shadow993

Does anybody have experience with these? Since any 911 is out of price range for my sons first car, I thought about building up a Karmin Ghia.

Can you get them to handle ? Can you build the power and keep it reliable ??

Thank you in advance .

goofballdeluxe

Not to hate, but a tin can with no airbags, scant safety features and a car that will always be on the losing side of any accident in today's texting society wouldn't be my choice for my son's first car.

Unless, of course, your son is in his 30s and this will be his weekend car

That said, sure, you can throw a suspension on there and hot rod a 1776cc to give power. They weigh nothing, so a little power goes a long way.

But the teen-age texting girl in her SUV vs. your kid in the tin bucket is a rough match, and the chances of any teen being involved in some sort of car wreck in the first few years of driving are close to 100%.

Anyway, good luck to you and your son. At least his Dad has good taste in cars

shadow993

Did my wife talk to you?!?!?

Thanks.

ble2011

Not unless it had this in the back of it.

shadow993

Perfect sleeper!!!

saneproductions

My first car was a 68 bug that my dad built the motor for on the coffee table in our living room. While my mom was not too pleased about the motor in the living room, I will remember helping with it my whole life. This is the car that got me into air cooled and and eventually led me to Porsche. It was a 1641 dual port with hemi cut heads and dual Kadron carbs and it made plenty of power for a 16 year old. I remember learning to drive a stick in the ice with those original tires with 3 wavy lines for tred. I remember sliding sideways and learning car control. I remember getting 4 wheel air on a farm road hitting an irrigation ditch bridge with the speedo pegged. I am so happy that I got to have these experiences and wouldn't trade them for anything. If you are really worried about safety put a roll cage, harnesses and a fire extinguisher in there.

Holytin

Maybe not the perfect choice for your son as a starter car. Boys have the tendency to mess things up, especially their first car. Something more modern /safe such as small Honda/Toyota that can be fixed easy without spending lots and money and long lead times for parts but not a Karman.

Just my $.02....

AOW162435

Well said.


When I was 13, my father rustled up an oxidized '66 Beetle from somewhere and gave it to me. That car, and the adventures I had with it, started my appreciation for air-cooled VW & Porsche sleds, and wrenching on all things mechanical. Here she is, circa 1984 or thereabouts:






Andreas

myflat6

Completely relate with you. My first two cars were bugs. That is where I got the air cooled itch to begin with. They were great cars to learn how to do your own maintenance and repairs. Dropping engines and everything in between was done in my teenage years. Great memories and I wouldn't change anything about having those as my first cars. And yes a fire extinguisher is a necessity

Potterphd

As a former 16 year old boy, I would sure second Holytin's (and others) motions. My first car was a '66 mustang which I drove as quickly as I could everywhere I went. Fortunately I only had one accident. However, I broke a tooth in half because I didn't have a shoulder belt or airbag. Lucky the accident wasn't much worse. I know they aren't very cool, but I sure would have been safer in a Civic or Corolla.

NC TRACKRAT

My family had a long history of VW and VW Karmann Ghias. My mom had 2 Ghias and I a 1960 Bug and a '63 Ghia when I was in the Navy. It was a poor man's Porsche. Frankly, in this day and age, a 2005-2006 MINI or MINI Cooper S with manual transmission would be a far better first vehicle than a Karmann Ghia. Finding a solid, reliable Ghia in this day and age would be a tall order and, if you did, it would be unwise to have him drive and depreciate it.

Texas993

Another thing to consider is the lack of AC and potential of the engine overheating in our heat.

Have we talked you out of it yet?

JDHertz11

I think it could be a cool learning and bonding experience. There are a fair amount of Mexican Beetles for sale on The Samba at any time. I had a few and they are very cool cars with EFI and mine had A/C. Typical prices are under $10K with some kind of, more or less, sometimes legal, kind of US title. I'd look for a 1999-04 as they're the most developed.

Nurburger

If I had a kid that was interested in German cars, the first car they would drive would be a Mercedes 500e.

Mobile phones have made driving a much more dangerous exercise than ever before...

1990-964

I learned to drive in my parents '71 Karmann Ghia. That car, like all old air-cooled VW's was scary gutless and always smelled of plastic. Those cars are ancient and lack anything remotely resembling safety features. I don't consider it a poor mans Porsche at all. Though it is air cooled, it does not have the feel of a drivers car. Basically a tin can death trap by modern standards. No way I trust my son's safety to one of those these days.