A little of the history for my 1962 Type 3 Ghia

My car, chassis number 0002910, was built on November 20 1961, finished in solid black as in the early brochure for the car. It was delivered on November 27 1961 to Skandinavisk Motor Co, Kobenhavn, Denmark.

It was bought on 8 December 1961 by a Mr Helge Storck-Nilsen who immediately exported it to South Africa and registered it there, living in the Claremont area (I think ) of Capetown. He kept it until April 1999.

It passed quickly through another couple of owners (George Platt & Kurt Saunders) before ending up with Justin Gossman in June 2001. By the time I bought it from him in January 2003 Justin had de-registered the car by having it classified as scrap to avoid payment of registration duties etc. I must say it was an accurate description of the vehicle!

Here is a picture of it over in South Africa before I bought it.

A few more accessories

Here are a few more accessories I have accumulated for the car.

Wiring loom

The main and front wiring looms on the car were burnt through in several places and had been poorly adapted and repaired in several places.

I bought a type 3 saloon main NOS loom from a friend in the KGOC(GB) but after comparisson with the original and bearing in mind it was so stiff through age I deceided that fitting it would be a compromise and would prove problematic. It would also still only be a half solution as the front loom was still required.

With the loom out of the car I reconnected everything back to it, noted where wires were missing or had been shortened and recreated the loom back to how it should have been.

I then spoke to Autosparks of Sandiacre, Nottingham, UK who made me a new loom, using the old one as a template within 2 months. It looks fantastic and matches what I provided them.

A 1962 Type 3 Ghia for sale in South Africa

Tony Smith from Pretoria in South Africa is selling his 1962 Type 3 Ghia. He has fully restored it including a full respray and is looking for 65,000.00 South African Rand. This is roughly £4,500 or US $8,500 if I have got the price and conversion rates right then it looks to be excellent value for such an early car. The photo shows that the headlight trim rings are missing, these European style ones are readily available in reproduction form from Karmann Ghia Ersatzteile service in Germany (great supplier www.karmannghia.de)at 88 euros each. Over riders come up frequently on e-bay as well.

Please check direct with Tony for further details and information at the e-mail address below.

airtestafrica@worldonline.co.za

Work planned for October

Next things on my list are the rebuild of the steering column indicator/ignition assembly and swapping the master cylinder I rebuilt for a NOS one.

The steering column was missing an ignition switch when i got it, i have a used one which i temporarily fitted but have now taken out as I want to replace some of the wires to it. At the same time I am going to repaint both the housing and the indicator arm. Its a shame that the indicator arm is deeper on the T3 Ghia than on the T3 saloon as Charlie Harlock had an excellent NOS one I could have used.

I rebuilt the brakes using wheel(slave) cylinders for cars built slightly after mine (about March 62)and rebuilt the original master cylinder with a repair kit. I actually also needed a different master cylinder with a longer stroke to go with the new wheel cylinders and have just bought one from Bert3, safely arrived today, thanks Bert.

Whilst it is the most expensive mechanical part I have had to buy it makes sense to have a car with brakes that work properly!

Photos for interior upholstery

Here are the photos that wouldn't upload alongside the previous post.

Interior upholstery

The interior of the car was absolutely worn out when I got it, the car had been in South Africa all its life and the hot weather and high mileage took their toll on it.

It had originally been silver beige leatherette with the red/black cloth middle inserts. Some one had covered it bright red plastic in the meantime and there was no choice other than to have new covers made.

i spoke to a few people with early cars in germany and found out that the last of the red black material had gone. Luckily a good friend and great expert on T3 ghias in California, Lee Hedges, had a contact who could remake the covers and the door and rear panels.

All materials are as close as we could get to the silver beige and we have used a brick red leatherette, similar to an option originally avaiable and featured in the 62 brochure for the car. The trimmer even managed to make repro door panels of the right dimensions by adapting a type 2 sliding door panel.

Here are some photos of before and after.

Recent accessories found

Here are a couple of accessories i found recently for the car.

The coco mats are original ones from the 60s made specifically for a type 3 62 Ghia and still carry the original labels. They are faded where they have been folded and exposed to the sun - i am hoping to dye them back to near the original colour - any helpful tips gratefully accepted.

The Hella switch goes in-line between the speed and speedo cable. It activates the reversing light when you put the car in reverse - simple but effective.

Current progress

The major body work is complete (see website for all the hard work done last year). The shell has been blasted since and is just waiting for minor work such as headlamp bowl fitting and other minor work.









This is the restored chassis alongside my other type 3 Ghia, a 1965 RHD (344) which i have owned since 1982.

Update on my 1962 Ghia Restoration

I have been restoring my 62 Ghia (built November 61 & chassis number 0002910) for the last few years. early restoration work is shown on my website if you want to see it http://www.leehedges.com/andyholmes/1962M343.htm

this blog is so I can share what am up to in a more interactive way, whilst also keeping the website updated as well.

Postings on progress to follow once I mastered the art of blogging!