VW Beetle Karmann Cabriolet

When you've been around air-cooled VWs for a while, you know Karmann Cabriolet Beetles are far less common than their tin-top brothers. I'm not certain on figures, but I would be surprised if the total amount of pre '67 Karmann Beetles in this country even reaches three figures. That's why James Self, the 35-year-old owner of this '58 Cabriolet knew he was onto something when he heard about it back in 1999.
James has been into cars since childhood. He told us that he "bought Custom Car and Street Machine magazine long before VolksWorld. When it came to choosing a car to buy it was either going to be a Ford Consul Capri or a Beetle. I decided on a Beetle as spares were cheap and more readily available, plus they seemed easier to work on." James got his first Beetle in 1988, a '72 that cost £600. By the time the first VolksWorld Show at Sandown Park came along in '94, James had got a lot more seriously into his VWs. At that first show he had his '70 Beetle show car Life's a Peach on display. At around the same time he was involved in running one of the largest local VW clubs of the period, Lo-E-Nuf. By 1995, James admits he felt drawn into the world of Mini-trucks, buying a Mazda B2000. At the time a handful of people, including James, thought this trend from the USA would catch on over here, but, well, it didn't. James decided it was pointless to spend another penny on the Mazda and went back to his first love - VWs. He went in search of a Karmann Ghia and heard there was one for sale at Karmann Konnection down in Southend, so headed off to check it out. That one wasn't for him, but they told him about a 1958 Cabriolet restoration project for sale at a local bodyshop called Southchurch Refinishers. James didn't see any harm in going to take a look. Having viewed the car, he told us, "Basically it was shell on a restored chassis with boxes and boxes of bits. The shell looked like it was solid and needed no welding, just painting. All the bits seemed to be there, so I took a gamble and bought it with the view to quickly getting it done and selling it on for a profit." James had to hand over £5,000 for the car, but obviously the getting it done quickly bit didn't happen! The car was complete bar a few minor parts, and one major one...The rear seat. It took James over a year to find one, and the other Cabriolet-only parts proved equally hard to find. In the end, the quick buck resto ended up being a seven-year long project. This has a fair bit to do with the fact James had a couple of career changes along the way, plus the fact he had no idea restoring a Vert would be so expensive! To use his own words, "It was double, plus a bit more than what I expected." He's sure anyone who has restored a Karmann Beetle would agree with him.

For the full story check out the August 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 13 June and then available through back issues.

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