Tragedy Strikes

After church Sunday (25 Mar 12), I decided to go out to my vacant acreage out in Newton Twp. to do some measuring and rough staking. I decided to take Angel Eyes with me -- he needs to learn to become a country dog. It was a nice day, so we took the convertible.

We're going east on B Drive South, about 50 mph, between 9 and 10 mile roads, in front of a couple on a Harley. We came over a slight rise in the road and all of a sudden saw a half dozen wild turkeys in the road. 5 of them made it. I thought the 6th would too, but I guess not. I slowed as much as I could, but didn't want to panic stop with the Harley behind me.

I'm OK. So is Angel Eyes, who unlike me, was NOT wearing glasses. He seemed a little confused. Glass shards all over the front seat. We had to go almost a half mile to find a safe place to pull over. The Harley couple stopped and made sure we were OK. I'm glad I was in the lead as the Harley man said that big bird would've surely wiped them out --

We turned around and came home... slowly. I got almost the whole 11 miles back and within 1/2 mile of home, saw a cop. I was sure he was gonna stop me, but I guess he must've seen the feathers in the windshield wiper.

 

 

My insurance will waive the deductible on glass damage.  Just need to get parts; should be about a week!

The Type 34 is still in the paint shop and the Type 14 coupe needs a T/S switch. 

3 Ghias and they're all off the road now.

BTW... there's another '69 coupe I've got my eyes on....

Art
(O = | = O)
'67 343 Ghia Coupe
'69 Ghia Coupe
'72 Ghia Convertible
RIP:
'60 Ghia Coupe
'66 Ghia Coupe
'68 113 Sedan
'71 Ghia Coupe
'74 Ghia Coupe
"Always looking for NICE '71 Ghias and that elusive "345"

Work starts tmw on the 343!

Chris will pick me up at 08:00 tmw morning and we're off to the body shop supply store to get materials.  Then we start stripping the car of chrome, rubber and glass!!

Very excited!  Watch for pictures!

Art
(O = | = O)
'67 343 Ghia Coupe
'69 Ghia Coupe
'72 Ghia Convertible
RIP:
'60 Ghia Coupe
'66 Ghia Coupe
'68 113 Sedan
'71 Ghia Coupe
'74 Ghia Coupe
"Always looking for NICE '71 Ghias and that elusive "345"

1966 Page updates

In going through Dad’s old papers recently (Dad died last year) I actually found the RD-108 (Michigan’s Dealer Invoice form) for my ’66 Ghia.  Dad was a child of the Depression and NEVER threw anything away!

I’ve updated the page now with the correct serial number and I’ve changed the dealer’s name in the text from Nichols’ VW to Bushouse Motors, Inc. 

I thought we bought the car just before Nichols sold to Bushouse, but apparently it was right after, as the RD-108 had Nichols manually crossed out and Bushouse written in.  A safe bet would probably be the change of ownership occurred on/about 1 Jan 67.

I will try to get an image of the RD-108 loaded later.

Art
(O = | = O)
'67 343 Ghia Coupe
'69 Ghia Coupe
'72 Ghia Convertible
RIP:
'60 Ghia Coupe
'66 Ghia Coupe
'68 113 Sedan
'71 Ghia Coupe
'74 Ghia Coupe
"Always looking for NICE '71 Ghias and that elusive "345"

343 in for paint!

Took the Type 34 down to neighbor Chris Coffey's house yesterday (6 January 2012).  Chris is a certified body man and is going to return the 34 to it's original Lotus White this winter.  He's going to allow me to help for no additional cost!  Very excited to start this project!

I will be ordering all new window rubber and hopefully, the new windshield I've ordered will arrive by late February as promised!

Also trying to get my own garage cleaned out enough to the point that I can get the '69 143 inside to replace the t/s switch (that broke right after I bought it!).  With all the clutter from my dad's estate, this might be impossible!  Might just give up and drag the thing up to German Auto Service in Grand Rapids, and let them do it (and a couple of other minor fixes).

Sure will be nice to get that new house built and the 4-car garage out back this summer!!  Can't wait!

Art
(O = | = O)
'67 343 Ghia Coupe
'69 Ghia Coupe
'72 Ghia Convertible
RIP:
'60 Ghia Coupe
'66 Ghia Coupe
'68 113 Sedan
'71 Ghia Coupe
'74 Ghia Coupe
"Always looking for NICE '71 Ghias and that elusive "345"

Ooops! I did it again....

Agreed to buy a '69 type I coupe from a man in Montgomery, AL the other day.

Wired the money to escrow.com and trying to get ahold of the shipper w/o much success so far. Looks like I might have to find a new shipper to work with.  Hope to have it here in a week or so.

She's Cypress Green, not the color I really wanted, but seems to be in very nice condition:  A hole under one corner of the battery and a few rust bubbles along the lower edge of the rear deck lid.  Both easy fixes this winter.
Most of this winter's work will be on the new 343, but I should find time to squeeze this one in as well.  If not, it can wait 'til next spring when hopefully the 343 will be back to it's original Lotus White with a new windshield, and new rubber throughout!

So, I now have a "full set": 141 convertible, 143 coupe and the very rare type 3 Ghia.

My miserable little life is just a little more tolerable today!

Best to all...

Art
(O = | = O)
'67 343 Ghia Coupe
'69 Ghia Coupe
'72 Ghia Convertible
RIP:
'60 Ghia Coupe
'66 Ghia Coupe
'68 113 Sedan
'71 Ghia Coupe
'74 Ghia Coupe
"Always looking for NICE '71 Ghias and that elusive "345"

'67 343 Coupe arrived this morning!

...Rick, the driver called last night and we agreed for delivery about 8 am this morning.

Here's a YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGabDxyf4AY



God bless to all..

Art
(O = | = O)
'67 343 Ghia Coupe
'72 Ghia Convertible
RIP:
'60 Ghia Coupe
'66 Ghia Coupe
'68 113 Sedan
'71 Ghia Coupe
'74 Ghia Coupe
"Always looking for NICE '71 Ghias and that elusive "345"

Newest addition: 1967 343 coupe

Hey gang;

I just pulled the trigger on the rarest of all Karmann Ghias.... a type III. Based on the Type III (Fastback/Squareback) chassis, the Type 3 Ghia was the most expensive air-cooled VW at the time, and never officially imported into the USA (Canada was the closest they came).

Whereas Type 1 Ghias numbered well over 500,000 in 20 years of production, Type 3s only numbered about 42,000 from 1962 to 1969.

It's NOT the LHD sunroofed coupe that I really wanted (model 345); this one is a '67 343 standard LHD coupe with a 1600 dual port and dual carbs (which I prefer over the later fuel injection models).

Just sent the seller a deposit via Paypal, and will arrange shipping and balance at PNC bank tmw. It's in south Florida.

Some minor front end damage (but NOT the nose), a slightly cracked windshield and a little rust on one rocker, but overall a very SOLID, strong running car. Won't take much to get this one in shape.

ALMOST better than sex.... I hope all you other Ghia guys (and gals) are sufficiently jealous tonight....


God bless to all..

Art
(O = | = O)
'67 343 Ghia Coupe
'72 Ghia Convertible
RIP:
'60 Ghia Coupe
'66 Ghia Coupe
'68 113 Sedan
'71 Ghia Coupe
'74 Ghia Coupe
"Always looking for NICE '71 Ghias and that elusive "345"



http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1155657

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZzzIpuIO0k