# Volkswagen Karmann Ghia (Type 14, coupe and convertible)
Source: https://fullysorted.com/research/models/volkswagen/karmann-ghia
Publisher: Fully Sorted (fullysorted.com), collector car research
Last updated: 2026-10-01

## Key facts
- Make: Volkswagen
- Model: Karmann Ghia
- Generation: Type 14, coupe and convertible
- Factory code: Type 14
- Years: 1955 to 1974
- Body styles: 2-door 2+2 coupe (fixed roof), built at Osnabrück from August 1955, US from 1956, 2-door convertible (padded fabric top), built from 1957, US from 1958
- Engines: 1,192 cc air-cooled flat-4 (1.2-liter), about 30 to 36 hp in the earliest cars depending on the source; 40 hp at 3,900 rpm in US listings from 1960-1961 (Volkswagen's own figure for the 1960 engine is 34 PS, about 33.5 hp); 1.3-liter air-cooled flat-4 with a Solex 30 PICT carburetor, from August 1965 (MA Motorworks) or 1965 (Volkswagen): about 39 hp (40 PS) per Volkswagen; 1.5-liter air-cooled flat-4, from 1966 per Volkswagen and August 1966 per MA Motorworks: about 43 hp (44 PS) per Volkswagen, 53 hp per Dan Jedlicka; 1.6-liter dual-port air-cooled flat-4 with a Solex 34 PICT-3 carburetor, from August 1970: about 49 hp (50 PS) per Volkswagen, 54 hp per MA Motorworks, 60 hp per Dan Jedlicka
- Production notes: No single production total is printed here, because the sources disagree on the numbers and on what is being counted. Volkswagen's own newsroom gives 362,601 Type 14 coupes, built at Osnabrück, and its convertible page gives no count at all. A 2020 anniversary history by Secret Classics, illustrated with Volkswagen images, gives 385,803 coupes and 81,053 convertibles for the Type 14 without saying whether Brazilian cars are inside those figures. Sports Car Market's 2004 auction profile and a conceptcarz lot description both give 283,501 coupes and 80,897 convertibles when Osnabrück production ended in July 1974. Those two figures add up to 364,398, within three cars of the 364,401 that Wikipedia's table lists for coupes alone, labeled Type 14 and 34 together; no source consulted explains the overlap. Wikipedia's text says more than 445,000 were built in Germany, not including the Type 34, and its table sums to 445,238, the same figure the US parts vendor MA Motorworks prints for Germany, alongside 41,600 cars built in Brazil between 1962 and 1975. Dan Jedlicka, writing for a US audience, puts sales at 387,975, and Hagerty says Volkswagen sold more than 400,000. The convertible figures sit closer together: 80,837 (Wikipedia), 80,897 (Sports Car Market) and 81,053 (Secret Classics). Coupe figures range from 283,501 to 385,803, a spread of more than 100,000 cars. No source consulted gives a US import count or a split by model year. Volkswagen says many coupes went to the USA, and Secret Classics says more than half of all production was exported. Wikipedia is treated as a pointer only. A Volkswagen Classic or Karmann archive count by model year, body and plant would settle this, and none was found.

## Summary
The Karmann Ghia Type 14 is a Volkswagen Beetle chassis under an Italian-styled, largely hand-finished Karmann body: a 2+2 coupe built at Osnabrück from August 1955 and a convertible from 1957, sold in the United States from 1956, with the convertible here from 1958, until production stopped in June 1974. It was never quick. Motor Trend's 1961 buyer's guide credited the 40 hp coupe with about 75 mph flat out and priced it at $2,430, with the convertible at $2,695, and called the finish as close to flawless as one can come for the money. Nobody agrees on how many were built. Volkswagen gives 362,601 coupes, a 2020 anniversary history gives 385,803 coupes and 81,053 convertibles, and Sports Car Market gives 283,501 and 80,897, so this page prints no total. The larger Type 34 Razor Edge was never officially sold here. As of September 2026 classic.com puts the average Karmann Ghia at $29,668, and rust, not mechanical wear, decides which cars are worth saving.

## Specifications
- power: Disputed: Volkswagen lists about 33.5 hp (34 PS) for 1960 rising to about 49 hp (50 PS) for 1970; US sources quote 40 hp for 1960-1961, 54 hp (MA Motorworks) or 60 hp (Jedlicka) for the 1.6-liter
- brakes: Drums early; front discs from August 1966 (MA Motorworks) or the 1967 model year (Volkswagen); Jedlicka says 1965
- engine: 1.2-liter, then 1.3-liter, 1.5-liter and 1.6-liter dual-port air-cooled flat-4s over the run
- layout: Rear-engine, rear-wheel drive, air-cooled flat-4, four-wheel independent suspension, rear swing axles early (Motor Trend, 1960) and semi-trailing arms later (Volkswagen)
- torque: Not stated in any source consulted
- us_end: Production halted June 21, 1974 per MA Motorworks; classic.com lists model years 1956 to 1975
- weight: 1,665-1,748 lb for 1960 per Motor Trend; about 1,750 lb per Jedlicka; the convertible about 22 lb heavier than the coupe per Volkswagen
- chassis: Beetle platform with side rails widened for a body about four inches wider; front anti-roll bar from the start; Karmann-built steel body, largely hand-finished
- us_intro: 1956 coupe; convertible from 1958
- top_speed: About 72 mph for the first car (Volkswagen); about 75 mph conservatively for the 40 hp car (Motor Trend, 1961); almost 80 mph per Jedlicka
- dimensions: Wheelbase 94.5 in (2,400 mm), length 163 in (4,140 mm), width 64.2 in (1,631 mm), height 52.2 in (1,326 mm) per Motor Trend, April 1961
- type_34_us: Not officially sold in the US
- acceleration: 0-60 mph in 34.2 seconds for the first US cars per MA Motorworks; no period US timed acceleration figure was found
- fuel_economy: 31.1 mpg on Motor Trend's 1960 run to Palm Springs; 47.38 mpg in the 1959 Mobil Economy Run sports-car class
- transmission: Four-speed manual, fully synchronized from 1960; three-speed semi-automatic offered from 1967 per Volkswagen, 1968 per Jedlicka
- us_list_price: Coupe $2,445 and convertible $2,725 in April 1958; $2,430 and $2,695 in 1960-1961 buyer's guides; coupe $3,475 at the end in 1974. Other figures conflict, see claims
- production_total: Disputed; see productionNotes

## Notable variants
- Type 14 coupe, 1956-1959 US cars: The first Karmann Ghias reached US dealers in 1956, and a US parts-vendor timeline records 34.2 seconds from 0 to 60 mph. Volkswagen raised the headlights and enlarged the front air intakes for 1959. The early low-headlight cars are the ones whose body parts the UK supplier Heritage Parts Centre calls decidedly more tricky to find.
- Type 14 convertible, US from 1958: Built from 1957 and sold here from 1958 at a $300 to $400 premium over the coupe. Motor Trend singled out its padded top in 1961, which left almost no trace of the bows. Collectors pay more for it today, and it is also the body whose floorpans are most exposed to water if the top or its rubbers have leaked.
- 1967 model year, 1.5-liter: Dan Jedlicka calls the 1967 car, with its 1.5-liter engine, arguably the most desirable Ghia because it was the last one unaffected by US safety and emissions rules. Volkswagen dates front disc brakes to 1967, so in the factory's own account it is also the first year with discs.
- 1971-1974 dual-port 1.6-liter cars: The last engine of the run, Type 4 instruments, and from 1971 the large box-shaped bumpers. A 1974 US coupe sold in June 2026 is described with front disc brakes, pop-out rear quarter windows and a rear seat deleted to comply with federal belt rules.
- Type 34 Razor Edge (context only): A bigger, sharper-edged coupe on the Type 3 platform, built 1961 to 1969 and never officially imported to the US. Gray-market cars appear here. classic.com puts the Type 34 average sale at $38,429 as of September 2026.

## History

### Why the Ghia exists

Karmann was already building Beetle convertibles for Volkswagen and wanted more work. Conceptcarz records that Wilhelm Karmann's own sporty coupe designs were ignored in Wolfsburg, as were styling proposals from Ghia's Mario Boano and Luigi Segre, so Karmann went to Ghia directly. Secret Classics says the shape Ghia adapted to the Beetle chassis had been drawn by Virgil Exner for Chrysler; Hagerty says the prototype looked like a scaled-down Chrysler d'Elegance. Heinrich Nordhoff approved it after a presentation in November 1953, and production began in August 1955. Hagerty frames the motive plainly: Volkswagen's image was cheap Bugs and buses, and it needed a halo. One German magazine called the result a parody of a fast car.

### How it was built

The Ghia was a Beetle underneath, with a front anti-roll bar from the start. Dan Jedlicka describes complete Beetle chassis with widened side rails being sent to Karmann, where bodies made from many internal pressings were welded, then filled, filed and sanded by hand before paint. That is why it weighed more than a Beetle, about 120 lb more in Sports Car Market's account and 150 lb in Jedlicka's, and why body repairs have always been expensive.

### America first

The coupe reached US dealers in 1956 and the convertible in 1958, at a $300 to $400 premium. Jedlicka says the convertible was built initially for Americans. Production doubled soon after the US launch, and Secret Classics says more than half of all cars were exported. US cars wore plumber's delight bumper overrider tubes. Volkswagen sold it with candor: one ad dressed a Ghia in racing stripes under the line "You'd lose."

### What the period press said

In May 1960 Motor Trend's editor drove a Ghia to Palm Springs alongside a Renault Caravelle and a Triumph Herald. The Ghia averaged 31.1 mpg over passes above 6,000 feet, and his verdict was that he would take the Herald's running gear, the Caravelle's body and the Ghia's interior. The April 1961 buyer's guide called it a sports-type machine but not a sports car, good for about 75 mph. In August 1972 Car and Driver set a new Ghia convertible against a 1956 Porsche Speedster; Sports Car Market's account says both pulled 0.75 g, but the Ghia wallowed.

### Engines, one at a time

Volkswagen's figures convert to about 33.5 hp (34 PS) in 1960, 39 hp (40 PS) from the 1.3-liter in 1965, 43 hp (44 PS) from the 1.5-liter in 1966 and 49 hp (50 PS) from the dual-port 1.6-liter in 1970. US sources quote more, up to 60 hp, and none states its rating basis. Front disc brakes arrived in August 1966 per MA Motorworks, in 1967 per Volkswagen and in 1965 per Jedlicka. A three-speed semi-automatic followed in 1967 or 1968, depending on the source.

### The end of the run

MA Motorworks dates the last cars to June 21, 1974, with the coupe at $3,475. Its successor was the Scirocco, which Karmann also built and which Jedlicka says needed the floor space. Brazil built 41,600 more from 1962 to 1975. The last US cars show the federal years plainly: a 1974 coupe sold in June 2026 is described with front disc brakes, pop-out rear quarter windows and a rear seat deleted for belt rules.

## What to look for

Start with the metal, because everything else on a Karmann Ghia is cheap by comparison. A UK parts supplier calls rust the biggest killer of these cars and lists the headlamp surrounds, nose, wheel arches, quarter panels, door bottoms, sills, jacking points, floorpans, inner fenders and heater channels. Hagerty adds that the heater channels can rust unseen and that the sills carry the structure, especially on the convertible. On a convertible the floorpans are likely to be rustier, because the top or its rubbers have probably let in water at some point, so the carpet tells more than the paint. Repair sections exist, including the hard-to-shape nose cone, but parts for the earliest low-headlight cars are harder to find. Because the bodies were hand-leaded and hand-finished at the factory, some filler at the seams is original; thick filler over rust on the lower body is not, and a magnet or paint gauge along the sills separates the two. Underneath, Hagerty says play in the engine's bottom pulley points toward a rebuild, and a notchy shift is usually the nylon block in the selector rod. Year matters more than trim. Front disc brakes are dated to 1965, August 1966 or 1967 depending on the source, so the calipers matter more than the title, and Jedlicka calls the 1967 1.5-liter car the last unaffected by US safety and emissions rules. A 1974 US car with no usable rear seat is original, deleted for federal belt rules. A dual-port 1.6-liter in a car titled before 1970 is a swap, and US cars should carry the overrider bumpers.

## Common problems

The sources agree on one problem and treat the rest as minor. Rust is the one: Heritage Parts Centre says the dreaded tin worm seems particularly partial to the Karmann's metalwork, and Hagerty says the heater channels can rust unseen. Sports Car Market's review of a 1964 coupe praised a car for its total lack of rust, rot or previous repair, which says how unusual that is. Convertibles are worse, because their floorpans see more water. The body itself is the cost driver: Jedlicka notes that the hand-welded construction made panel replacement expensive from new, and the UK supplier warns against thick filler as the cheap fix. Mechanically the picture is gentle. Hagerty names bottom pulley play as the engine warning sign and a worn nylon block in the selector rod as the usual cause of a stiff shift, and Motor Trend in 1960 called the engine durable and seldom in need of an overhaul. Parts are easy: Hagerty says almost all are available. NHTSA's recall database returns no campaign filed under the Karmann Ghia name for the 1966 through 1974 model years, and its Volkswagen recall indexes list only the Beetle for 1970 and the Type III for 1972. Early campaigns were filed loosely by model name, so that is an absence of records, not proof that no Ghia was ever covered. No source consulted gives a US dollar cost for rust repair.

## Market notes

As of September 2026 classic.com lists the average price of a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia at $29,668, a market benchmark of $46,000 and 25 cars for sale. Its lowest recorded sale is $3,000 for a 1968 convertible on July 21, 2025, condition not stated. US auction results gathered on conceptcarz show what the better 1970 cars bring: a coupe at $34,100 and a convertible at $44,000 at Mecum Kissimmee in 2025, and a convertible at $25,300 at Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach in 2024; the page does not say whether those figures include buyer's premium. At the other end, a 1974 coupe with 63,750 miles (true mileage unknown) sold on Hagerty's marketplace on June 15, 2026 for $7,750 after 9 bids, with bubbling paint on the left front fender, a cracked dashboard and recent brake work. Older results show the climb: a restored 1970 convertible made $12,650 including buyer's premium at RM's Monterey sale in August 2004, and another brought $13,200 including premium at RM's Amelia Island sale in 2009. Hagerty reported in July 2019 that coupes were worth about 28 percent less than convertibles, and the 2024-2025 convertible results above sit well above the coupe results of the same period. The Type 34 Razor Edge, never officially sold here, averages $38,429 on classic.com with a lowest recorded sale of $23,050 on August 18, 2022, as of September 2026.

## Value trajectory

New, a US coupe cost $2,445 in April 1958 and $2,430 in 1960 and 1961, so the price actually fell slightly before rising to $3,475 by the end in 1974. Collector values were low for decades: a restored 1970 convertible made $12,650 with premium at Monterey in 2004 and a 1964 coupe with 1,900 miles brought $8,247 at Retromobile in Paris in 2003. Hagerty recorded an 80 percent spike in condition 2 values in 2015, in the middle of the air-cooled Porsche boom, then about 4 percent growth to July 2019, mostly in top convertibles. By 2025 a 1970 convertible had made $44,000 at Mecum Kissimmee. As of September 2026 classic.com's average is $29,668, roughly nine times the 1974 sticker, with a $46,000 benchmark well above the average, which implies a long tail of cheaper cars. The spread is condition and body more than year: $3,000 for a 1968 convertible in July 2025 and $7,750 for a running 1974 coupe in June 2026 sit against a $44,000 convertible. classic.com does not split coupe and convertible values on the pages retrieved, so the convertible premium rests on Hagerty's 2019 figure and the auction results, not a current measured gap.

## Sources

- [Karmann Ghia Typ 14 Coupé (1955-1974)](https://volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/karmann-ghia-typ-14-coupe-19551974-19630) (Volkswagen Newsroom)
- [Karmann Ghia Typ 14 Cabriolet (1957-1974)](https://volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/karmann-ghia-typ-14-cabriolet-19571974-19633) (Volkswagen Newsroom)
- [65 Years of Volkswagen Karmann Ghia](https://secret-classics.com/en/65-years-of-volkswagen-karmann-ghia) (Secret Classics)
- [Volkswagen Karmann Ghia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Karmann_Ghia) (Wikipedia)
- [Happy Anniversary: The Evolution of the Karmann Ghia](https://www.mamotorworks.com/vw/knowledgelibrary/general/Happy-Anniversary-The-Evolution-of-the-Karmann-Ghia) (MA Motorworks)
- [VW Ghia Year Changes](https://mamotorworks.com/production/website/vw/newsletterarchive/VWGhiaYearChanges.pdf) (MA Motorworks)
- [1956-74 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia](https://www.danjedlicka.com/classic_cars/karmann_ghia.html) (Dan Jedlicka)
- [VW Karmann Ghia: The German car with the sexy Italian shape](https://hagerty.com/media/?p=6288) (Hagerty Media)
- [Motor Trend, April 1958 (import price list)](https://archive.org/download/sim_motor-trend_1958-04_10_4/sim_motor-trend_1958-04_10_4_djvu.txt) (Motor Trend)
- [Motor Trend, May 1960 (Karmann-Ghia, Renault Caravelle and Triumph Herald drive)](https://archive.org/download/sim_motor-trend_1960-05_12_5/sim_motor-trend_1960-05_12_5_djvu.txt) (Motor Trend)
- [Motor Trend, April 1961 (imported car buyer's guide)](https://archive.org/download/sim_motor-trend_1961-04_13_4/sim_motor-trend_1961-04_13_4_djvu.txt) (Motor Trend)
- [Car and Driver, May 1961 (buyer's guide tables)](https://archive.org/download/sim_car-and-driver_1961-05_6/sim_car-and-driver_1961-05_6_djvu.txt) (Car and Driver)
- [Motor Trend, January 1960 (1959 Mobil Economy Run results)](https://archive.org/download/sim_motor-trend_1960-01_12_1/sim_motor-trend_1960-01_12_1_djvu.txt) (Motor Trend)
- [50 years ago in America - cars for sale](https://www.zwischengas.com/en/blog/2012/08/05/Vor-50-Jahren-in-Amerika-Autos-zu-verkaufen.html) (Zwischengas)
- [1970 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Convertible](https://www.sportscarmarket.com/?p=1466) (Sports Car Market)
- [1970 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia Convertible Coupe, chassis 1402103869](https://www.conceptcarz.com/profile/7212,8198/news.aspx) (conceptcarz)
- [Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Market, classic.com](https://www.classic.com/m/volkswagen/karmann-ghia/) (classic.com)
- [Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 34 Market, classic.com](https://www.classic.com/m/volkswagen/karmann-ghia/type-34/) (classic.com)
- [1974 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, Hagerty Marketplace auction](https://www.hagerty.com/marketplace/auction/1974-volkswagen-karmann-ghia/0674c90d-d146-4f5b-bcdb-4c46346d8dfa) (Hagerty Marketplace)
- [1964 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia, Sports Car Market review](https://www.sportscarmarket.com/?p=1310) (Sports Car Market)
- [Buyer's Guide: Volkswagen Karmann Ghia 1955-1974](https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/buying-guide-volkswagen-karmann-ghia-1955-1974/) (Hagerty)
- [Karmann Ghia buying guide, Heritage Parts Centre](https://blog.heritagepartscentre.com/blog/?p=8166) (Heritage Parts Centre)
- [NHTSA recall model index: Volkswagen, 1972](https://api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/models?modelYear=1972&make=volkswagen&issueType=r) (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
- [NHTSA recall model index: Volkswagen, 1970](https://api.nhtsa.gov/products/vehicle/models?modelYear=1970&make=volkswagen&issueType=r) (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

Cite as: Fully Sorted, "Volkswagen Karmann Ghia (Type 14, coupe and convertible)", https://fullysorted.com/research/models/volkswagen/karmann-ghia, updated 2026-10-01.