Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • RICK (VOICEOVER): I talked to a guy on the phone,

  • and he's got a 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.

  • For a kid who grew up in Southern California,

  • this is a cool car, so I wanted to check it out right away.

  • Hey, how's it going?

  • Hey.

  • How are you, buddy?

  • Cool, man.

  • So this is it, eh?

  • This is it.

  • RICK: '64 Ghia.

  • SELLER: Yep.

  • RICK: This is the car that would have made me

  • so cool when I was growing up.

  • [LAUGHS]

  • Me, too.

  • RICK: So how much do you want for it?

  • I was looking to get $12,500.

  • OK.

  • I mean, there is some work that needs to be done to it.

  • Let me have a buddy look at it, all right?

  • Let's just see what needs to be done to make it perfect.

  • OK? - OK.

  • This guy knows everything there is to know

  • about Volkswagens, period.

  • All right.

  • I'd like to find out what he's got to say.

  • Give me a few minutes.

  • I'm gonna go to my car and call him.

  • SELLER: Sure.

  • Thanks, man.

  • He can call whoever he wants in.

  • I mean, he can call his father.

  • He can call his sister.

  • He can call anybody.

  • I think for 50 years old, it's in damn good shape.

  • So this is it, '64 Ghia.

  • The '64 Karmann Ghia, eh?

  • Yeah, they're nice cars.

  • This was Volkswagen's first production sports car.

  • It's called the Karmann Ghia because it was built

  • by Karmann Coachworks, which in fact

  • also built the Porsche bodies.

  • It's a hand-built body.

  • Everything's brazed, so these are great classic cars.

  • It was always called the poor man's Porsche.

  • So you couldn't afford a Porsche,

  • this is the car that you bought.

  • The '50s were a really strong time for the Volkswagen.

  • They started importing to the US and

  • their sales just skyrocketed.

  • They had a huge hit with the Volkswagen Beetle

  • on their hands.

  • They developed the Ghia because they

  • wanted to tap into a little bit broader market base.

  • Guys that were looking for a sports car,

  • yet it's economical, and it looked

  • like a hand-built, exotic car.

  • The seats-- those are some bigguns.

  • [LAUGHTER]

  • SELLER: Yeah.

  • They recline all the way flat.

  • That's what I'm worried about.

  • Why?

  • It's too private of a vehicle.

  • You can't be racing around town in something

  • like this with your lady friend.

  • It's just too tempting.

  • I got no lady friends.

  • I got a wife.

  • [LAUGHS]

  • You did a lot of the work on the interior yourself?

  • SELLER: Yeah, I did it all myself.

  • BILL TSAGRINOS: It's got velour door panels.

  • That's a little bit of a throwback.

  • [LAUGHTER]

  • Can we take a look at the motor?

  • SELLER: Sure.

  • BILL TSAGRINOS: Wow.

  • That's a lot of foil-covered insulation there.

  • So does this thing run a little bit hot or anything?

  • No, it runs good, actually.

  • BILL TSAGRINOS: It's the first time I've actually

  • seen this heat-reflective foil on the inside

  • of the engine compartment.

  • Can we take her for a test drive?

  • SELLER: Sure.

  • RICK: Who's sitting in the back seat?

  • SELLER: Who's sitting in the back seat?

  • RICK: [LAUGHS] - I guess I am, eh?

  • OK.

  • I'll drive.

  • RICK: These are cool cars, but I will say this.

  • When I dreamed of owning one of these when I was

  • a kid, driving around with three grown men

  • was not exactly what I pictured.

  • [LAUGHS]

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • That noise that you hear is your transaxle

  • is pretty low on gear oil.

  • That krrr-- that noise?

  • SELLER: Yeah.

  • BILL TSAGRINOS: The brakes are a little low, actually

  • almost a little scary low.

  • OK, you might be bottoming out a little bit.

  • You see the shifter move like that?

  • You've got broken motor mounts.

  • You can tell, you watch the clutch

  • pedal, the clutch pedal moves also

  • when I get on and off the gas.

  • Well, so there is no emergency brake, either?

  • No, the cable's been--

  • I just didn't put them in.

  • Well, what if we have an emergency?

  • RICK: [LAUGHS]

  • Once I found out there was no emergency brake,

  • what do we do in an emergency?

  • This is no good.

  • So we brought it back here as soon as we could

  • and try to keep it under 50.

  • Obviously, there's a few problems.

  • Yeah.

  • There's a few things that need adjustment on this.

  • RICK: What do you think it's worth?

  • BILL TSAGRINOS: Well, this car obviously needs

  • a little bit of everything.

  • With some work, it could be, you know, a decent driver.

  • But I'd have to put a value on this car,

  • you know, high retail $4,500, maybe $5,000,

  • and that's also after you fix a lot of the little things

  • that you got going on there.

  • RICK: How much would it cost to restore it?

  • BILL TSAGRINOS: A full restoration,

  • you're going to be anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000.

  • OK, and how much would it be worth after you restored it?

  • $20,000 to $30,000.

  • OK.

  • So basically, there's no money to be

  • made on it if I restored it.

  • BILL TSAGRINOS: No, there's no quick flip money.

  • RICK: OK.

  • Thanks, man. - All right.

  • You got it.

  • - Thanks, buddy. - I appreciate it, man.

  • Thanks for your time. - Thanks.

  • Thank you.

  • The Karmann Ghia looked like a hand-built exotic car,

  • but sometimes people put more money into a car

  • than what it's worth.

  • And when you do that, the reality is a lot of things

  • that he did the car actually devalued it.

  • You know, man, I'd love to make an offer on it,

  • but I just don't think we're gonna make a deal.

  • That's fine.

  • RICK: OK?

  • It's cool car, though.

  • Brought back a lot of memories.

  • I'm sure you'll find someone to fall in love with it, man.

  • I'm sure I will.

  • - Well, thanks, man. - Thank you.

  • Thanks for showing it to me, man.

  • Nice to meet you.

  • Thanks.

  • RICK (VOICEOVER): I'm sort of bummed out

  • this wasn't the deal for me.

  • But the thing is, I'm looking for cars

  • I can buy, and restore, and make a little money.

  • This is not the car.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it