Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

Now this was parked in the worst concievable spot, with the sun right at the end of the street, but I think I didn't do too badly.

The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, now that's a name that sounds very very good, almost like the name of a femme fatale from a 1960's Spy movie.

"My name is Karmann Ghia Mr. Bond..."

Anyway, the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is one of only a few sports cars credited to the Volkswagen name, a two door coupé built between 1955 and 1975. The car was designed by acclaimed Italian carrozzeria Ghia, and hand built by German coach-builder Karmann.

Initially, only a small number were built, but soon it became the most imported car into the United States and production went through the roof, and for good reason. The car is the embodiment of suave and sophisticated 1950's styling, almost like a precursor to the Porsche 911. Dripping with chrome and with not a single straight line, it has often been considered the most beautiful car ever put on the road. Mechanically however, the car was very basic, underneath the car being nothing more than a Volkswagen Beetle with a streamlined body.

Eventually, 445,238 of these cars were built in Germany, although production continued for an extra year at Volkswagen's plant in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, which produced 41,689 between 1962 and 1975. The car was replaced by the hatchback Volkswagen Scirocco, a clear sign of the times as during the 1970's, traditional sports cars such as the Karmann Ghia, the MG and the Triumph were starting to become unfashionable. Unlike British builders however, Volkswagen were able to see this coming early, and transferred production into the modern day hatchback designs of the aforementioned Scirocco and Golf GTi, the two cars that murdered the traditional sports car.