On July 14, 1955 - almost exactly 70 years ago - the brand new Karmann-Ghia made its debut. Not in the devastated city of Osnabrück, but in the ballroom of the casino in nearby Georgsmarienhütte. The 1953 prototype created at Ghia was a coupé - a convertible had actually been requested (which ultimately only appeared in 1957).
But Heinrich Nordhoff gave the nod to the Beetle in a sports outfit, and thus began a global career. The beauty remained in production at Karmann in Osnabrück for two decades. A total of 362,601 coupés and 80,881 convertibles were produced.
Malicious tongues denigrated the small Karmann-Ghia with its always up-to-date Beetle technology as a "secretary's Ferrari", which prominent owners such as Romy Schneider or Allensbach boss Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann were able to refute.
At the same time, Karmann built the Beetle Convertible and its successor, the Golf Convertible. In addition to the small Karmann-Ghia Type 14, the large Karmann-Ghia (Type 34) was also produced for several years, followed later by the Scirocco and Corrado. The Osnabrück-based company also created various VW prototypes and worked for Auto Union/Audi, BMW, Ford, Opel, Mercedes and many others.
In 2010, however, the company went bankrupt and was largely taken over by Volkswagen. The in-house vehicle collection with around 130 exhibits went to Volkswagen Classic - contrary to claims, not a single piece of the "silverware" was sold to the outside world.
Karmann fan Joachim Acker prepared the anniversary event called "Karmannstadt" together with some friends - whereby 70 selected cars first gathered on the market square in front of the legendary town hall (signing of the documents for the Peace of Westphalia). Afterwards, the vehicle owners were allowed into the factory's collection, which is now only open as part of very special guided tours.
Further anniversary events are likely to follow, as true fans do not miss such an opportunity. Whether Volkswagen itself will organize its own event is questionable. But the colleagues from Volkswagen Classic were thankfully on site to provide support. The Chairman of the Works Council, who was also present, wished the Osnabrück plant a long existence as a car manufacturer. In any case, the T-Roc Cabrio will continue to run there until 2027, while Porsche contract production is now coming to an end.
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