 26,000 approx. Mileage is therefore roughly 51,000 miles in total.
Apart from these items, pretty much nothing else has been changed since purchase & would appear to be as it came out of the Karmann factory.
I might add that carpets & seats are in very good, clean condition and that overall, the interior is excellent.
We believe this Beetle started out as sandy yellow but was re-sprayed white at sometime before purchase by the vendor.
It was professionally re-sprayed approx. 5 years ago and does look particularly good. Any body faults were addressed before spraying and the chrome work, which was very sound at the time, has just been polished up.
All rubber items, window surrounds, door seals etc were replaced. The manual hood goes up and down easily and looks to be in really good overall condition.
Well, it’s a ‘70s Volkswagen Karmann Convertible so there’s not really much else to say.
Loved the world over for it’s design, charm and that beautiful smiling face, and being towards the last of the line, it has the updated fuel injected 1600cc engine making it more than capable of keeping up with modern traffic.
What’s not to like about Herbies topless cousin.
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1978 Volkswagen Beetle Karmann Convertible (LHD)
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