Welcome to Tracy's Karmann Ghia Page!

    This is the story of Haifisch (Sharky in German), a 1968 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia on a '71 Ghia pan, pulled out of a barn in central Georgia September 1, 1999 after sitting for 10 years.

    Bought as an engagement gift for Tracy, it was the culmination of a lifelong dream to own & drive a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia (though the car in the dream was probably in better shape, like with an engine and seats & stuff!)

    The goal of this project is not a faithful restoration back to original factory condition, but what is commonly known as resto/custom. In our case, we intend to build a comfortable, reliable, mid-to-high performance, modernized vintage sports car. Can it be done? Well of course it can silly! Anything can be done! The question is, can it be done for a reasonable cost by a couple of amateurs in their garage? We don't know but we're giving it all we've got!
    Our plan for doing this is to upgrade and modify the mechanical systems and interior until we think we have it like we want. Then we will pull the body off the pan (frame) and get everything fixed and painted. Upon reassembly we should be able to just drive & smile!
    In the following pages we will include all of our adventures, misadventures, mistakes, and victory's for all to enjoy. We are tracking the costs of everything except gas, oil, filters, repeating tire and brake replacements, and registration/insurance fee's. So if you've ever wondered what it would really take to restore a 30 year old VW, visit the Money Pit. We are not tracking labor hours. Hey, were trying to save at least a shred of our sanity and self-esteem here!

    Tracy is performing all of the work herself with the help of your author, Skye (picture guy sitting on stool in garage, camera in one hand, beer in the other, barking orders and chortling as Tracy grows ever more frustrated, occasionally cursing, throwing wrenches and yelling things like, "Why did they make it like THAT? Idiots - that's stupid, I could build a better car!" Skye answers, "Yeah isn't that a pain in the ass? Listen, are you almost done? The motorcycle race is about to come on TV." - eheheh, chuckle, chuckle, chortle, sip).

    Thanks for joining us, click here to e-mail us at ghiaupdates@ghiagirl.com and get on our mailing list for future site updates!

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