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For Sale > Cars

FS: 1971 Karmann Ghia conversion - soft top, white walls - 50 miles range

Posted :5/8/2018
Modified :5/8/2018
Seller :rhoda212
Phone :4049476741
Views :1475
Price :$8,700.00

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Due to life circumstances, I need to sell my beloved Karmann Ghia conversion. 

It has a Netgain Impulse 9 motor mounted to the normal VW 4-speed transmission, along with a custom hydraulic clutch pedal. Currently I drive it in 3rd, but have experimented with other gearing patterns. For instance starting off the line in 2nd, then shifting to 4th when at speed makes sense in some cases. It can get to 80 miles/hr and handle itself well on the highway.

The controller is a Kelly KDHD-14800, rated for 800 amps. It's mounted to a huge heatsink that's in turn mounted directly underneath the vents on the rear hood. The result also looks very cool when showing the car to people. Unfortunately I think the controller needs to be replaced - the only flaw in the car is that the performance isn't what it had been a couple years ago, I'd tried debugging what's going on and the only remaining culprit is the controller. It gets hot during use, while in the past it remained cool even after 30+ miles on the highway.

 

The battery pack is a 144 volt 45 cell 100 amp-hour ThunderSky system, in a custom box designed by Lightning Motorcycle. The BMS is their design as well. It does balancing during charging and can control the charger (a Manzanita PFC40) to ensure the pack isn't overcharged. There is a feature to adjust the throttle if the pack is too low, but we didn't hook that up. You'll have to contact Lightning to see how to do it if you want that feature. The BMS has an information display for the driver to see battery pack conditions while driving. I don't see any weakness in the battery pack. I'll include one spare cell that was weak, which I replaced.

The Manzanita PFC40 can, in the right conditions, charge the car in about 2 hours after driving 45 miles or so. The charger is of course very adjustable, automatically handling 120 volt or 240 volt, and with the convenient knob you can use any power outlet and get up to 40 amps (or so) charging rate. I'll include a fleet of adapter cords that includes a modern J1772 adapter, as well as an old-school AVCON adapter.

The rear seat area was not sacrificed to hold a battery pack. It's available as a seat, but I used it as a cargo area. The front trunk has the charging equipment, and there is a bit of room to hold some cargo.

The top is in perfect condition, and makes for a very nice riding experience in the right weather.

The exterior is flawless other than the white-walls not quite being pure white any longer. While I never kept it garaged, I always had it covered. People always stop to gawk at the car and have told me so many stories about their own Karmann Ghia experiences. And then they get impressed about it being electric. Or else they see the ELECTRIC logo on the rear and want to ask about that. In any case, the car creates conversation everywhere I drive it.

The interior is pretty close to original VW, appropriate Karmann Ghia logo's on the right places and so on. I recently put in some nice floormats and modern seat belts.