If you want to see our Vintage Lowlight Ghia Volkswagen toys, please choose one of the manufacturers from the drop list on the right. Below you can read more about history of the Karmann Ghia VW.
KARMANN GHIA COUPE (KG)
The Wilhelm Karmann Coachwerks in Germany had been doing business with Volkswagenwerks since 1949. This Coachbuilder was commissioned by Volkswagen to produce a Convertible Beetle introduced into the product line for Volkswagen in 1949. In the early 1950's, Volkswagen was ready to add a sporty looking coupe into their product line. The Karmann Coachwerks had negotiated a contract with the Italian Automobile designer CAROZZERIA GHIA of Turin, Italy to create a design for this sporty looking VW coupe. Karmann had specifications for the chassis and running gear that was of course to be furnished by Volkswagen and GHIA was to produce a body design suitable to mate to the VW chassis. This chassis was similar but not identical to the Beetle chassis. The GHIA design studio, under the direction of Luigi Segre, came up with a suitable body and had the full approval of the Karmann Coachwerks.
With the acceptance of the new design from Volkswagenwerks and their commitment to provide ample quantities of the chassis’s for production, Karmann began setting up the tooling for the new assembly line in 1954. The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Coupe was presented at major auto shows in 1955 and was also available for delivery in that same year. This Karmann Ghia Coupe would represent a car with the proven dependable Volkswagen drive train and the styling of a sporty Coupe and be priced below the comparable Porsche 356 of the time. The production era of the Karmann Ghia Coupe from 1955 through 1959 had the unique design of lowered headlights and a pair of two louvered front air grilles. This era of the Karmann Ghia is referred to as the “Lowlight Ghia.” This site will feature the Vintage Lowlight Karmann Ghia Coupe models and toys with a toy production era till 1965. In 1960, the Karmann Ghia Coupe design was changed with the headlights and front grilles significantly redesigned that sets it apart from the Lowlight Ghia.