Examples of Vehicle VIN Codes

Examples of Vehicle VIN Codes

Posted: June 29, 2009 
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Examples of Vehicle VIN Codes and discussions”

Vin for Dave aka Cougar281 – Duramax Diesels Forum – Serviced By : RIVERHEAD BUICK PONTIAC GMC LLC 1800A OLD COUNTRY ROAD RIVERHEAD, NY 11901-3144 (631) 727-2271, Selling Source : 48 – GMC TRUCK. Site Code : 34352. Business Associate Code : 243752 …

disconnected battery…now radio needs a code – Planet Porsche – 99boxster 99boxster is offline. Cayman Chatter. Join Date: May 2009. Location: Arizona. Posts: 14. Country: … Go to your nearest dealer. The code is related to your VIN, so any Porsche dealer should be able to do it. …

Want a Car ‘Made in the U.S.A’? Then Check the First Digit of the … – Then Check the First Digit of the VIN Code. Saturday, May 02, 2009 | 11 comments » Categories | Offbeat News. There’s been a lot of talk lately about supporting the domestic (U.S.) manufacturers especially after the current crisis that saw Chrysler … The “4″ at the start of the VIN indicates a car was made in the USA, but at a plant who has its headquarters in another country. Such as the BMW Z4, Toyotas, Hondas, etc., made in the USA. The #5 appears to be reserved for …

Help With Navigation code – AcuraZine Community – Now, im dealing with the issue of the navigation that its requesting me a 4 digits code. Do I need to call again Acura to get that code? For me its hard because im outside the USA… my dealer here in my country they dont even know how to get the code of the radio . … 2004 Carbon Gray/Ebony TSX A5 Auto w/Navi * 118000 miles and goin’ strong! * One of the first 5000 made – Assembled Apr 2003 – VIN 004654 – Home Jul 03! Stevestr is offline …

1998 Chrysler Town & Country LXi – 1998 Chrysler Town & Country LXi. Stock #523736 … Make, Chrysler. Model, Town & Country. Body, Mini-van, Passenger. Exterior. Interior. VEHICLE ID. VIN #, 1C4GT64L7WB523736. Stock #, 523736 …

 

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Support the “National Association of Auto Clubs of Canada”

Support the “National Association of Auto Clubs of Canada”

Posted: June 29, 2009 
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            Help fight bad legislation in Winnipeg and Manitoba Canada auto enthusiasts regions.

 

SEMA & 2009 Hot Rod Power Tour Dates – Classic Trucks Magazine – The SEMA Action Network is touring with the 2009 Hot Rod Power Tour to enlist members for there legislative efforts. If your interested in SAN or the dates of the 2009 Hot Rod Power Tour then click here to to find out more information.

SEMA Action Network, stop bad legislation | Miscellaneous Blog … – Join the Corvette Fever Blog to read and discuss SEMA Action Network, stop bad legislation.

SEMA Action Network: Newly Introduced Lesgislation – Emissions Florida HB 1309/SB 1994: The Florida Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle would be required to develop a joint proposal on how to enforce Florida’s decision to adopt California …

Support the “National Association of Auto Clubs of Canada”

Be part of the solution – not the problem.  Quarterly newsletters. Members benefits at many automotive and non automotive as well as travel and hospitality businesses.  Club vehicle insurance programs.  Canada-wide Appraisal guidelines.

Partnered with SEMA Action Network  to monitor legislation that is restrictive to the collector hobby.

Visit www.naaccc.ca  for details on accomplishments in 2008 , as well as expected outcomes in 2009 and forward. 

The only federal voice in our hobby

Serving thousands of club members since 1974.

Local Manitoba Contact : George Forman  204-981-1538

National Association of Auto Clubs

529 Princess Street , Estevan Sask S4A 2E8

 

SEMA Action Network – Hello brother Goats, Worthy orginization to sign up with. Its free and it can help connect with your legislator regarding the protection of our hobby….driving classic and new muscle cars. Recently, a pressure group considered banning …

SEMA Action Network, California, idiot lawmakers – Please e-mail a copy of your letter to stevem@sema.org. Thank you for your assistance. California Assembly Transportation Committee: Assemblymember Mike Eng – Chair Phone: 916/319-2049 Email: Assemblymember.Eng@asm.ca.gov …

SEMA Action Network, stop bad legislation – Please e-mail a copy of your letter to Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org. Thank you for your assistance. Washington State House Committee on Finance. Representative Ross Hunter – Chair Phone: 360/786-7936 Email: hunter.ross@leg.wa.gov …

SEMA Action Network Legislative Alert – Please e-mail a copy of your letters to us (SEMA Action Network) at stevem@sema.org Terms under which this service is provided to you: sema.org/disclaimer SEMA’s mailing address: 1575 S. Valley Vista Dr., Diamond Bar, CA 91765 Copyright …

From SEMA Action Network – Oregon Introduces Bill to Prohibit Sale of Aftermarket Parts At the request of Governor Theodore Kulongoski, the Oregon Speaker of the House has introduced legislation (HB 2186) to prohibit the sale and distribution of aftermarket motor …

SEMA Action Network – Speaking Out Against Scrappage – SEMA Action Network – Speaking Out Against Scrappage SEMA and the SEMA Action Network (SAN) are opposing efforts to revive consideration of federal funding for vehicle scrappage programs. SEMA and the SEMA Action Network (SAN) are …

SEMA Action Network – I don’t know if this a repost or not. If it is I appologize. I just recently joined the SEMA Action Network. If you would like to join its completly FREE: SEMA SAN – SEMA ACTION NETWORK Basicly if your into cars & don’t like getting …

 

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Country of Origin Designations for Auto Manufacture and Production

Country of Origin Designations for Auto Manufacture and Production

Posted: May 17, 2009 
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How to determine the manufacturing country of origin of vehicles:

The first digit in the sequence of the V.I.N.  corresponds to the country of manufacturing origin – that is where the vehicle  had its final assembly.  While it may be true that parts may have been made in Nafta manufacturing regions countries or even offshore, the nice at people at Canadian Border Services will use the first digit as the determining factor for import duties and as to whether the auto import amateur importer has his or her vehicle impounded or drives home with their new purchase

1)  Number “1″  USA

2) Number “2″  Canada

3) Number “3″  Mexico

4) Number “4″ Joint manufacture either GM and a foreign subsidiary or Ford and its subordinates

5) Number “5″ England

6) Character Letter “J”  ( as opposed to a number”   Japan

7) Character Letter “K”     ( as opposed to a number”           )      Korea

8) Character Letter “G”         ( as opposed to a number”          )  Germany

9)  Character Letter “Y”              ( as opposed to a number”     )     Yugoslavia

source: 

Winnipeg Canada based auto industry analyst

William Simpson

 

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Brandon & Area Car Enthusiasts (B.A.C.E.)

Brandon & Area Car Enthusiasts (B.A.C.E.)

Posted: May 13, 2009 
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650 13′th Street Brandon Manitoba R7A 4R5

Email for minutes:  lownslow@westman.wave.ca

Website:    www.bace.ca

Association’s theme:  all vehicle owners and enthusiasts welcome

Meeting information:  No regular meetings held

Brandon & Area Car Enthusiasts (BACE) – 650 13?th Street Brandon Manitoba R7A 4R5. Email for minutes: lownslow@westman.wave.ca. Website: www.bace.ca. Association’s theme: all vehicle owners and enthusiasts welcome. Meeting information: No regular meetings held. Wpg Auto …

~ Best XCAL Tuner – Ford Explorer Ranger Enthusiasts Serious … – Brandon, Manitoba. 2007 SportTrac Limited V8. Join Date: Aug 2008. Posts: 15. Vehicle Specs. Hypertech vs SCT Livewire I’ve read online that the Hypertech programmer gives my ST 4.6L “29Hp and 32Ft.lbs torque” gain while the SCT …. It’s in the works now that the 09+ Mustnags and F150’s have the 6spd Auto trans. There was not suchj a need for it when it was jsut the Sport-Trac Explorers that had the trans. I talked to SCT at the NMRA show a while back and they said they …

rear spring sag fix??? – Ford Explorer Ranger Enthusiasts Serious … – Boissevain, Manitoba. ‘94 XL. Join Date: May 2008. Posts: 9. Vehicle Specs. I live in Boissevain (SW corner MB) about 3 hours from Winnipeg… I forgot that there is that option of re arching the springs… there is a place in Brandon …

Community Radio Around the World: [creative-radio] National Campus … – climate change in the North, to live music in Brandon, Manitoba to an 18-hour day of programming about Palestine that brought together participants from North America, Europe and Palestine itself. These and 10 other categories were part …

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“Cruisin the Dub Starts June 4 2009″]Cruisin the Dub Starts June 4 2009

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Austin-Healey Club of Manitoba

Austin-Healey Club of Manitoba

Posted: May 13, 2009 
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Association email:   webmaster@ahcm.ca

Website:  www.ahcm.ca

Used Cars Winnipeg Used Cars – AutoWest Inc. – RSS Web Feed for Used Cars Winnipeg Used Cars – AutoWest Inc.

Wpg Auto

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 	 Club Cars at Rendezvous 2008[/caption]

AutoClubs.ca

AutoClubs.ca

Posted: May 13, 2009 
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email for minutes delivery

gahenry@autoclub.ca

Association’s Theme: Promotion and Photography of the car hobby

Used Cars Winnipeg Used Cars – AutoWest Inc. – RSS Web Feed for Used Cars Winnipeg Used Cars – AutoWest Inc.

website:   www.autoclubs.ca

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Is it going to be ‘Government Motors’?

Is it going to be ‘Government Motors’?

Posted: April 28, 2009 
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Editor’s Note: The following report is excerpted from Jerome Corsi’s Red Alert, the premium online newsletter published by the current No. 1 best-selling author, WND staff writer and columnist. Subscriptions are $99 a year or $9.95 per month for credit card users. Annual subscribers will receive a free autographed copy of “The Late Great USA,” a book about the careful deceptions of a powerful elite who want to undermine our nation’s sovereignty.

The Obama administration appears to be in the final stages of engineering a takeover of bankrupt General Motors that would turn the company over to a combination of worker leaders and government officials.

Under the plan being developed by GM’s current chief executive, Fritz Henderson, the United Auto Workers would end up owning 39 percent of the restructured GM, with the UAW agreeing to take common stock instead of cash to pay off half the $20.4 billion that GM owes the UAW workers fund to pay pension and health benefits to retired GM workers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The plan also calls for the U.S. Treasury to give GM an additional $11.6 billion in bailout loans, on top of the $15.4 billion the government has already given.

In return, the Treasury expects to pick up at least half the ownership of GM, as payment for half the outstanding bailout funds that will total $27 billion by the time the deal is done.

FROM JEROME CORSI’S RED ALERT
GM takeover would leave stockholders with 1 percent of company

Editor’s Note: The following report is excerpted from Jerome Corsi’s Red Alert, the premium online newsletter published by the current No. 1 best-selling author, WND staff writer and columnist. Subscriptions are $99 a year or $9.95 per month for credit card users. Annual subscribers will receive a free autographed copy of “The Late Great USA,” a book about the careful deceptions of a powerful elite who want to undermine our nation’s sovereignty.

The Obama administration appears to be in the final stages of engineering a takeover of bankrupt General Motors that would turn the company over to a combination of worker leaders and government officials.

Under the plan being developed by GM’s current chief executive, Fritz Henderson, the United Auto Workers would end up owning 39 percent of the restructured GM, with the UAW agreeing to take common stock instead of cash to pay off half the $20.4 billion that GM owes the UAW workers fund to pay pension and health benefits to retired GM workers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The plan also calls for the U.S. Treasury to give GM an additional $11.6 billion in bailout loans, on top of the $15.4 billion the government has already given.

In return, the Treasury expects to pick up at least half the ownership of GM, as payment for half the outstanding bailout funds that will total $27 billion by the time the deal is done.

So, when the deal is completed, GM will be 89 percent owned by the government and the union.

The clear losers are the current holders of GM stock and the creditors of GM.

Henderson has threatened to file for bankruptcy unless GM’s creditors agree to settled for 10 percent of the company.

This would leave the current GM stockholders with less than 1 percent of GM common stock.

The Wall Street Journal commented that the government owning 50 percent of GM or more “would turn GM into a sort of Government Motors, making the federal government the company’s de facto boss and bank lender.”

Ironically, the Obama administration’s heavy-handed insistence on transforming GM into a European-style automaker owned by government and workers may have increased the likelihood GM will be forced into a late-May Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

An ad hoc committee of GM bondholders called the proposal “neither reasonable nor adequate,” characterizing the offer as a “blatant disregard of fairness for the bondholders who have funded this company.”

The GM bondholders asserted the proposal being floated by the Obama administration and the current GM management “amounts to using taxpayer money to show political favoritism of one creditor over another.”

Red Alert’s author, whose books “The Obama Nation” and “Unfit for Command” have topped the New York Times best-sellers list, wrote that at the end of last week, the bank crisis appeared nowhere near finished, with more pain yet to come in a global recession that may have a long time to go before economic recovery.

Corsi received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in political science in 1972. For nearly 25 years, beginning in 1981, he worked with banks throughout the U.S. and around the world to develop financial services marketing companies to assist banks in establishing broker/dealers and insurance subsidiaries to provide financial planning products and services to their retail customers. In this career, Corsi developed three different third-party financial services marketing firms that reached gross sales levels of $1 billion in annuities and equal volume in mutual funds. In 1999, he began developing Internet-based financial marketing firms, also adapted to work in conjunction with banks.

In his 25-year financial services career, Corsi has been a noted financial services speaker and writer, publishing three books and numerous articles in professional financial services journals and magazines.

For more information on bankruptcy plans for GM and Chrysler and for financial guidance during difficult times, read Jerome Corsi’s Red Alert, the premium, online intelligence news source by  the WND staff writer, columnist and author of the New York Times No. 1 best-seller, “The Obama Nation.

Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis: GM to Become “Government … – Even without a majority stake, the government was able to use its muscle in March to oust GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner. But such a major holding would turn GM into a sort of Government Motors, making the federal government the …

Government Motors’ Choice: Green Cars or Greenbacks? – Henry Payne … – Tuesday, April 28, 2009. Government Motors’ Choice: Green Cars or Greenbacks? [Henry Payne]. Should it happen, the General Motors/Treasury proposal to give majority control of America’s biggest automaker to the federal government would …

Ed Driscoll » Updates From Government Motors – The federal government and the workers will own one of our largest and most storied industrial companies. That has never really happened before. In other words, the governmental restructuring of General Motors is a social experiment …

The Violence Worker!: Government Motors – General Motors is finished. If the deal goes through as planned, General Motors will die on the vine. Chrysler is also headed fro the scrap yard. While I am a lousy prognosticator, I just can’t believe Fiat or any other…

Zero Hedge: Government Motors To Force Over 1000 Dealers To Close – Government Motors To Force Over 1000 Dealers To Close. Just out from the Associated Press. Not sure how this gets done in practice absent massive state-specific lawsuits. Also, some good insight on why Obama being the biggest …

No Runny Eggs » Blog Archive » Government Motors to axe Pontiac … – In case you missed all the news about General Government Motors yesterday, let’s recap (courtesy Investor’s Business Daily): GM will drop Pontiac as a brand, 8000 jobs, and 2600 dealerships by next year. I suppose the good news is the …

GM, Now Government Motors | NEOAVATARA – General Motors presented a plan to restructure the company, with some surprising and controversial steps to decrease its debt. First, GM plans to cut 23000.

Is it going to be ‘Government Motors’? – Investor’s Iraq Forum … – The Wall Street Journal commented that the government owning 50 percent of GM or more “would turn GM into a sort of Government Motors, making the federal government the company’s de facto boss and bank lender.” …

GM to Become “Government Motors” | The Money Blogs – The clock is ticking for GM. If an agreement with the bondholders and the unions is not reached by June 1, GM is headed for bankruptcy court. If the deal is approved as currently on the table, the Treasury department would become GM’s …

Government Motors – Henry Payne – Planet Gore on National Review … – Government Motors [Henry Payne]. Detroit, Mich. — “If the government now has a 50 percent equity stake in GM, how do you feel about being a nationalized company?” asked an on-the-ball British newspaper journalist in General Motors CEO …

“Chuckie D” speaks: GM – “Government Motors” – So we could have a “government owned” (nationalized) auto company and a “union owned” auto company; which raises some interesting questions: 1/ If GM (Government Motors) continues to fail and lose money, will the government subsidize …

Government Motors – Dodge Nitro Forum – GM’s latest plan would cede control to US Posted Tuesday, Apr 28, 2009, 12:32 pm in Employee News The US Treasury Department would own a majority.

implode-explode.com – Implosion News Pick-ups: GM to Become … – GM to Become “Government Motors”. (blogspot.com). Search IEHI news archive: Enter your search terms. Web, IEHI. Submit search form. 2009-04-28. “The clock is ticking for GM. If an agreement with the bondholders and the unions is not …

Mover Mike » Government Motors – Government Motors. Posted on April 28th, 2009 by MoverMike. It looks like the bondholders of General Motors totaling $27 Billion will end up with 10% of the reorganized auto company. The U.S. which has $15 Billion at risk will get 50% …

Lake Minnetonka Liberty: Government Motors kills off 21000 jobs … – Government Motors, Obama Motors, General Motors, Marxist Motors, whatever the hell… big, bloated, Socialist government just created 21000 lost jobs. They do that very well, particularly under the leadership of the president, you know, …

GM (Government Motors) Closes Pontiac and Saturn. – I’m sure you all have seen the news, but really closing entire divisions especially these two which actually have a loyal following amoung younger.

Government Motors prepares for massive layoff « Right Minded Online – Judging by the recent performance of the Government Motors Corporation, I don’t think President Obama would have made it as a big-time CEO. The Community Organizer in Chief, who currently serves as the de facto CEO of Government Motors, …

JSMiles: Government Motors: GM and the Socialist Experiment – GM, once the symbol of American manufacturing might, is selling itself to the Federal Government and to the United Auto Workers. So, we will get to see how Uncle Sam and a union that bankrolls the Democratic Party run a…

linkfilter.net – fresh links daily – G.M.: Government Motors · government. Link #145483 submitted by Mac on Apr 27, 2009 07:04pm. (+100XP) http://www.detnews.com/article/20090427/AUTO01/904270396/Treasury+w… The U.S. Treasury Department would own a majority stake in General Motors Corp., have the right to appoint all of its directors and have veto power over all shareholder actions under the company’s new restructuring plan unveiled today. This link was last accessed on …

Government Motors – Theater of the Absurd | The Lonely Conservative – General Motors is rapidly turning into a really bad joke. But the joke’s on their bondholders and taxpayers. This just exemplifies why government has no business getting involved in business.

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Classic VW Karmann Ghia

Classic VW Karmann Ghia

Posted: April 24, 2009 
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I saw a news item the other day linking to a German language article about independent coachbuilder Wilhelm Karmann GmbH which related a bit of shocking news: Der Cabrio-Spezialist meldet Insolvenz an! Karmann, which once built convertibles for Audi, Ford, Mercedes, Porsche, Renault and VW, fabricated convertible tops for those and many other manufacturers, assembled AMC Javelins for sale in Europe, and built its own line of “Mobil” motorhomes, has filed the German equivalent of a bankruptcy petition and is going out of business.

That seems to make this an appropriate time to spend a bit of Car Lust bandwidth on Karmann’s best-known product: the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia–or, as one writer rather cleverly described it, the “Beetle in a Cocktail Dress.” That description is appropriate because beneath the Karmann Ghia’s attractively curvaceous styling is the heart and soul (and floorpan, engine, transmission, suspension, and other miscellaneous mechanical parts) of a humble Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle.

The story behind the Karmann Ghia is a fascinating one, with a surprising (to me, anyway) connection to a member of our own Car Lust family.

 

 

 

History contains many examples of auto manufacturers who stubbornly stuck with an established design in defiance of fashion (e.g., Checker’s Marathon taxicab, Ford’s Model T, AMC’s Hornet/Concord, Morgan’s entire product line). Perhaps the most stubborn of all was Heinz Heinrich Nordhoff, the first chief executive of Volkswagen, and a man who pretty much fit the archetype of the autocratic, perfectionist, ultracompetent German engineer.

Herr Nordhoff set a very conservative policy for Volkswagen. It built the Type 1 (not officially called the “Beetle” until the 1970s) and the Type 2 Transporter (better known in the U.S. as the “Microbus”), which was derived from the Type 1 and used many of the same mechanical parts–and that was it! The two designs were given periodic improvements and refinements, but there were no annual restylings and only a select few variations.

In the period when Europe was just getting started with its postwar rebuilding, Herr Nordhof’s conservatism made sense: there wasn’t much of a market for anything beyond basic transportation, VW already had a very good design that met that need, and it didn’t really have the money to do a lot of new product development even if the boss had been so inclined. VW would later get into trouble for being too slow to change, but all that was a couple of decades away.

Which is not to say that Herr Nordhoff was totally uninterested in expanding the VW product line. He was okay with the idea of new VW products, just as long as VW wasn’t called upon to spend a lot of its own money to develop them. In 1949, Karmann built a prototype Type 1 convertible (”Cabriolet”) on speculation, which caught Herr Nordhoff’s fancy and went into production (subcontracted out to Karmann, of course) later that year.

In 1951, Karmann began pitching the idea of a racy coupe built on the Type 1 platform. VW was open to the concept, but none of Karmann’s initial styling studies were accepted.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Alps, Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Ghia SpA, like Karmann, was looking for work. The Italians had talented designers and craftsmen, but the market for custom carbodies for the European elite was not what it had been before the war. As a way of drumming up business, Ghia built a “spec” car, the XX-500, by placing a dapper custom body on a Plymouth chassis, and showed it to Chrysler. Chrysler had just hired a new Director of Styling by the name of Virgil Exner–the father of Car Lust contributor Virgil Exner Jr.–and Ghia soon had a decent line of business crafting prototypes and limited-production custom cars from Mr. Exner’s designs. Among these was a show car called the D’Elegance, a coupe with swoopy, curvaceous bodywork.

At this point, you might be thinking that there’s a certain family resemblance between the D’Elegance and the Karmann Ghia. You’d be right about that, and with good reason. Around the time that Ghia began working on the D’Elegance, it also began collaborating with Karmann on a new design for that fancy coupe Karmann had suggested to VW. While Ghia later tried to claim otherwise, it’s pretty darned obvious just from looking at the thing that they cribbed off the D’Elegance in cooking up the VW design.

Our own Virgil Exner Jr. confirms this:

“In 1955 I had turned 22 and was attending the Kunst und Bilden Akadamie in Wein (Vienna) Austria. When school was out in late May a buddy of mine and I made our way to Torino to visit Luigi Segre and Ghia. Paul Farago, my father’s and my great associate car builder, was there and he asked Luigi to roll out the first Karman Ghia production prototype, as ‘it was developed from the D’Elegance.’ Paul had an issue with Gigi as to whether the windshield header might be too low as to make the roof look too heavy. They both asked me. I said that I thought so too, and that I would raise it by an inch. ‘Done,’ said Luigi, and it was, just before production was announced.

“Ghia had sent the second Karmann Ghia to be imported to this country to Chrysler. The first had been sent to Max Hoffman in N.Y. I drove Chrysler’s a few times in early 1956 and loved it. My father bought it from Chrysler for me as a graduation present. After about 6 months I traded it in to the local Volkswagen dealer for a brand new 1957 standard Beetle plus $600 that I used to finish the full sized build of my Simca Special.“

Herr Nordhoff liked the design, but was rightly concerned about production costs. The compound curves of the front fenders meant that they could not be formed from a simple stamping, but would have to be built up from several pieces welded together by hand, as shown in the footage of Karmann’s production floor appearing in this Portugese-language commercial:

It took Karmann 21 months to complete the engineering necessary to turn Ghia’s Exner-influenced prototype into a car that could be built cheaply enough to be profitable at the desired price point. The first production models rolled out of the shop in August of 1955. The “cabriolet” (convertible) version appeared in late 1957. Thanks to its drop-dead-gorgeous looks, the Karmann Ghia was an immediate hit. VW sold 10,000 in the first year, far in excess of its expectation. Make no mistake, the styling was what was selling the car. It didn’t have sports car speed, and that was quite intentional. VW, Karmann, and Porsche had a complicated symbiotic relationship at the time, and no one at either Karmann or VW wanted to mess that relationship up by coming out with a car that competed head-on with the Porsche 356.

The drivetrain was straight out of the mid-1950s Beetle–a 1200-cc, 36-horsepower flat-4 motor and a four-speed transmission–and the only suspension modification was the addition of a front sway bar. The fancy bodywork weighed about 150 pounds more than the Beetle’s, but the extra weight was partially offset by the Karmann Ghia’s smaller frontal area and better aerodynamics. The 0-60 time was a Beetlesque 30 seconds, but the top speed was slightly higher than the contemporary Bug, at 72 mph. Still, it wasn’t exactly the hottest car on the road, and VW never tried to pretend otherwise:

On the other hand, the Karmann Ghia had Virgil-Exner-with-an-Italian-accent styling and the Beetle’s German-engineered reliability going for it. It might not be able to quite keep up with the other sports cars, but it would keep running while those other little two-seaters were sidelined by their chronic mechanical gremlins–and look good doing it! The Karmann Ghia enjoyed a long production run with few changes. A 1960 restyling of the front clip raised the headlights and enlarged the air vents. As a result, older Karmann Ghias are sometimes referred to as “lowlights.” There were minor changes in tail lights and turn signals over the years, and the Karmann Ghia also got the benefit of improvements in the Beetle’s engine and mechanical parts. The final ones, like the last Beetles, had a 1584cc 60 horsepower engine, giving them a bit more pep than the early lowlights.

(There was also another Karmann Ghia, the Type 34, which was built on the Type 3 (”Fastback” and “Squareback“) platform. It was styled by Virgil Exner Jr., and had a much more straight-lined and somewhat Corvairish look. The Type 34 was in production from 1962 to 1969, and was not officially exported to the U.S., though a few made it here.)

Karmann built a total of 362,601 coupes and 80,881 convertibles before the production run ended in 1974. A fair number have survived. Rust is a problem–as with all Karmann-built vehicles from that era–but even with that, restoring or maintaining a Karmann Ghia is relatively easy as vintage cars go. The mechanical parts are pure Beetle, and NOS or reproduction components are available from a variety of sources. As with most interesting cars, there’s an active owner’s club and other Internet forums where Karmann Ghia owners are willing to share their knowledge.

Give me a drop-top in Paprika Red.  It wouldn’t be the fastest car by any means, but for a (moderate) speed run through the gorge between the old mill and the goldfish pond on a summer’s day, you could do a lot worse.

Volkswagen Karmann Ghia » Car News Articles – That seems to make this an appropriate time to spend a bit of Car Lust bandwidth on Karmann’s best-known product: the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia–or, as one writer rather cleverly described it, the “Beetle in a Cocktail Dress. …

Car Lust: Volkswagen Karmann Ghia – I saw a news item the other day linking to a German language article about independent coachbuilder Wilhelm Karmann GmbH which related a bit of shocking news: Der Cabrio-Spezialist meldet Insolvenz an! Karmann, which once built …

1973 Karmann Ghia Coupe on Flickr – Photo Sharing! – Seen at Classic VW Kelley Park Meeting 2009 in San Jose, California. The first and only one owner of this car was present and bought it back in 73 in Hawaii.

TheSamba.com :: VW Classifieds – 1974 Karmann Ghia – Classified ads, photos, shows, links, forums, and technical information for the Volkswagen automobile.

RANDOM SNAP>> KARMANN GHIA – Speedhunters – Speedhunters is a car culture blog site from the creators of the Need for Speed video game team. We’ve hooked up with our favorite automotive writers, photographers and drivers from across the globe to bring you a daily dose of car …

vw tc kharmann ghia on Flickr – Photo Sharing! – vw tc kharmann ghia. … vw tc kharmann ghia. vw tc kharmann ghia by rubens rodrigues. To take full advantage of Flickr, you should use a JavaScript-enabled browser and install the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player. …

Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 34 Razor Edge for sale, classic cars … – Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 34 Razor Edge Old English White buy classic car for sale UK, £5395 (Car: 56195). Classic Cars For Sale, the number one UK site for buying and selling classic cars with free classifieds adverts.

VW tow truck and Kharmann Ghia – 2xtrouble posted a photo: VW tow truck and Kharmann Ghia. More of my toy cars.

Karmann Ghia after the rain on Flickr – Photo Sharing! – Karmann Ghia Cove (Pool). 0. Tags. Click this icon to see all public photos and videos tagged with Karmann Karmann · Click this icon to see all public photos and videos tagged with Ghia Ghia · Click this icon to see all public photos …

2 Karmann Ghia’s for sale: $2009 Classifieds forum: Grassroots … – April 14, 2009 7:42 p.m. mtn Dork. http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/cto/1122713194.html. 2 VW Karmann Ghia’s, 3000 for the both of them. Convertible and Hardtop. Not mine. Blah Blah Blah …

The red coupe at the top of this article came from Flickr user Felipe Abreu. The photo of the D’Elegance came from Peter Madle’s Stutz cars website, which includes coverage of other rare cars designed by the Exners. The festive yellow Cabriolet came from Flickr user Lucky Luc 512, who shot it at the Feuerwehrfest Altenhundem in 2007. Flickr user Thomas Tepe took the photo of a Karmann Ghia caravan at a Karmann Ghia owners’ club meet in Germany in 2005.

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Ugliest Cars of All Time

Ugliest Cars of All Time

Posted: April 24, 2009 
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Ugliest cars of all time

By MSN Cars UK

Ugliest cars of all time

 

What’s Your Favorite Ugly Car? – CarDomain Blog – Some cars, no matter which way you cut it, are just plain fugly. And yet sometimes, in spite of yourself, you can find yourself developing a crush on a homely ride despite (or even because of) its visual shortcomings.

Ugly Cars. – Autocar – As far as ugly cars go I think the forthcoming Citroen DS3 takes some beating. Its just got dis-jointed lines all over the place, but its lasting impression on me is of a caricatured 3-door Suzuki SX4! The real shame is that citroen can …

Very ugly cars: 4. The Hyundai Pony – Staring at the Sea… – Very ugly cars: 4. The Hyundai Pony. It never was going to be that great, being based as it was on the really unutterably awful Morris Marina. But the blandness which the newly-established Korean brand added to a car of already epically …

Smash up ugly cars in our online game – News – iMOTOR – We give you the chance to smash up cars with the ugly stick in our online game.

Art Car Central: Ugly car mods sweeping the nation as economy tanks – Ugly car mods sweeping the nation as economy tanks. Mercedes Cardboard Budget Mod. Those who had money in the stock market were hit the hardest by the economic meltdown. E. Europe budget mod, they have been doing this for a while now. …

Car manufacturers spend millions, if not billions, developing and testing every nuance of a new car, but in the showroom many buying decisions come down to image. And while the odd aesthetic mishap occurs, looking back on the sheer number of ugly vehicles, it seems implausible that none of these monstrosities were halted before leaving the drawing board. The sad fact is that quite a few of these design disasters led to some good cars, many of which were overlooked and left unloved in the showrooms. See what you think of our gallery.

By MSN Cars UK

 

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Canadian Auto Industry : New business model, new union model too

Canadian Auto Industry : New business model, new union model too

Posted: April 24, 2009 
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A quote in a news story yesterday appeared to reveal that the Canadian Auto Workers boss gets it and will agree to slash labor costs by 25% so Chrysler LLC can survive.
“We’re going to get it done,” Ken Lewenza, president of the holdout, the Canadian Auto Workers, told Bloomberg April 21 in an interview. “We are not worried about the time frame.”
But time is critical. Washington has given Chrysler another eight days to get its act together and merge with Fiat SpA. The Italian automaker, in turn, wants wages reduced from C$79 an hour by C$19 an hour – a condition that is also imposed by Canada’s federal government.
If conditions are unmet, Chrysler has made it clear that it will close down its Canadian operations, already on the downstroke for years.

Bye bye
More likely if conditions are not met, Chrysler will go into bankruptcy and liquidation in both the U.S. and Canada. That will mean the thousands of CAW Chrysler workers will be responsible for the bankruptcies of suppliers employing tens of thousands as well as pension disaster for retired workers.
The only good news from this scenario would be that Chrysler’s demise will enhance the survivability of the other two manufacturing giants.
CAW has balked at the C$19-an-hour demand because it is more than General Motors or Ford requested. Worries are that it will be whip-sawed into matching lower wages with those two if it agrees to Chrysler’s requirement.
But whip-sawing has been a part of the game and, on the way up, the unions profited mightily (too much so) from picking on one of the Big Three to extract the same benefits out of the other two. The victim was usually the weakest automaker.

New business model, new union model too
The crisis illustrates the flaw in the union mentality: some CAW officials have even demonized the wage-cut request as union-bashing and/or believe that their workers have been at the center of creating good cars for decades.
They are not at the center. Workers are cogs in the wheels of Detroit. Auto company success is the intersection of billions in capital investment with great managers, brilliant engineers, snappy designees, smart marketers and lady luck.
Lewenza thinks he is just doing his job by holding out for more money on behalf of those who pay his organization dues. But this is the paradigm in the parallel universe of auto unions. He and the CAW must shift gears immediately.

www.nationalpost.com

GM shutdown spares Macomb plants – The Macomb Daily News: Breaking … – GM normally shuts down its assembly plants for two weeks each summer to prepare for the new model year, but assembly plants that will see additional down weeks are in Arlington, Texas; Bowling Green, Ky.; Detroit-Hamtramck, Mich.; Flint, Mich.; …. And the Democrates say they are pro union. ” Report Abuse. TEABAGGD wrote on Apr 23, 2009 4:31 PM: ” PEOPLE ARENT BUYING NEW CARS BECAUSE THANKS TO NAFTA EVERYBODY OUTSIDE OF THE AUTO INDUSTRY MAKES $8.00 PER HOUR ” …

INTERNATIONAL AUTO WOES INCREASE « Culture of Life News 2 – Neither knew when the shutdowns would occur, but both said the closures would include the normal two-week closure in July to change from one model year to the next. The company has not yet notified workers. … 1995: Unions Must Study German Auto Lesson – The New York Times. “Luxuries They Can’t Afford” (Business Day, Sept. 13), on the globalization of the German auto industry, helps explain why even the strongest national unions are at a disadvantage in the struggle to …

Sympatico / MSN Autos (EN): Is Chrysler filing for bankruptcy? – I think any company in the auto industry should have to fold like any other business that files for bankruptcy, it forces the other companies still around to rethink old ideas and produce a product that will actually be wanted by those that need it. …. They need to bring down the price of a new car so middle class can afford them again! Get rid of the union they do more harm than good! Posted by: P.K. | 2009-04-24 8:14:31 AM. I think enough is enough. …

Meltdown 101: Why would it make sense for GM to temporarily close … – The United Auto Workers union contract requires the company to make up much of the difference between state unemployment benefits and their wages. A plant’s white collar work force, which has no UAW contract, can use vacation time to continue getting paid during part of the shutdown period. … GM normally shuts down its assembly plants for two weeks each summer to prepare for the new model year, but several assembly plants will see additional down weeks on top of that. …

James Laxer: Canada’s Vital Auto Industry: Past, Present and Future – The concern the government had with that choice was that General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were U.S. owned companies and so too were many of the major parts suppliers for the Canadian auto industry. The problem was that at some ….. We need a new model to plan a wide range of Canadian initiatives. Involved must be the federal government, the provinces, and the cities. The private sector, trade unions, and the best brains in a range of fields must be brought on board. …

Editorial: Between the Lines: MaryAnn Keller: Post C11 GM Needs A … – GM needs a turnaround, even if it is for the “New GM” which emerges from C11. There may be an example in automotive history of a significant turnaround without fresh leadership, but I can’t think of it. (Any ideas, Menno? …. The only thing that this division has going for it is the hope that GM can copy the Toyota/Lexus, Honda/Acura business model… But take a look at Acura sales are imploding and Lexus used to “make it” in North America by marketing Cars that everywhere …

GM to idle 13 plants as it slashes output again – Without the successful resolution of this dispute, it is General Motors’ view that Delphi or its lenders could force GM into an uncontrolled shutdown, with severe negative consequences for the U.S. automotive industry,” GM said in a release . ….. In 1996 a new financial service brand was born in Canada — ING Direct. Bruce Philp played an instrumental role building that brand, one that is detailed in The Orange Code, his new book co-authored with Arkadi Kuhlmann. …

 

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