Last VW Karmann Ghia Type 14 Ever Built Goes on Public Display for the 1st Time

The Germans killed the line in the summer of 2019, and they don't seem to be planning a comeback of the nameplate, not even as a car with an electric drivetrain.

Despite this, the Beetle will remain in history as one of the most successful models of all time, with over 20 million units built worldwide. And that number does not include the countless variations based on the Beetle platform.

One such variation was the Karmann Ghia Type 14, a sports car that used the underpinnings of the Type 1 Beetle, but the more voluptuous body designed in Italy.

The Type 14 was shown for the first time in the form of a 2+2 coupe in 1955 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and was followed two years later by the introduction of the cabriolet. That means in 2020 the nameplate celebrates its 65th anniversary, and Volkswagen has big plans for the occasion.

The Type 14 was in production for 19 years, with over 360,000 coupes and 80,000 convertibles made. When Volkswagen decided to replace the model with the Scirocco in 1974, it made sure it kept for itself the last ever Volkswagen Karmann Ghia to roll off the assembly lines.

Until now, the car has been kept under wraps as part of the carmaker's collection at Volkswagen Osnabrück, and shown to a select few every now and then. But this weekend, during the Bremen Classic Motorshow, it will be displayed for the first time for all to admire.

In this particular case, we're talking about a car powered by a 1,584 cc engine that develops 50 ps, and with a body painted in Phoenix Red. The car is apparently still kept under wraps until its presentation at the show, as none of the four photos of the Ghia released by Volkswagen seem to be showing this exact one.