KARMANN SLAMMER
Stock body, stock engine, but lower than a worm’s wedding tackle, Ben Coates’ Ghia is the epitome of the current Resto Cal style
Karmann Ghias are a deeply sensual vehicle. People who don’t have the first clue what an air-cooled VW is are into them, girls love ’em, boys dig ’em and they always turn heads out on the road. “I was wandering around Sheffield when I was at college there,” recalls Ben Coates, “and a black car pulled up in front of me. It was one of the most beautiful cars I had ever seen. I said to my mate who I was with, who had a Cal Look Beetle, ‘what is that?!’ He said it was a Karmann Ghia, and I thought I gotta get me one of them.” And that’s where it all started. “When I finished college, I moved back in with my parents, got a job working for Toyota, and started to save for a Ghia, doing as much overtime as I could. I got about six grand together and remember one Saturday deciding I was going to buy one. I saw an advert for a red ’69 and drove down to meet a guy at a petrol station in London to have a look at it. I took my Dad with me – a 40-year veteran of the motor trade – and he gave the prospective buy a once-over, confirming it wasn’t a lemon. I bought it there and then. It was Ruby Red, had dropped spindles on it and late sixes,” recalls Ben fondly.
With the car back home, Ben could better assess his new acquisition – not in some fancy workshop, but on the driveway outside his parents’ house, where he does all the work on his cars. “I’ve totally ruined their drive,” he laughs. First stop then was to go through the car’s electrics then go over the rest of the mechanical stuff, before getting dad to respray the ex-Californian car in VW Cherry Red.
Some time around this point Ben became interested in superchargers. “I fascinated by the idea of the sliding vanes in a Judson, so got hold of one and Dad helped me fit it. I had a smaller pulley machined to up the speed it turned, just for a laugh, and it worked well, for a while... Several severely overheated engines later, Ben decided enough was enough, and ordered a complete 1914cc. The less said about that stage in the car’s life the better, as the experience put Ben off performance engines for good, and he went back to a stocker after that – in this case a 1500.
But then disaster struck... “I was in a convoy of Mk1 and Mk2
Golfs coming back from a show. I saw them all sliding round this roundabout – on what turned out to be a patch of spilled diesel – so I took it really easy, but the back came round and crashed into the railings,” he recalls. “I pulled the rear wing out enough to drive home, but the rear quarter was a mess.”
With the car booked into a body shop Ben began sourcing the replacement parts. It soon became apparent that the best course of action would be a new clip. Ben found a complete ’66 Ghia rear half in California so called the guy up. When he found out my car was a ’69, he said ‘that’s okay, I’ve got one of those as well.’”
The bodyshop did a superb job of the repair and even lead loaded the join before spraying on the paint which, incedently, is Klassic Rot instead of the desiredCherry Red. This is what happens when choose colours after a few beers, not that it matters as the result is gorgeous.
With the painted 'shell back home, Ben got to work. “I’ve never really been into Cal Look. For me it’s just got to be really low and shiny... and narrowed,” he adds as an afterthought. As Ben has long been good mates with Guy Terry, who runs his Slamwerks lowering business just up the road, that was never going to be a problem. “Guy measured the existing beam on the drive and from the dimensions, he scratch-built a narrowed beam complete with adjusters."
The rest of the Ghia was put back together pretty much as it was before, but better detailed and the odd bit of NOS trim thrown in. Asked if he had any help with all this work, Ben mentioned his friend Tom Clarke and then was prompted by a voice in the background. “Oh yes, I must thank Rewth, she's encouraged me, helped me financially and with style decisions,” he told us dutifully. “And I f*?$!n’ clean it!” his better half interjects. Rewth is every bit as much into cars as Ben, and between them they have a Mk1 Golf, a Mk2 Golf and the Ghia. “They’re the three kids,” laughs Ben, before pointing out that they do actually have three kids as well – Marley, Indigo Bay and Canaan. “I’ve had moments when I feel I should sell the car for the family, but Rewth won’t have it. She loves it as much as I do.”
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