1968 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Convertible

A collaboration between Turin-based styling house Ghia, coachbuilder Karmann of Osnabrück, and Volkswagen in Stuttgart, the Karman Ghia gave VW a stylish 2+2 coupe to slot in above its sturdy little Beetle as postwar Germany became more prosperous in the mid-1950s.

While the underpinnings were pure Beetle, the voluptuous bodywork was old-fashioned coachbuilding. Rather than being bolted on, the fenders were hand shaped and manually butt-welded to the main shell. A convertible model was added to the lineup in the 1958 model year.

The round rear side marker lights, added for FMVSS compliance on US models, mark this Velour Red convertible as either a 1968 or 1969 model. The headrests, all in a unit with the seatbacks, say it's a '68, because the '69 and later models had theirs on struts.

The one in the photos is local and gets spotted fairly frequently. The upper photo, from August of 2021, was taken with a Nikon D3 and 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens, while the lower shot was with a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens in October of 2023.