November 6, 2007
The Senator and his Ghias
The Senator decided in the late 1960's, after years of driving Cadillacs and Lincolns, that he wanted something sportier. He had had a 1957 T-Bird in the early '60's that had been souped up by the college kid he bought it from, but he sold it after a few speeding tickets in excess of 100 MPH. Liquor and 4-barrel carburetors make for an uneasy alliance, to be sure.
So he became enamored of Volkswagen Karmann Ghias. Sporty, underpowered, fun to drive.
The Senator had always liked German cars, especially Volkswagens, despite (or perhaps because) he'd fought those Kraut bastards. We had a microbus about 1965, the Senator blissfully unaware he was in the vanguard of the Flower Power movement.
His first Karmann Ghia was an older beige hardtop, which he gave to the Velocisister when she went to college. Then he ordered his dream car from Wolfsburg. A convertible Sunset Orange Ghia with (gasp!) air conditioning. AC was a rarefied thing on a vehicle even in 1969, but on a convertible? The Senator explained to the sales manager that the sun got hot when the roof was down. He needed air conditioning to keep his cocktail cool. Sold!
The Senator was dismayed when the car arrived two months later, and was turquoise. But he put his game face on, and loved that car. It looked just like this 1968:
To say he doted on that car is an understatement. I'm pretty sure the Ghia went to summer camp instead of me, the monies accrued for my brother's Little League team found themselves magically transformed into wire wheels for the Ghia. He installed an 8-track player in it so he could listen to Hank Snow, and the Sons of the Pioneers (cassettes were a very recent novelty, and no doubt a communist plot to microsize our listening devices).
Ah, that Ghia. But all was not well in the Senator's world. That car could not stayed aligned. He chewed through sets of tires like I chewed through Dubble Bubble. He'd take it to the mechanic again and again, and stand, transfixed, in the driveway. Looking at those front tires. First this way, then that.
"They look straight to me, Peggy, what do you think?" And my mother would shake her head, and pretend to eyeball the tires. "Look straight to me, too", she'd say, then go get five children fed, bathed, and ready for school the next day, while the Senator stood, drink in hand, staring at those tires.
That Ghia only lasted about a year. I think it may have been the car he ran up under a tractor trailer in a "fog bank". I've had a few of those, myself. Fog banks, that is.
He bought the Cutlass Rallye 350 after that, on my advice, which he also eventually gifted to my sister, the spoilt thang. She drove like the Senator, too. Hammer time. Fuck the pigs!
I'd love to get me an old Ghia, and I know the Velocisister would, too. Not for nostalgic reasons. Just because they're great to drive, easy to work on, and quite abusable. Like a retarded spouse, or something.
... gotta love German cars, man.....
Posted by: Eric at November 6, 2007 6:40 PMAh, I had my share of Volksies in my day. My first car was an ancient, thrashed beetle with the "automatic stick shift". Rusted through and through, but I loved it. Before that, Dad had a squareback that I drove into the ground. And then later I drove a VW camper for over ten years. Twice I rebuilt VW engines myself, (and once more helping Dad), and they drove very reliably for me for years after.
Maybe I need another one too.
Posted by: Desert Cat at November 6, 2007 10:08 PMOh my..a senator story wrapped up in a CAR story...be still my beating heart.
Posted by: kelly at November 7, 2007 7:38 AMNice ride. Back in the day, my friend had one that was was red with a black hard top. We ran it up a telephone pole guide wire, flipped over in mid-air and landed upside down. I don't know how; but we both walked away. I guess it was better than hitting that fucker head on. Not much in the front of 'em.
Posted by: Yabu at November 7, 2007 10:27 AMYou know if you're going to write a book, you'd better write one about the Senator. I think you might have it all pretty well written already if you go back through the archives and collect what you've got here. I'd buy one.
Posted by: Peggy U at November 7, 2007 1:00 PMDude, I can so see you in a ghia. You need one this very minute. Damn.
Posted by: og at November 7, 2007 4:26 PMI have a soft spot for those cars too. My first two cars were Ghias. My Mom and Dad gave me a blue one for Christmas the year I turned 15. They wrapped it in a huge red bow and it was in the yard on Christmas morning. Total surprise. They hid the keys in the tree. Then I got an orange one. I drove them to Los Angeles from Savannah and back...twice. Only a kid in their 20's would attempt such a feat.
Posted by: Rosie at November 7, 2007 7:05 PMI had one in high school. Great to drive but I thought it was the most un-cool car in the world.
.... I passed a front yard today that had two of those contraptions for sale in it....... one was pink and the other was some sort of blue/green..... US Highway 411 halfway between Vonore and Maryville, bossman..... on the left.... you can't miss'em....
Posted by: Eric at November 7, 2007 7:44 PMI do like that "Like a retarded spouse, or something" line... Simple, succinct, to the point. That one sent ponderin'...
Only you sir, could traverse from "Just because they're great to drive, easy to work on, and quite abusable", to the aforementioned line.
That lawyer talkin' givin' you a semi?.. uh, nevermind, talk to the hand.
Never had ghia, just bugs, but I put Porche engins in both...Could smoke a corvette through the intersection. The speedo only registerd (I think 80) I broke then both. Too many tickets to count, then I fucked up and moved to Maui,,,,,big mistake......
Posted by: murry at November 9, 2007 8:21 AMAnother problem with the turqoise Ghia was the fact that it had air conditioning, unlike the first, and the little engine just really couldn't produce the power to run the AC and the engine. Another grievous disappointment.
Somebody snagged the Sunset Orange Ghia after it had arrived in Miami. He had verified that cocksucker all the way onto American soil and then it disappeared. No satisfactory explanation was forthcoming. He had to settle for the blue. Isn't that always the way?
Veeee dubs. Loved all mine. They cost me a fortune, and there was NEVER any heat in any of them, but I loved them all.
I switched to Volvo wagons. The yuppie stigma haunts me, but they're they're such tanks. And I can fit all kinds of stuff in them. Imagine a volvo wagon that resembles the Beverly Hillbillies truck....
Posted by: Amy at November 23, 2007 9:24 AM