The Karmann Ghia is gorgeous. You’re free to disagree, but if you do, you’ll be objectively wrong, and all the people whose eyes work correctly will yell at you. That said, there is one downside to the Karmann Ghia — It’s old. They might not build cars that look like that anymore, but new cars are so much safer, it isn’t even a contest. Get in a wreck behind the wheel of a Karmann Ghia today, there’s a good chance you won’t come back. But what if I told you there was a way to have your cake and eat it, too?
The secret to pairing modern car safety and reliability with vintage good looks, of course, is to start with a modern car and simply give it vintage good looks. Except a lot of the times, the end result looks like total ass. The builder of this car, however, dropped a Karmann Ghia body on a first-generation Mercedes-Benz SLK and somehow made it work. Thanks to the Mercedes badge up front, it’s clear that you aren’t looking at an original, but it also looks so much better than the car you’d imagine if I just told you I put a Karmann Ghia body on an SLK320.
Granted, the first-generation SLK wasn’t exactly a corner carver like the Porsche Boxster was, nor was it particularly quick, but 215 horsepower and 229 pound-feet of torque will still get you moving, and even with all the weight of the SLK, it’ll still be quite a bit quicker than a 1974 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. It’s also got an automatic transmission, which is a disappointment, but at least it’s rear-wheel drive. Maybe you can give it a transmission swap after you win? It’s not like that generation of SLK was automatic-only.
The interior is probably going to be the most controversial part of this car since they essentially left it untouched outside of the shift knob. On the one hand, it’s a little jarring to see such a modern cabin in a car that looks so old. On the other hand, it would probably take a ton of work to make a new retro interior look good, and I’m glad they didn’t try to half-ass it because it would have looked terrible.
Still, this is someone else’s project, and that means you’ll inherit all the little gremlins the previous owner had yet to sort out. The paint and bodywork aren’t the best, cruise control and some other controls don’t work, you get a few warning lights when you start it up, it beeps for about 30 seconds after you turn it on, it smells like burning oil if you don’t drive it regularly, gas has to be added slowly so it doesn’t spill and there are reportedly some squeaks and rattles, but that doesn’t sound too bad. Also, the body isn’t watertight.
Do you probably want to own the SLKarmann Ghia? That I can’t really say. I’m leaning no, but I bet several people out there would say yes. But do you want to drive the SLKarmann Ghia, at least just once? Who wouldn’t? We’re talking about a build that absolutely nobody asked for with more than a few problems. Driving this thing would be so much more interesting than driving 99 percent of cars on the road. And even if it isn’t actually all that fun to drive, imagine how much you’d enjoy finding out.
