Rometsch sunroof coupe, Mechanix Illustrated magazine, December 1960

One of only a handful of Rometsch Lawrence sunroof coupes ever built was pictured in the December 1960 issue of Mechanix Illustrated.



It's hard to be sure, but it appears to be a 1958 model.

Patrick Baptist of the Karmann-Ghia Lowlight Registry has recently taken it upon himself to compile a list of all remaining Lawrence coupes. From his research I've already been able to determine that the Lawrence coupe that I once considered buying still exists, probably somewhere in Japan. You can follow his progress here and here. I wonder if this sunroof coupe is still out there anywhere?

VW 1500S cutaway view

This nice cutaway illustration of a 1500S appeared in the 1964 owner's manual.

1500 Ghia interior lights

I got this used Hella interior light (343 947 111) from BerT3 recently. It's in nice shape with only the slightest indication of age. This part was used in all Type 34 Ghias except 1969 models, which for some reason got a one-year-only Type 34-specific light. '69 owners have some unique challenges.

Franck Boutier and Lee Hedges have found that Stoddard, a Porsche parts supplier, offers a very nice reproduction of this light for a reasonable price. Apparently it was also used in certain 356s.

My early VW 1500 parts book says that this same light, 343 947 111, was used in the trunk of the 1500 Ghia, but my later parts book calls for a Type 1 part, 151 947 111 A. My Ghia's apparently original trunk light doesn't have a switch, so they must have started using the Type 1 light earlier than the parts book indicates.

Ghia on the street, San Francisco, July 1967

Here's a photo of an early '60s Karmann-Ghia (polar blue?) parked on a Haight-Ashbury street in the summer of 1967, found in a box of old vacation slides from a thrift store. It was common practice at the time for tourists in San Francisco to go to the Haight and take pictures of this new and exotic tribe known as the hippies.



One of the subjects registers his disapproval with a one-finger salute.

NOS right side 1963 heater muffler

Thanks to BerT3 I now have the right side heater muffler I'd been searching for. This completes an NOS pair of these one-year-only mufflers. Looks like I have no excuses anymore, I need to get the engine completed and back into the Ghia.




Left and right are definitely not interchangeable!

VW 1500 at the Pacific National Exposition, Vancouver, c. 1964

A VW 1500 S opens wide and says "aaaaahhh" at the Pacific National Exposition in Vancouver.

NOS Bosch accessory reverse light

I found this Bosch reverse light at the VW Classic swap meet a few years ago.






It's not specific to the VW 1500 or even to VW, but it does have an interesting connection to the Type 34 Ghia: it's the same reverse light that's mounted on the VW 1600 Karmann-Ghia TC fastback prototype, which is on display at the Karmann Museum.



[photo borrowed from type34.org]

559 cerulean fabric is sold out

My entire stock of 559 cerulean 1500 Ghia upholstery fabric has sold.

Innsbruck, Austria, June 1967

A VW 1500 makes its way down an Innsbruck street in the summer of 1967.