[MUSIC PLAYING]
RICK (VOICEOVER): I talked to a guy on the phone,
and he's got a 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.
For a kid who grew up in Southern California,
this is a cool car, so I wanted to check it out right away.
Hey, how's it going?
Hey.
How are you, buddy?
Cool, man.
So this is it, eh?
This is it.
RICK: '64 Ghia.
SELLER: Yep.
RICK: This is the car that would have made me
so cool when I was growing up.
[LAUGHS]
Me, too.
RICK: So how much do you want for it?
I was looking to get $12,500.
OK.
I mean, there is some work that needs to be done to it.
Let me have a buddy look at it, all right?
Let's just see what needs to be done to make it perfect.
OK? - OK.
This guy knows everything there is to know
about Volkswagens, period.
All right.
I'd like to find out what he's got to say.
Give me a few minutes.
I'm gonna go to my car and call him.
SELLER: Sure.
Thanks, man.
He can call whoever he wants in.
I mean, he can call his father.
He can call his sister.
He can call anybody.
I think for 50 years old, it's in damn good shape.
So this is it, '64 Ghia.
The '64 Karmann Ghia, eh?
Yeah, they're nice cars.
This was Volkswagen's first production sports car.
It's called the Karmann Ghia because it was built
by Karmann Coachworks, which in fact
also built the Porsche bodies.
It's a hand-built body.
Everything's brazed, so these are great classic cars.
It was always called the poor man's Porsche.
So you couldn't afford a Porsche,
this is the car that you bought.
The '50s were a really strong time for the Volkswagen.
They started importing to the US and
their sales just skyrocketed.
They had a huge hit with the Volkswagen Beetle
on their hands.
They developed the Ghia because they
wanted to tap into a little bit broader market base.
Guys that were looking for a sports car,
yet it's economical, and it looked
like a hand-built, exotic car.
The seats-- those are some bigguns.
[LAUGHTER]
SELLER: Yeah.
They recline all the way flat.
That's what I'm worried about.
Why?
It's too private of a vehicle.
You can't be racing around town in something
like this with your lady friend.
It's just too tempting.
I got no lady friends.
I got a wife.
[LAUGHS]
You did a lot of the work on the interior yourself?
SELLER: Yeah, I did it all myself.
BILL TSAGRINOS: It's got velour door panels.
That's a little bit of a throwback.
[LAUGHTER]
Can we take a look at the motor?
SELLER: Sure.
BILL TSAGRINOS: Wow.
That's a lot of foil-covered insulation there.
So does this thing run a little bit hot or anything?
No, it runs good, actually.
BILL TSAGRINOS: It's the first time I've actually
seen this heat-reflective foil on the inside
of the engine compartment.
Can we take her for a test drive?
SELLER: Sure.
RICK: Who's sitting in the back seat?
SELLER: Who's sitting in the back seat?
RICK: [LAUGHS] - I guess I am, eh?
OK.
I'll drive.
RICK: These are cool cars, but I will say this.
When I dreamed of owning one of these when I was
a kid, driving around with three grown men
was not exactly what I pictured.
[LAUGHS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
That noise that you hear is your transaxle
is pretty low on gear oil.
That krrr-- that noise?
SELLER: Yeah.
BILL TSAGRINOS: The brakes are a little low, actually
almost a little scary low.
OK, you might be bottoming out a little bit.
You see the shifter move like that?
You've got broken motor mounts.
You can tell, you watch the clutch
pedal, the clutch pedal moves also
when I get on and off the gas.
Well, so there is no emergency brake, either?
No, the cable's been--
I just didn't put them in.
Well, what if we have an emergency?
RICK: [LAUGHS]
Once I found out there was no emergency brake,
what do we do in an emergency?
This is no good.
So we brought it back here as soon as we could
and try to keep it under 50.
Obviously, there's a few problems.
Yeah.
There's a few things that need adjustment on this.
RICK: What do you think it's worth?
BILL TSAGRINOS: Well, this car obviously needs
a little bit of everything.
With some work, it could be, you know, a decent driver.
But I'd have to put a value on this car,
you know, high retail $4,500, maybe $5,000,
and that's also after you fix a lot of the little things
that you got going on there.
RICK: How much would it cost to restore it?
BILL TSAGRINOS: A full restoration,
you're going to be anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000.
OK, and how much would it be worth after you restored it?
$20,000 to $30,000.
OK.
So basically, there's no money to be
made on it if I restored it.
BILL TSAGRINOS: No, there's no quick flip money.
RICK: OK.
Thanks, man. - All right.
You got it.
- Thanks, buddy. - I appreciate it, man.
Thanks for your time. - Thanks.
Thank you.
The Karmann Ghia looked like a hand-built exotic car,
but sometimes people put more money into a car
than what it's worth.
And when you do that, the reality is a lot of things
that he did the car actually devalued it.
You know, man, I'd love to make an offer on it,
but I just don't think we're gonna make a deal.
That's fine.
RICK: OK?
It's cool car, though.
Brought back a lot of memories.
I'm sure you'll find someone to fall in love with it, man.
I'm sure I will.
- Well, thanks, man. - Thank you.
Thanks for showing it to me, man.
Nice to meet you.
Thanks.
RICK (VOICEOVER): I'm sort of bummed out
this wasn't the deal for me.
But the thing is, I'm looking for cars
I can buy, and restore, and make a little money.
This is not the car.