Yvonne & Xicana

Location:

California

Favorite driving song:

“Do You Love What You Feel” by Chaka Khan and “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross.

This is the second one I bought in less than eight months. I’ve always wanted one since I was in junior high, but I never thought I’d be able to own a classic car. We didn’t have fancy cars growing up. We got a new car maybe every fifteen years—we were a family of eight so it was big station wagons or vans. I love the sleekness of the Karmann Ghia. I love the curves. Then I learned it was German made but Italian design, and that makes it even sexier.

When Martha and I combined households, we had four vehicles, so I sold a Kia Optima and said, “I’m going to look for that car.” I found a red ’68 up north. I didn’t know anything about these cars, so I started texting George from the NorCal VW enthusiasts group. I’d only met him once, but he and my friend spent an hour and a half underneath the car checking it out. I took it home that night in traffic—I hadn’t driven a stick in ten years, it was so nerve-racking. The seat wouldn’t sit up, it kept sliding back. It was terrifying. Then I took it to our mechanic, who said it had a hyper-souped-up engine, huge muffler, and needed lots of work.

When we would go for walks around our neighborhood, around the corner from our house, parked in a driveway, we saw a burgundy Karmann Ghia. For three months, we kept walking by the house hoping to see the owners, but we never did, so I wrote a note with a picture of me and the red ’68 and left it at the door. The next morning a man called. He said he was the original owner—he bought her in 1966 and hadn’t driven it in years, because he is eighty-six and blind in one eye. His wife of forty-five years can’t even get in the car anymore, so it has just been sitting.

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We befriended him, stopping by on our walks to chat about the car. He always invited us into the backyard to chat over a cold Pacifico beer. In 1966, he paid $1600 for it, and it was the only car he purchased new. He used to drive it to Tahoe in the snow—we heard all sorts of great stories. He had it repainted, it was originally forest green. The upholstery and the headliner had been redone, he had it changed from a 6-volt to a 12-volt. The original license plate had been touched up with yellow paint with the name of the dealer still on the plate holder. You don’t come across an original owner that often, and with the body in the decent shape that it is—it’s just super rare. As we chatted, I kept thinking, I’m going to get that car. Somehow, that car is going to be mine. After a couple visits, I said, “If you ever want to sell it, I’m definitely interested.” He said, “Do your research, put out a price . . .” We negotiated, and I finally got to drive it home.

This time around, the mechanic said we were good to go. I just can’t believe that I got my hands on it, I feel like we got really fortunate. I really love the dash. The ’66 is the only year with that chrome trim, which makes it very distinguished.