Posted by: billy739 - 02 November 2015 22:27:20
hi , anyone have the info regarding how many ghias were imported into the uk in 1955 /56? any idea how many are left? are they rare or common , as common can be? any reply appreciated , thankyou

Posted by: billy739 - 03 November 2015 21:31:39
how many 56 uk ghias are about , does anyone know? and any chance of a 56 ghia being RHD?

Posted by: aerosilver - 04 November 2015 17:04:31
[quote=billy739;60735]how many 56 uk ghias are about , does anyone know? and any chance of a 56 ghia being RHD?[/quote] Do you mean original UK delivered '56 ? Only 1 survivor i believe, and that now lives in France. Any '56 would be LHD, unless it was converted in period, or later on in its life. There are 4 or 5? known surviving lowlight RHD conversions done in period. Do you have a RHD '56?

Posted by: mmcnult1 - 04 November 2015 18:00:35
I think Russ, above is right...none were officially made in RHD but a few were converted to RHD by a company in Oxford back in the 50's. Gareth Roberts owns the ONLY one of these that is a convertible. A friend of mine, Steve Huckin used to own one of the coupe versions but he's now sold it and Buzz Burrell bought it and quickly sold it on to a friend of his i believe. Do you own a RHD converted one?

Posted by: billy739 - 04 November 2015 18:29:16
not sure. bit of a mystery really. basically, the chassis number is unmessed with on the tunnel (except a drill hole partially through a number to put a bolt through for a mounting) front end is definatly RHD and no holes have been welded or drilled! has early oval beetle style pedals? chassis no is august 56 and car has 15 owners since 56 according to v5. chances are its a uk car if they know that?

Posted by: pre67vw - 06 November 2015 17:21:04
Can't believe nobody has asked this yet, but got any pics?

Posted by: lifeintheslowlane - 07 November 2015 21:04:18
Just to clarify a point, any RHD Lowlight Karmann Ghia would have been a personal import and originally LHD. Right from the start of production in July '55 the front bulkhead had the stampings for a RHD version but never used until they started to produce the revised model in Aug '59 and began the official importation to the UK. All RHD Lowlights were converted by the afore mentioned company in Oxford.

Posted by: aerosilver - 07 November 2015 22:22:45
Acland and Tabor were one company that carried out conversions, they were based in Welwyn,Herts. [img][URL=https://smg.photobucket.com/user/OG59/media/SCAN0243_zps3ivm6wz3.jpg.html][IMG]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/OG59/SCAN0243_zps3ivm6wz3.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/img] [img][URL=https://smg.photobucket.com/user/OG59/media/SCAN0244_zpsn2brzglz.jpg.html][IMG]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/OG59/SCAN0244_zpsn2brzglz.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/img]

Posted by: billy739 - 08 November 2015 10:36:28
perfect , thankyou for the advice just another future project! will order a birth cert . 8mths wait hopefully uk or Germany.

Posted by: billy739 - 08 November 2015 10:37:43
just another question, any idea how many 56 ghias exist altogether? presume not many?

Posted by: aerosilver - 08 November 2015 14:43:03
There's 110 listed on the lowlight registry - [url=https://www.kglowlightregistry.com/index.php?Year=1956&VIN_Number=&Body_Number=&Exterior_Color=&Roof_Color=&Original_Destination=&Current_Location=&searchtext=&action=searchresults&pclass%5B%5D=]1956 Ghias listed on the registry[/url] , i'm sure there are plenty more not on the list.

Posted by: lifeintheslowlane - 08 November 2015 16:26:51
[quote=aerosilver;60747]There's 110 listed on the lowlight registry - [url=https://www.kglowlightregistry.com/index.php?Year=1956&VIN_Number=&Body_Number=&Exterior_Color=&Roof_Color=&Original_Destination=&Current_Location=&searchtext=&action=searchresults&pclass%5B%5D=]1956 Ghias listed on the registry[/url] , i'm sure there are plenty more not on the list.[/quote] Possibly 15 UK 1956 cars, nearly all LHD but of course that's a guess. Anyone else for a guess. :wink: