[MUSIC PLAYING] RICK (VOICEOVER): I talked
to a guy on the phone, and he's got a 1964
Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. For a kid who grew up
in Southern California, this is a cool car, so I wanted
to check it out right away. Hey, how's it going? Hey. How are you, buddy? Cool, man. So this is it, eh? This is it. RICK: '64 Ghia. SELLER: Yep. RICK: This is the car
that would have made me so cool when I was growing up. [LAUGHS] Me, too. RICK: So how much
do you want for it? I was looking to get $12,500. OK. I mean, there is some work
that needs to be done to it. Let me have a buddy
look at it, all right? Let's just see what needs to
be done to make it perfect. OK?
- OK. This guy knows
everything there is to know about Volkswagens, period. All right. I'd like to find out
what he's got to say. Give me a few minutes. I'm gonna go to my
car and call him. SELLER: Sure. Thanks, man. He can call whoever he wants in. I mean, he can call his father. He can call his sister. He can call anybody. I think for 50 years old,
it's in damn good shape. So this is it, '64 Ghia. The '64 Karmann Ghia, eh? Yeah, they're nice cars. This was Volkswagen's first
production sports car. It's called the Karmann
Ghia because it was built by Karmann Coachworks,
which in fact also built the Porsche bodies. It's a hand-built body. Everything's brazed, so
these are great classic cars. It was always called
the poor man's Porsche. So you couldn't
afford a Porsche, this is the car that you bought. The '50s were a really strong
time for the Volkswagen. They started importing
to the US and their sales just skyrocketed. They had a huge hit with
the Volkswagen Beetle on their hands. They developed the
Ghia because they wanted to tap into a little
bit broader market base. Guys that were looking
for a sports car, yet it's economical,
and it looked like a hand-built, exotic car. The seats-- those
are some bigguns. [LAUGHTER] SELLER: Yeah. They recline all the way flat. That's what I'm worried about. Why? It's too private of a vehicle. You can't be racing
around town in something like this with your lady friend. It's just too tempting. I got no lady friends. I got a wife. [LAUGHS] You did a lot of the work
on the interior yourself? SELLER: Yeah, I
did it all myself. BILL TSAGRINOS: It's
got velour door panels. That's a little
bit of a throwback. [LAUGHTER] Can we take a
look at the motor? SELLER: Sure. BILL TSAGRINOS: Wow. That's a lot of foil-covered
insulation there. So does this thing run a
little bit hot or anything? No, it runs good, actually. BILL TSAGRINOS: It's the
first time I've actually seen this heat-reflective
foil on the inside of the engine compartment. Can we take her
for a test drive? SELLER: Sure. RICK: Who's sitting
in the back seat? SELLER: Who's sitting
in the back seat? RICK: [LAUGHS]
- I guess I am, eh? OK. I'll drive. RICK: These are cool
cars, but I will say this. When I dreamed of owning
one of these when I was a kid, driving around
with three grown men was not exactly what I pictured. [LAUGHS] [MUSIC PLAYING] That noise that you
hear is your transaxle is pretty low on gear oil. That krrr-- that noise? SELLER: Yeah. BILL TSAGRINOS: The brakes
are a little low, actually almost a little scary low. OK, you might be
bottoming out a little bit. You see the shifter
move like that? You've got broken motor mounts. You can tell, you
watch the clutch pedal, the clutch
pedal moves also when I get on and off the gas. Well, so there is no
emergency brake, either? No, the cable's been-- I just didn't put them in. Well, what if we
have an emergency? RICK: [LAUGHS] Once I found out there
was no emergency brake, what do we do in an emergency? This is no good. So we brought it back
here as soon as we could and try to keep it under 50. Obviously, there's
a few problems. Yeah. There's a few things that
need adjustment on this. RICK: What do you
think it's worth? BILL TSAGRINOS: Well,
this car obviously needs a little bit of everything. With some work, it could be,
you know, a decent driver. But I'd have to put
a value on this car, you know, high retail
$4,500, maybe $5,000, and that's also after you fix
a lot of the little things that you got going on there. RICK: How much would
it cost to restore it? BILL TSAGRINOS: A
full restoration, you're going to be anywhere
from $20,000 to $30,000. OK, and how much would it be
worth after you restored it? $20,000 to $30,000. OK. So basically, there's
no money to be made on it if I restored it. BILL TSAGRINOS: No, there's
no quick flip money. RICK: OK. Thanks, man.
- All right. You got it. - Thanks, buddy.
- I appreciate it, man. Thanks for your time.
- Thanks. Thank you. The Karmann Ghia looked like
a hand-built exotic car, but sometimes people put
more money into a car than what it's worth. And when you do that, the
reality is a lot of things that he did the car
actually devalued it. You know, man, I'd love
to make an offer on it, but I just don't think
we're gonna make a deal. That's fine. RICK: OK? It's cool car, though. Brought back a lot of memories. I'm sure you'll find someone
to fall in love with it, man. I'm sure I will. - Well, thanks, man.
- Thank you. Thanks for showing
it to me, man. Nice to meet you. Thanks. RICK (VOICEOVER): I'm
sort of bummed out this wasn't the deal for me. But the thing is,
I'm looking for cars I can buy, and restore,
and make a little money. This is not the car.
