My fifth Ghia – and my FIRST 141
COLOR: L 50 E (16) Adriatic Blue (nee L 60 E (15) Irish Green)
VIN: 1422692360
ENGINE: 1584cc dual port, 60hp
PURCHASED: 29 June 2010
FROM: Larry & Carolyn Carlson, Mulberry, IN
SOLD:
TO:
The car my “soon-to-be ex-wife” always wanted.
Pam never really liked the ’74 Yellow Coupe that Andy and I had shared. She never liked going to car shows or club events either. One night, about six months before she left, we were sitting on the sofa watching a DVD of the Quentin Tarentino film “Kill Bill Vol. 2”. During the last half of the movie, Uma Thurman’s character “Beatrix Kiddo” drives a light blue Karmann Ghia convertible.
As I’m sitting on the sofa, rubbing Pam’s feet while she knits, Uma makes her first appearance on the screen behind the wheel of this slightly modified Ghia. Pam points at the TV and says: “THAT’S the one I want!!”
Fast forward those six months or so to 28 February 2010: Pam rises in the wee hours of the morning, showers and dresses in the dark, packs her clothes and loads the car. She comes back into the bedroom at 7 am, shakes me awake with her coat on and keys in hand and says: “I’m leaving! I want the Buick, the $500 in checking, my clothes and my personal possessions. You can have everything else.” and with that, she left – just 19 days short of 28 years.
No warning, no apology, no explanation! I didn't eat for three days (eventually losing 75+ lbs) and I cried every day for 8 weeks. The 9th week, I got over it. By the 17th week, I bought the car she said she'd always wanted. At first I thought it would be nice to share it with her if she ever came home. Now I know that will never happen.
Now, my “ideal” cars would be a pair of ’71s: a coupe in a light blue reminiscent of my ’66 and an Irish Green with a tan interior convertible. I had seen this scheme on a near showroom-condition Ghia convertible running down the road some 10 years earlier and fell in love with it – that car was a big part of my desire to get another Ghia. So, in search of these two Ghias, I look on the Samba, eBay and Craigslist from time to time.
When I’m on Craigslist, I start here in Battle Creek and enter “Karmann Ghia” in the search box, and press “enter”. Usually nothing interesting comes up, so I change to Detroit Craigslist and repeat the search. Then on to Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, etc., skipping to major towns a couple hundred miles apart until I’ve covered as far as I’m willing to drive.
Towards the end of June, 2010, I’m doing this Midwest search one evening when I get to Indianapolis and this car pops up.
It was fully restored, only $6,800 and I didn’t have to drive to California to get it! I contacted the seller that evening and said that if it was everything it appeared to be from the ad, to consider it sold!
After an e-mail exchange or two, we made contact on the phone. They were in a small town near Lafayette, NW of Indianapolis, off of I-65. I asked if they would be willing to meet me in Michigan City and she said “no”, but she then suggested Fort Wayne! I located a PNC bank branch in a small town just south of Fort Wayne and we agreed to meet there the following Tuesday morning at 10am.
The sellers were Larry and Carolyn Carlson, a retired couple with too many toys. I told them the story of Uma in the movie and Pam leaving four months earlier. I also told them that I would’ve bought the car regardless of color and that in fact, my 1st choice would have been the Irish Green/tan combination that I’d always loved. Carolyn told me to look under the dash. Yes, it’s original color was Irish Green!
I had wondered how an Adriatic Blue car had come equipped with a tan interior when it should have had the charcoal interior – this explained it! If I keep it long enough to require another repaint, it will more than likely return to it’s original Irish Green.
The after-market radio and gas gauge did not work when I first brought this one home. In diagnosing these electrical issues, I eventually discovered that the replacement battery was not an exact match and that the poles were reversed and not marked well and the battery was actually installed BACKWARDS in error!
When I corrected this problem, the gas gauge came back to life (although highly inaccurate) and the Brake Warning and Generator lights burned continuously. It would also not hold a charge very well! The radio had to be replaced. I am seriously considering a whole new wiring harness too.
The warning lights burned out after a couple of days and I will replace them when I get these issues properly diagnosed and fixed, but I am still very happy with the car overall.
