From teenage idea to running car.
The car I wanted
I was a teenager when I started thinking about what I’d do with a Karmann Ghia if I ever owned one. I’ve always liked how they look, but I wanted one with performance that matched its sleek and sporty look.
I held onto that idea for years. Around the time I turned thirty, I finally bought my 1970 Karmann Ghia.
I wasn’t interested in restoring it, I wanted to build the car I’d been designing in my head for over a decade.
Changing almost everything underneath
The design became a combination of a lot of different pieces: Porsche 944 Turbo rear suspension and brakes, custom Wilwood front brakes, a supercharged Subaru EZ30D flat-six, and a Subaru five-speed transmission converted using Subarugears components.
There was also the bodywork. The stance needed to be wider and lower, with substantial changes to the fenders and exterior. A lot of the finished design is about making those changes look like they belong together.
I’ve directed the concept and overall design, although other people have carried out a lot of the fabrication and mechanical work. A good portion of that work was documented on Uberkooled Garage, so there’s actual video of the build as it progressed.
Still a work in progress
The car runs and drives. It sounds MEAN. It still needs tuning, and the paint and interior are unfinished.
The last image in the gallery is a rendering of the exterior I’m working toward. The photographs before it show the car at different points along the way.
