'I sold it and bought it back 25 years later!'
1972 Karmann Ghia Sam Mcelroy, Oxon
I’m a VW air-cooled fan and had always admired the Karmann Ghia. I couldn’t believe my luck when I stumbled across one at my local VW dealer in 1980. It was a one lady owner coupé, 1972 model, with only 22,000 miles on the clock. I bought the car and used it for the next two years as my daily driver, bringing the mileage up to 46,000. I then sold the Ghia in 1982 to part fund the purchase of a new XR2. The guy who bought it was a Volkswagen collector and wanted a Ghia to complete his collection.
Anyway, I always regretted selling the Ghia, and actually phoned the guy about 15 years later to see if he would sell it back to me – the one word answer was ‘No’. Incredibly, 25 years after I sold it , I came across an entry in the NI Beetle owners club website, NBOC, about a VW collection for sale in Ballymena.
I made contact and it transpired the vendor was the son of the guy
I sold it to originally. I arranged to view the car and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. It was merely a rusty shell and a collection of parts in cardboard boxes. Incredibly, the car had still 46,000 original miles on it, with the only miles being put on it in 25 years being the distance from my house in Newry to the buyers home in Ballymena about 72 miles away!
Even more incredible was the fact that the chap never actually registered the car in his name, so I was technically still the
registered owner! Despite the state of the car, I had to have it back. Then followed my four-year restoration to bring the car back to the condition you see it in now. It passed its MOT first time back in 2012. I certainly don’t intend to sell it again!