The Rader' '71 Ghia

Although a Karmann Ghia is somewhat different, this one’s special from another standpoint. This yellow ’71 is a one owner, 31+ year old daily driver with under 56000 original miles.  Jacqueline Rader bought it new from Blackhawk VW in Davenport Iowa in November 1970 for $2534.50 and still has the original window sticker to prove it.  Not satisfied with just standard equipment she splurged $25 extra for whitewalls and $127 for an AM/FM radio upgrade. Her father chipped in $75 for a wooden steering wheel.  Ignoring the sticker shock and wanting something different, she traded in her yellow ‘66 Ghia (Original sticker price  $1525) for $850.  It’s proved to be a great investment considering she has had this car longer than her husband Gary (she got him “as is”, without a trade in) and it’s clearly in better shape than he is.

 Having married Gary in mid ’74, the Ghia got its first long road trip when they moved to Princeton NJ.  Combining the move with their honeymoon, Karmann got to ride the ferry across Lake Michigan and see Niagara Falls up close and personal.  Mid 70s saw the gasoline drought, so even being one of the most fuel-efficient autos around, a 23 channel CB was added to find gas stations with a green flag.

 Four years later the Ghia moved again to tropical Rochester Minn, and proved itself as one of the few autos capable of always starting and crisply capable of handling the snow and ice.  Unfortunately Minnesota’s salt shaker droppings took their toll on Karmann’s rocker panels and embedded heater ducts, so in late ’82 Karmann went to a rural body shop (think big aluminum shed behind the farmhouse) for repairs to the body and a fresh paint job. By the spring of ’83 it was sporting its fresh look but with a move to Florida coming up, it was “temporarily” stored back at its first home, Rock Island Illinois.  This time it had a garage, and temporary turned into 18 years. 

Entering the new millennium and missing her old friend, Jacque found the Rock Island VW specialist who could make it drivable again.  New gas, oil, battery (it’s reported it started right up), brakes, and a tune up in Illinois prepared it for a truck ride to Boca in Jan ’01.  

Looking for local service Gary found West McNab Motor Works and enter Bruce, who declares it “a survivor”.  Using his vast air-cooled VW experience to identify possible concerns, Bruce shared his first deep observation, “It would ride much better if the tires were round.”  We knew we found our Florida master VW mechanic!  So 5 tires from Coker and one each gas tank, carburetor, distributor, dashboard, master brake cylinder & much miscellaneous stuff from Bruce (is anyone else thinking of claiming him as a dependant on their income tax?), Karmann’s just about back to new.

 In summary, Jacque, a registered nurse, proves that TLC also works on cars, having every recommended maintenance coupon duly stamped and all documentation.  Her Karmann Ghia provided many years of dependable transportation and has endured many days & nights in hospital parking lots.  So now, with its two owners, it joins the retired community, to lazily enjoy its twilight years doing just what it wants to do.  Meeting with friends at the VW club and showing there is in fact life after 30.