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The Ultimate Christmas Present, A New 341!


For those of you that like the Type 34 Karmann Ghia (Type III Ghia, der
Grosse KG, Razoredge Ghia, European Ghia, German Corvair, etc), this
news should be a huge surprise.  For those of you that don't know much
about Type 34s, here's a short history lesson.

The Type 34 KG was the sports model variation for the Type III line.  It
was first introduced at the Sep61 Frankfurt Auto Show and was produced
through July 1969 with a total production of 42,500 cars.  There are
estimated to be about 2500 existing worldwide today, and the T34
Registry club has over 675 chassis-registered T34s.

Both Coupe & Cabriolet (convertible) models for the Type 34 were shown
at the Frankfurt Show, although the Cabrio was later dropped from mass
production due to expensive modifications necessary to support the pan
without the roof.  Somewhere between 11-31 Type 34 Cabrio prototypes
were built for testing and public introduction ceremonies in 1961-62,
although none were officially sold to the public.  There are currently
three T34 Cabrios known to exist today: a Ruby Red one at the VW museum,
a Pearl White one at the Karmann Museum, and one in a private German
collection.

Surprise of all surprises, a new original T34 Cabrio showed up last week
at a bank auction in Germany!  Apparently is was in the possession of
the Karmann factory until 1976, then was sold to a VW dealer who stashed
it away in their basement in Germany from 1969-97!  It had been
repainted a ghastly AquaGreen color but is still in fantastic original
condition.  Lars Neuffer, a German VW enthusiast & KG restoration
business, heard about the auction the night before from a friend and
made it down early the next morning and was fortunate enough to be the
highest bidder!!  No word yet on the final price, but it's safe to say
none of us could afford it ...

The T34 Cabrio is officially a model 341, and Lars' has VW chassis # 0
091 525 (with its original engine #0 089 213) which dates its production
in late 1962 (an early 1963 model year).  This is about 6-9 months later
than it was believed Karmann officially discontinued development work on
the T34 Cabrio project!  It was originally painted Pacific Blue and
still has its original Black top.  Lars brought it home from the auction
and photographed it on 13Dec97, making it every VW enthusiasts ultimate
Christmas present!

If you would like to see the first ever photograph of it, check out the
Type 34 KG Registry web site at http://www.type34.org and then look in
the Convertible section!  See, there are original excellent condition
PROTOTYPES still out there ...

Have a Merry Christmas, and if you've been really REALLY good this year
...


LEE THOMAS HEDGES
VW T34 KG Registry  http://www.type34.org
Notchback Owners of North America
http://www.ixpres.com/hedges/nona.html
Vintage/Historical Editor, VW Trends magazine




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