2017 Good Vibrations March Meet Feature: This 1957 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Was One Of The Baddest Of The Hot VWs At The Track!


2017 Good Vibrations March Meet Feature: This 1957 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Was One Of The Baddest Of The Hot VWs At The Track!

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a field of fast Volkswagens at the 2017 Good Vibrations March Meet. After all, California has always had a strong Volkswagen culture…Bugs, Bajas, busses and Karmann Ghias have enjoyed plenty of popularity in the Sunshine state over the decades. But while most of us either picture a dune-running Baja or a lowered Beetle on Fuchs-style wheels, it was this blue low-light Karmann Ghia that immediately grabbed my attention when it ripped off a ten-second blast like it was nothing.

March Meet 2017_22The Ghia belongs to Jeff Newcomb of Redding, California is the owner of this 1957 example, and it’s been his baby for the last twenty-odd years. That doesn’t mean it’s babied in the cloth-diaper, show-quality sense. No, that would do the MoTec-injected, 3.0L powered machine a deep injustice. Fitted with Oliver billet rods, a billet crank, billet throttle bodies and a dry nitrous setup for track days where it’s allowed, this Ghia doesn’t understand “cruising” at all. Instead, it’s a poor man’s Porsche and it’s set to whip up on every hind end in sight. A “002” gearbox from a Bus handles shifting duties as Newcomb runs a low-ten second pass clean, or as fast as 9.30@152 MPH with the spray on. In a car that weighs in at 1,685 pounds with him in the driver’s seat, it’s more than enough to replace a morning cup of coffee for that instant wake-up feeling.

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6 thoughts on “2017 Good Vibrations March Meet Feature: This 1957 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Was One Of The Baddest Of The Hot VWs At The Track!

  1. Gary Smrtic

    Not to take anything away from the build or the performance, but I’d have sure done better with the wheel tubs….

  2. Chevy Hatin' Mad Geordie

    The Fittipaldi family were running some neat Porsche Carrera powered Karman Chias in Brasil in the 60s. They had Porsche wheels and no ugly wheel tubs!

  3. Gerard j Demers

    You can’t fully tub Volkswagen from the inside and the fins on the back have to do with the aerodynamics of the rear of car . daddy spent some hours on this baby

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