GTP Cool Wall: 1955-1974 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

[Wiegert]

Pleasant yet subdued looks compared to a Beetle with the trade-off being a fraction of the character you'd get with an old Bug, but this (well, the Typ 14) really was VW's defining class act.

Just about reaches Sub Zero.

You guys are not judging this car by the right standards. The standard is not whether or not you think it's cool. The standard is whether or not it is cool.

What a tedious place this would be if the concept of coolness was nothing more than everyone agreeing with a set standard without being blinded by such things as "personal taste".

And another thing. I was trying to be something it's not, which is also uncool:

A Jaguar model that didn't exist until after the Karmann Ghia had two years of market exposure?

I also don't recall them ever claiming to be gunning for the very top-line sports cars rather than providing a stylish coupe/drop-top for the masses. Though admittedly the Type 34 did what a number of other cars did at the time and tried becoming another downsized Corvair copy.

 

[Danoff]

Coolness is subjective - nothing is cool.

Give me a break.

"I think this is cool"

vs.

"People think this is cool"

You may hate smoking, you may not like seeing people with cigarettes, but they are cool. I personally can't stand tattoos, but they are cool. It doesn't have to be good to be cool, and being good doesn't make it cool. What makes it cool is whether it has a perceptible social status (especially to the opposite gender) as being cool. They've gone over this at great length on top gear.

According to Jeremy, an important part of each car's coolness factor rested on the extent to which he believed they would impress the actress Kristin Scott Thomas.

To be fair the car in that photo isn't exactly in the most cool condition there is. Or would you call a Beetle with a faded orange paint and a layer of dust a cool way to arrive anywhere.

My Beetle in high school was in poor condition and won me a lot of points with stratospherically cool people at the school. It got good respect from the girls as well.

It wouldn't be cool in every setting, but it was cool in some settings in which cool was important.

What a tedious place this would be if the concept of coolness was nothing more than everyone agreeing with a set standard, without being blinded by such things as personal tastes.

No, see above.

A Jaguar model that didn't exist until after the Karmann Ghia had two years of market exposure?

I also don't recall them ever claim to be gunning for the very top line sports cars rather than just a stylish coupe/drop top for the masses.

You're taking me too literally. Anything that is "for the masses" automatically loses exactly 4.7 cool points.

There's a handful of these that pop up in Toronto over the warmer months. My girlfriend — who tends to not really like cars too much, but can pick out a handful of new ones like Masers or Astons — has had "wow, what is that?" moments every time she's spotted one.

Now that's the way to rebut in this thread. I'll take that rebuttal (not convinced by your girlfriend, but well done regardless).

 

[Tornado]

You're taking me too literally. Anything that is "for the masses" automatically loses exactly 4.7 cool points.

 

[AudiMan2011]

I'd take a second look at it despite the Beetle underpinnings.

Low Cool.

 

[ImaRobot]

I had one of those in high school and it got mad respect, coolest kid in school had one and was actually willing to talk to me (about that one subject alone). I think it even got me invited to a cool kid party once.

Eh, those are the least cool of VW's compared to others of the time. They definitely are trendy though.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Now that's the way to rebut in this thread. I'll take that rebuttal (not convinced by your girlfriend, but well done regardless).

It came up with a really clean example in Saskatoon of all places last month too. With two people (one of each sex) who definitely did not know what it was, in a parking lot full of expensive new sports cars, that was the one they asked me about.

Maybe it's different down there. Maybe there's a lot more of them, or there's an unfortunate stigma tied to them. But up here, it's one of a handful of cars that is lusted over by my gearhead friends, but also turns the heads of those that see cars as little more than appliances.

 

[Danoff]

I said loses 4.7 points. It's not impossible to overcome that deficit. Being in a movie (portrayed as a cool car) nets you 4.8 points right back in the cool category.

It came up with a really clean example in Saskatoon of all places last month too. With two people (one of each sex) who definitely did not know what it was, in a parking lot full of expensive new sports cars, that was the one they asked me about.

Maybe it's different down there. Maybe there's a lot more of them, or there's an unfortunate stigma tied to them. But up here, it's one of a handful of cars that is lusted over by my gearhead friends, but also turns the heads of those that see cars as little more than appliances.

Maybe I'm too old and just remember how much those cars sucked, or how many losers drove them. I'm willing to admit that it could be getting a completely new impression that I'm not aware of. The people I know who are out of it with cars would not find the 'ghia appealing (even though I do). Those same people love the 60s 'stang above almost uniformly.

Eh, those are the least cool of VW's compared to others of the time. They definitely are trendy though.

By trendy you mean cool in 1996 and cool now as well.

 

[ImaRobot]

By trendy you mean cool in 1996 and cool now as well.

Cool to someone, sure. Not cool to others.

 

[Legro]

My Beetle in high school was in poor condition and won me a lot of points with stratospherically cool people at the school. It got good respect from the girls as well.

It wouldn't be cool in every setting, but it was cool in some settings in which cool was important.

An orange unwashed Beetle?

I can easily see such a car used in some 3rd world country, but around where I live in 2016 it'd look more or less abandoned. The Beetle can very easily be cool, even in slightly less perfect condition, but the Beetle equivalent of the car in the thread's first picture wouldn't say cool to people as much as it'd say South American taxi.

 

[Vegard]

"I think this is cool"

vs.

"People think this is cool"

If we're going to have a poll it has to be the former.

If it's the latter then it's not the GTP Cool Wall, but simply a Cool Wall, where voting is pointless.

 

[Danoff]

If we're going to have a poll it has to be the former.

If it's the latter then it's not the GTP Cool Wall, but simply a Cool Wall, where voting is pointless.

It'd be a GTP cool wall because it's created on GTP and contributed to by GTP members....

 

[Obelisk]

Someone in town has a junk one of these in desperate need of restoration. Even rusted out, it's beautiful.

SZ

 

[LancerEvo7]

I see two of these around town and I gladly go out of my way to look at both of them. Easy cool.

 

[Vegard]

It'd be a GTP cool wall because it's created on GTP and contributed to by GTP members....

If it's not a display of opinion, in what capacity would voting be a contribution?

 

[Northstar]

Why does it seem like these threads always end up debating the cool wall instead of the car?

Also, Cool, seems everytime there is one at a car show it garners a decent amount of interest. Which is saying something considering this is muscle cars and trucks territory.

 

[niky]

The Karmann Ghia sold based on simple style and functionality.

Like the Vespa. Like the Mini. People were not under the illusion that these were fast cars. They bought them because they were very pretty cars with reliable air-cooled VeeDub guts. And they didn't cost all that much more than top of the line Beetles.

These were classless, but very classy little cars for the time.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

It is a very high cool, close to sub-zero.
I think they have nice styling and I too see non-car people look at them with an awe. Honestly, I can't even imagine myself voting these for anything less than cool.

As for my opinion on the car itself, I think it was a nice cruiser for the time. Also, it's another one of those cars that looked faster to me than it actually is.

 

[UltimateYosh]

I have always liked the ol' Karmann Ghia.
It is slow, but speed was never it's purpose.
A nice stylish little car.

A Very Solid Cool.


And Danoff, It isn't about the general consensus of if a car is cool or not. If it was, it wouldn't have a effing poll in it.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I have always liked the ol' Karmann Ghia.
It is slow, but speed was never it's purpose.
A nice stylish little car.

A Very Solid Cool.


And Danoff, It isn't about the general consensus of if a car is cool or not. If it was, it wouldn't have a effing poll in it.

You can poll on what you perceive is cool or what you perceive in cool to a general audience...there isn't one clear cut method to polls and how people vote. That's all the more apparent in election polls

 

[UltimateYosh]

You can poll on what you perceive is cool or what you perceive in cool to a general audience...there isn't one clear cut method to polls and how people vote. That's all the more apparent in election polls

Well that might be true, I am not trying to dictate how people vote, but I am just responding to:

You guys are not judging this car by the right standards. The standard is not whether or not you think it's cool. The standard is whether or not it is cool.\

Where Danoff is basically saying that if you are voting on if you think it is cool you are doing it wrong (which going by him saying that it is objectively uncool is erm... 2 whole people if you include SU as well) and I responded to that because he was dictating how people should vote. I admit, I probably should have re-worded that and I will repeat:

I don't mind if you vote based on a general consensus of coolness, but if you say that a majority of people aren't doing it right (or anyone for that matter) just because they aren't doing it just because they aren't doing it your way, Then I (and others) will certainly dislike your attitude.

 

[mustafur]

I had a Metallic Purple one of these I used to use in GT5 for Low PP Races online when I was racing online for the first time because it didn't have much power and was Rear engined I used to put maximum rear ballast to make something like a 20/80 weight distribution making it the most sensitive car you could possibly ask for but because it couldn't break traction it's advantage on others was massive in corners, besides look how good that body looks from the rear side view:

SZ

 

[Danoff]

Well that might be true, I am not trying to dictate how people vote, but I am just responding to:

Where Danoff is basically saying that if you are voting on if you think it is cool you are doing it wrong (which going by him saying that it is objectively uncool is erm... 2 whole people if you include SU as well) and I responded to that because he was dictating how people should vote. I admit, I probably should have re-worded that and I will repeat:

I don't mind if you vote based on a general consensus of coolness, but if you say that a majority of people aren't doing it right (or anyone for that matter) just because they aren't doing it just because they aren't doing it your way, Then I (and others) will certainly dislike your attitude.

I addressed that here:

Give me a break.

"I think this is cool"

vs.

"People think this is cool"

 

[TexRex]

the quad-lights version with the side ridge

That would be the Sartorelli-designed Type 34--really an entirely different car rather than another version.

Low light models are a very high cool, bordering on SZ, but the later cars drag it down some. Cool.

 

[Turbo]

Timeless beauty is always cool.

 

[Cano]

Effortlessly cool.

 

[Barracuda413]

Looks like a beetle after an elephant sat on it

 

[Dennisch]

Looks like a beetle after an elephant sat on it

Don't be silly, that's how you get a Porsche.