This is how the Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia was made appealing to the ladies
12/26/2013
Internally it was called the "Type 14", but the people knew it as the Karmann-Ghia. And its name combined German bodywork craftsmanship with Italian design. The VW Karmann-Ghia was the frugal sports car based on the VW Beetle that you could perhaps afford, even if you were a woman. The body was designed by Felice Mario Boano and his son and was based on Virgil Exner's Chrysler K-310 and D'Elegance .
With 443,466 units produced, the "little" Karmann-Ghia was a great success, despite hardly any improvement in driving performance compared to the Beetle. Its elegant appearance, which looked like Concours d'Elégance and special bodywork, also brought it many appearances in films and television series. And all this together certainly also ensured that the Karmann-Ghia was of particular interest to women.
So it is no wonder that the Volkswagen marketing people liked to have self-confident-looking ladies behind the wheel of the car when the press photos of the time were taken. Lovingly staged down to the last detail, these images were intended to awaken the desire in female buyers to own a Karmann themselves ...
And the sales figures proved that this was successful, even if at the end of the day many of the cars were bought by men.
All the recently published original photos of the VW Karmann-Ghia are also published in the article "Sports car parade 1959" . Of course, there is also a beautiful brochure of the car to discover on Zwischengas.
