Volkswagen Celebrates 50 Years of Karmann Ghia Type 34

America has Mustangs and Camaros as classic cars, models with cool sounding names and big V8s under the bonnet. Europeans have that too, but they also have stuff like the VW Karmann Ghia Type 34, a model that’s celebrating its 50th year of existence.

To celebrate, there’s a big gathering of such cars forming this weekend. The birthday event will see three big clubs in Germany bringing all they’ve got in Osnabrueck. Over 100 Type 34s are expected, and they will likely set a new world record for the most cars in one place. In addition, many Type 14 will participate, including a TC 145, the Brazilian version of the Karmann Ghia.

The Karmann Ghia is a 2+2 coupe and convertible that was built betwen 1955 and 1974 sing the chassis and mechanics of the Beetle. It was styled by Luigi Segre of the Italian coachbuilder Ghia, and was hand-built by German coach-builder Karmann.

The Karmann Ghia was internally designated as the Type 14 and Volkswagen introduced the Type 34 in 1961 (the model we are celebrating today), featuring a more angular body and based on the newly introduced Type 3 platform for the Beetle and using Volkswagen’s flat-four 1,500 cc engine.

The car had a restyled body by Sergio Sartorelli and came to be known as “the big Karmann”) Germany, "Razor Edge Ghia" in the United Kingdom, or "European Ghia" in the United States. Up until it was replaced by the VW Porsche 914, it was the most expensive car made by Volkswagen in the 1960s.