Volkswagen Concept: Karmagong Ghia Surfwagen
What if Volkswagen produced a limited number of these sport wagens. Capitalizing on it’s popularity in the 60s California beach scene, and transforming a sleek sports car into a surf wagen, Volkwagen could’ve offered an alternative to the ultimate beach ride, the VW Bus.
Or you could do it yourself. Weld-in a rust-free Volkswagen Type3 Squareback top, side windows and rear hatch to fit a solid 60s Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.
Kamagong is one of the hardest woods used in traditional Philippine furnitures. Often mistaken for Mahogany, the Kamagong is actually a different tree altogether.
Pinoy craftsmen used lots of kamagong veneer and strips to form a wooden frame for the area around the squareback windows. Expertly shaped and sanded into shape, the new phantom body is a welcome concept.
This Surfwagen is fitted with classy polished Randar rims with Michellin tires. Power comes from a 1776, dual Weber ICT-fed, pancake motor that clear precious rear space.
The roomier interior is blessed with cocoa brown leather, with an eggshell colored headliner and brown carpeting.The cool white paint accentuates the dark wood of Karmagong Ghia.
Volkswagen Concept: Who is Verdugo?
A 1963 Type1 Karmann Ghia racer. Found in a bodega of a small sleepy pueblo. Apparently, frozen brakes forced Verdugo out of the race and was disgustingly stored in the nearest village. Lost and forgotten, the Ghia sat forlornly with only cats and chickens to talk to. Who could have realized the treasures he hid?
The filthy body cleaned up very well with a good washing. The number 63 again lives. His bumpers have been removed years ago as with the side trim. The interior is stripped of every little bit and with only a rollbar welded as per race rules with a single race bucket seat mounted.
While finding an early rally Karmann Ghia seems like a fortunate event, the real treasure is the special engine Verdugo has.
An Okrasa (Oettinger KRAftfahrtechnische SpecialAnstalt) TSV-1300/30 engine features a special pair of tuned twin-port cylinder heads, dual Solex 32PBIC carburators (as used on Porsche 356s), oil-cooler and filter. A beautiful 69.5mm chrome-moly stroker crank gave a capacity of 1295cc. This sweet engine guarantees smiles on our faces. The Abarth Sport 4-tip exhaust is the perfect match.
Verdugo sports Firestone blackwalls mounted on 5.5inch Porsche rims sans hubcaps.
Driving on today’s race track is no problem, easily keeping up with flow. Proving that you can have your cake and eat it too. So if you want to see how a Karmann Ghia behaves like a Porsche 356 racer for a fraction of the price (but with double the class), drive Verdugo.
Volkswagen concept: Big Al on the Prowl
Need a little bit more room for your Tommy Guns? This Volkswagen Concept comes out of the Rometsch 4-door taxi. Updated Beetle body accommodates the full red leather interior worthy of Capone. Bulletproof Arelli Black Geneva rims and Performance tires smooth out the ride through dangerous streets. An equally bullet-proof 2 liter Type 4 provides enough juice to outrun the cops.
Top of the World, Ma!
Volkswagen Concept: Ashley
1303 owners around the world like EJ know they have a good thing going. They have reason to brag with the added room, excellent road handling, powerful engines, and modern electricals.
Super Beetle owners rejoice now that Ashley is back.
A tuned 1600 add jazz to everyday drives while being extremely fuel-efficient. The quiet-packs sing her air-cooled bossanova while she works Manila traffic. It’s like watching Tyra work an audience.
Her charcoal grey evening dress leaves many a lasting impression. Chrome bumpers and the Porsche 2.0 Liter alloys she wears are as subtle as Chanel No. 5 and Tiffany pearls. Simply nothing but a class act.
The interior in ebony black is a work of art. Upholstered Miata seats hug you in scrumptuous, butter-smooth leather while offering additional lateral support. Sure to be the talk of the town, under Ashley’s serene all-business outfit hides sexy black La Perla lingerie. Oh behave, baby.
Big Al’s Night Out
With a dual Weber 45-equipped, Porsche 914 2.4 liter engine and 5-speed installed via a custom flywheel and flipped ring gear, Big Al is not afraid to boogie.
Driving through Ayala, the deep House of color, Cherry Black paint glistens from the fresh detailing, new HiD headlight and LED tail light conversions brighten the way, and four-wheel disc brakes and Koni shocks firm up the handling.
The short front and additional rear doors open butterfly style, revealing the red-hot leather Recaro interior. Red leather door panels and blood red German wool carpeting are perfect complements to the maraschino cherry exterior.
The split dashboard is home to classic white-face VDO gauges and updated with a contemporary sound system. A Pioneer AVIC-D1 In-Dash Mobile Nav head unit, makes sure that Big Al doesn’t get lost on the way to the clubs. Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty DSP pumps Punch subs, and the Audiobahn A12005DN amplifier keep the beat thumpin’.
The early split-window roll-up ragtop is restored and opens to spectacular views of the moon and stars. Big Al shows them how it’s done.
Updated with 17×7 inch front and massive 20×9 inch rear Arelli Black Geneva rims and matching Pirelli performance tires, Big Al goes on a night out.
A new trick, try and click on the doors to open them.
Volkswagen Concept: TruOrangz
This 63 Volkswagen is as sweet as they come.
Painted a Sunkist Orange hue a few years ago, it still looks fresh. Proceed to remove the bugeye fenders, bumpers and lights but remember to store them in a safe place.
Chrome motorcycle headlight housings camouflage HID innards and a pair of LED round taillights provide stoplight visibility.
The recently redone interior is as comfortable as a pair of Banana Republic beige khakis. A sweet set of natural pina seatcovers add a bit of class for special occasions. Clean and polish the groovy visor and the handmade roofrack that echoes the design of vintage Airstream racks.
TruOrangz features a volksrod extended ball joint, disc braked front beam, the rear updated to IRS with a freeway flyer transmission.
A 1776, dual Weber 32s, dual QP headers, 009, and alternator sing with daily driver dependability.
A fresh set of four-bolt Sprintstars and 5.60 Firestone 2 3/4 inch whitewalls give TruOrangz a mid-60s fuelie look. Tri-spoke centercaps add a little racer touch to the steetwear.
Volkswagen Concept: SwitchBlade
Love it or leave it. The Type34 Karmann Ghia easily is one of the most controversial designs to come out of Wolfsburg. Taking advantage of the newly redesigned Type3 chassis, the Big Ghia launched during the jet age heyday.
Unflatteringly, this Ghia is often mistaken for a Chevrolet Corvair. Jokingly called the Jetson car, it’s dual round taillights look like rocket jets at night.
Also known as the Razor, the sleek lines of the Ghia-designed, Karmann built VW need a lot of getting used to. But examine it more closely and you feel the adherence to the aerodynamic principles of the time.
A very straight and original early T34 is the foundation for SwitchBlade. Given the full Euro-tuner look, the bumper guards have been deleted and the rechromed straight bumpers blades were bolted on up. Custom buckets house HiD headlight and foglights and a custom LED enclosed base provide 21st century lighting.
A subtle, carbon fiber front spoiler is a concession to stability considering the speeds in excess of 200 kph that SwitchBlade can reach. Although this somewhat destroys the aesthetics, the speed-activated (100 kph) rear deck-lid spoiler is absolutely critical for much needed downforce.
Reworked rear torsion leaves, Porsche 944 control arms, Porsche disc brakes and Koni shocks lower the rear end. Polished Porsche 18-inch 944 Turbo Wheels with Yokohama Advan rubber fill-in the tweaked inner fenders very well. Up front, the Type 3 torsion bars receive special torsion leaves and custom trailing arms and dropped spindles that allow Koni shocks, Porsche 944 Turbo brakes and Turbo Wheels.
The big engine compartment easily swallows an early 74 Porsche fuel injected, turbocharged 3.0 flat 6 cylinder engine. Mated to a close-ratio Porsche 901 5 speed, this German Looker is capable of a respectable 0-60 sprint in 5 seconds. The custom fitted aluminum exhaust barely disguises the alternative air-cooled sound.
The interior is recovered in miles of soft black leather. A Porsche 944 Turbo donor car supplied the electric seats, power windows and locks, steering wheel and shiftknob, gauges and switches, and pedals. The electric sunroof was brought back to life with new hardware and an Alpine sound system provides the powerful but expertly hidden tunes.
Black often is the ultimate test for any body man and painter and this Ghia is as sharp as a, well, as a razo. Subtle red and silver pinstripes along the fenders emphasize the straightness even more.
Long and low, the SwitchBlade is quick to the cut when it smells blood.
Volkswagen Concept: The ThingkR 2.0
An intelligent paramilitary vehicle.
Resurrected from a sad late-model Volkwagen Thing, this Model 181 features a fully tubular, 1 1/2 inch by .083 inch wall chromoly main chassis that ties up the underpinnings.
Perfect for Metro Manila streets, ThingkR2.0 does it’s best work on potholed and waterlogged side streets
Pirelli “Dragons” and 26 inch Colorado Customs “Rat Tail” rims are only possible with the SCORE spec suspension. A custom 10 inch wider beam and 2 1/2 inch longer and 2 1/2 inch wider chromoly trailing arms, heavy duty torsion leaves and tie-rod ends connect to CNC disk brakes via raised spindles. It has four front Fox shocks, and two dual bypass rear shocks. The lengthened 3×3 inch rear trailing arms, and custom long Bus axles fill out the widened fenders.
A built 2-liter Type 1 engine and Dual 40 Webers power this 4-wheeled bug.
Not only will this lightweight, agile Volkswagen jump over lahar riverbeds, it’s SpecialOps ready with enough hardware to bankrupt a small country.
The voice activated, IBM PowerPC chipped, on board dedicated server has a massive 2 Terabytes of storage, satellite and GPS keeps track of worldwide targets , Wifi and 3G connect to the Internet and cellular networks. The 14 inch touchscreen OLED displays brillant movies and serves as the engine monitor as well. The built-in multimedia projector also allows for theater-like movie shows. Bluetooth connect the joystick, headset and keyboard to the server and dye-sub printer. Audio duties are admirably performed with a fully-integrated Sony Xplod system.
For fun, shes always ready for a little Hide and go Seek And Destroy with the local paintball and Airsoft clubbers. The computer targeting software employ perimeter sensors including zoom, night vision, infrared, motion, and long-range microphones. Easier than a game of Counterstrike. In safe mode, the custom designed computerized turret houses a continuously fed, handmade paintball gun. In extraordinary times, well, that’s classified.
Radar-absorbing, anti-fingerprint polyurethane coating makes it easy to wipe off stray paintball splatters. Neoprene swimsuit material cover the light SPARCO racing seats. These seats were designed to quickly dry after splash down.
This go anywhere, do anything weapon is baja and sahara proven. Persistent rumors of involvement in recent coupe-de-etat attempts only add mystery to this rugged information warrior.
Volkswagen Concept: The Thang
This Thang is a Volksrod Thing.
Start with a respectable Volkswagen Thing. Remove the front and rear fenders. Strip interior and exterior of old paint and rust repair panels making sure of the structural integrity of the tub.
Green-tinted primer and a satin clear saves the newly repaired body from the weather. Subtle green and white pinstripes pay homage to the Von Dutch school of cool.
A 2180cc, dual 48 Webes pulled out of a nostalgia 62 racer, provides enough push for comfortable freeway cruises.
The front I-beam is taken from but modified for the Thang from the Volksrod kit. The mounting points for the modified 4-bar front links were relocated and strengthened.
Bomber-style aluminum seat and a Duvall-style windshield are all that’s needed for the interior. A Volkswagen VDO speedometer with gas gauge is the only gauge needed.
Early 5-bolt steelies and stock chrome ‘caps with big and little Firestone whitewalls complete the vision of this strange Thang.
Volkswagen Concept: 3urO
Early Volkswagen Type3 Fastbacks evoke a style all its own. As a wannabe automobile designer, I am one who really appreciates the design aesthetics of this fabulous fastback. So too, apparently, did my Dad who used to scoot around Manila in an early ivory-colored, full-auto fasty. Delish!
But, what if we turned up the heat?
Fast and furious, 3urO is designed for battle against BMW M3s and Audi S4s. Sleek and silver, 3urO takes the German or Euro-tuner look along the Type3 path.
Champaign-edition 79 Volkswagen Convertible silver coats the massaged, shaved Type 3 body. A blueprinted Eurorace 3.0 liter, fuel-injected, Type4 engine, mated to a rare Gene Berg, close-ratio 5-speed gearbox provide the heat.
Gigantic 19 inch Audi A8 W12 alloy rims wrapped with enormous Michelin radials are expertly fitted and helps blasts this fastback like a silver bullet past triple-digit speeds, A discrete rear spoiler adds the necessary downforce this demon needs without sacrificing style.
A custom designed, narrowed T3 beam with koni adjustable shocks, front trailing arms and dropped spindles allow massive Brembo brake upgrades. Custom trailing Arms and same Brembo brake upgrades round out the rear.
Full GPS-equiped and web-enabled, gloss black fiberglass interior is lightweight and strong. Digital gauges bathe the black interior with a blue-white glow. Twin Recaro front and stock rear seats, in matching black leather, cradle the driver and lucky passenger.
Volkswagen Concepts: Two Things
Thingamabob is based on the H1 Humvee. Stretched to accommodate additional troops, it features bomb-proof construction. Thingamajig is based on the H2 Hummer with Monstrous 26 inch wheels
Volkswagen Concept : Karmann Ghia Limosine
What if Volkswagen, Karmann and Ghia decided to offer a stretched version for the executives? Here’s an illustration of what could have been.
Meet Lucille. She’s a Fasty and she’s real Nasty. Built like a brick shithouse, Lucille is pure hot rod heaven and she loves playin with the big boys.
Read more abou the real Lucille here http://manilaghia.i.ph/blogs/manilaghia/?item=the-nasty-fasty
Here’s an interesting concept using an early Beetle. South Americans will undoubtedly recognize this Fusca Taxi. Updated with Early 5 lug Porsche rims and powered by a rebuilt 1600 stocker, this ride will always turn heads while waiting for passengers.
IPIS or Cockroach is a Volkswagen Concept that screams pure HOT ROD! Chopped, fenderless but with tons of ATTITUDE. Every little bit of excess fat is removed. The removable hardtop gives elemental protection from the elements (Not suitable for typhoon season) Gives the driver pure roadster fun.
