If you went searching for an original UK market right-hand-drive Karmann Ghia from the Sixties, you wouldn't find many cars out there and if you specifically wanted a 1966 model, you could probably count how many are still around on one hand! If you wanted one painted white with an original red interior, well, you'd be out of luck, as the only one known is not for sale!
Although by 1966 the Karmann Ghia was readily available from your local VW agent and sold very well, the coachbuilt bodywork did not like the way the British used salt on the roads during the winter. Over the decades, the cars slowly rotted away and many were scrapped. More than any other factor, this has assured that UK market RHD Karmann Ghias are a rare sight today. Of those that have survived, few are in show-worthy condition. On the other hand, of course, the same car in left-hand-drive format is very easy to locate, as there are plenty of Californian imports around if you want one. But, as I said, RHD cars are a different story...
When geoscientist Chris Taylor and his wife, award-winning artist Annie Woodford, from Hampton Wick in Surrey, bought this car, they didn't know how lucky they were to get it. However, they have since realised that this Karmann Ghia could well be unique!
"We were out for a drive one day when we saw a car going round a roundabout and we wondered, 'Wow, what is that?' We didn't know what it was at all, but it looked great," Chris remarks. "Then we saw a silver Karmann Ghia in an advert on TV. You could see the VW badge on the front, so we searched the internet to find out what it was. Eventually, we discovered that it was a Karmann Ghia. We had both just reached half a century and decided to reward ourselves by buying one." But when they began their search, they found that the cars they saw were "mostly in poor condition".

For the full story on Chris' Karmann Ghia check out the January 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 30th November to 28th December and then available through back issues.