1965 Karmann Cabriolet

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1965 Karmann Cabriolet
Style revision
Rob Amos was turning this ’65 Karmann Cabriolet into a peppermint
green ’Looker, but then he visited the Bad Camberg vintage VW show…
Words: Rob Amos Photos: Mike Prior
M
y first car was a Cal Look
’66 Beetle, way back in
1985, then I moved onto
a Cal Look ’72 Squareback
with an 1835cc motor in
it that I used to ‘run what ya brung’ at the
early Bug Jams. Over the years I’ve worked
on numerous other VWs with my brother,
Ken, from Beetles to Karmann Ghias,
and even the occasional 412. I’m a web
developer by trade, so it probably comes
as no surprise that I run a VW website in
my spare time – www.pre67vw.com – that
has been online since 1999. The site caters
for ‘stock, coachbuilt and Old Speed’ so, if
you’re into that sort of thing, why not stop
by and say hello?
Anyway, in 1998, I was looking for a 1303
convertible that I could use as my daily
driver. I called a garage in Chelmsford that
usually had a few for sale, but they didn’t
have any. They did have a sloping headlight
Cabrio for sale though if I was interested,
but it was in need of some work. So a friend
and I jumped in the car and went to look
at it. As we walked up to the car it looked
pretty good, but the best side was facing
us – the other side didn’t look so good.
The car had been in an accident and the
gearbox was cracked, the rear wheel was in
completely the wrong place and the front
wheel was bent under. The 1965 Karmann
Cabrio was MOT’d and taxed, but off the
road due to the damage. I poked around
the heater channels, battery tray and front
wheel well and it didn’t look good. It had
been patched on patches and then caked in
a thick layer of red oxide paint to cover up
the sins. We left dismayed that we hadn’t
found a nice, solid, early car.
RESTORATION TIMELINE
➜
1Th. 19e 98car as I got it. It looks a lot
wa s!
be tt er th an it re al ly
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BUILT AT HOME
1965 Karmann Cabriolet
Eagle-eyed readers
will spot the fact this
’65 has an incorrect
Pope’s nose fitted, but
it’s there intentionally
as Rob prefers the
shape of them
OWNER
INFO
NAME: Rob Amos
AGE: 45
LOCATION:
Cambridgeshire
OCCUPATION: Web
Developer
PREVIOUS VWs: ’66
Cal Look Beetle, ’72
Squareback
CARS OWNED: ’65
Cabriolet
DREAM CAR:
Radclyffe Roadster
That evening I was on the ’phone to
my brother and told him the bad news.
He replied that it was nothing that a bit of
welding couldn’t sort out, and when was
the last time you saw an early Cabrio for
sale that you could afford? These were the
days before the Internet had really taken
off, so finding anything was much harder
than today. So a plan was hatched that
I would get the garage selling the car to
replace the gearbox and front beam to
make it driveable again, then I could use
the car over the summer until the MoT ran
out, and then sort out a few of the worse
areas over the winter.
Driving the dream?
A few weeks later, we went down to pick
the car up and drive it home, with my
brother following me back. It felt so cool to
be in an early Karmann as I had wanted one
for years, but it was soon clear that there
was a flaw in the plan – the steering was
horrendous, brakes poor, no brake lights
and no indicators. There was no way I could
drive it every day like this, so I drove it to
2. 2000
This is after the first resto,
when
I conver ted it to right- hand drive
0 8 6
J U LY 2 0 1 3
3. 2001
my brothers shed so he could take a look
correct chassis was sourced, then blasted
at the wiring for me, and that’s where it
and painted. The car was obviously going
stayed for the summer. While it was there
to need a lot of metalwork and I didn’t
we patched up a few more bits, painted
have the confidence that my welding
it black, converted it to right-hand drive,
skills were up to it, so the car was put on
fitted adjusters in the front beam and put
hold for a few months while I attended
on some 5-spoke EMPIs. I then
a welding course at the College of
drove it like that for around a
North West London. As soon as
year until one Winter’s day
the course was finished, it
on the way home from
was time to delve in and cut
work whem I decided I
out the heater channels,
was fed up with snow
replacing them and the
Take a course at a te
and ice blowing onto
Cabrio strengthener rails,
college to learn how chnical
my face through the
and just about every other
so you can carry ou to weld
t dywork
torn cloth roof, so I
panel around the bottom
repairs yourself. It’bo
ll sa
drove it into my garage
six inches of the car before
you a fortune! ve
and parked up for resto
putting the body back on the
number two.
chassis again.
This time the resto was
My original vision for the car
going to be more thorough, so
was that it would be a Turkis Resto
the first job was to brace the doors and
Cal, running on the EMPI five spokes and
lift the body off the ’pan – easier said than
with a beige hood, but this all changed in
done when the body had been welded to
2003 after my first visit to the Bad Camberg
the floor. Then, once the body was off, it
vintage VW event in Germany. Being
was clear that a replacement chassis was
surrounded by so many nice, original, stock
going to be the best option, so a yearvehicles was an epiphany, and it changed
TOP
RESTO T I P
di dn ’t
Th at qu ic k spinrug ceou-ut pth e ru st …
in cl ud e cu tt
4. 2001
The car in my gar age , whe re it
wou ld rem ain for a good few yea rs
BUILT AT HOME
1965 Karmann Cabriolet
TECH
INFO
YEAR: 1965
ENGINE: 1584cc
single port
GEARBOX:
Stock 1300
SUSPENSION:
Standard king
and link pin front
beam, swing
axle rear
BRAKES: Stock
VW drum brakes
front and rear
WHEELS: Stock
VW 4.5 x 15 steel
solids
TYRES: Denman
Elegante 5.60 x 15
wide whitewall
crossplies
Rob read up on the subject and then had a crack at doing the convertible
top restoration and trimming himself. He drew the line at making his own
carpets though, choosing to buy some from Newton Commercial
OUR
OPINION
I think this is a
great story and
a great outcome
for a car. The
fact Rob decided
to change the
styling of the
car after visiting
a vintage show
means he has
ended up with a
timeless classic.
Ivan
Bernard Newbury re-trimmed
a set of stock seats to look like
the original 1965 specification
the direction of pre67vw.com to cater more
for stock / vintage VWs. It also changed the
direction of my Cabrio. I decided that the
car should now be stock height with stock
wheels and mostly stock everywhere else.
I say mostly stock as there are a few little
items, such as the number plate light and
front indicators, that I have replaced with
earlier items, just because I think they look
better. I also couldn’t decide on the colour.
Originally, the car was white, but I didn’t
want it to look like a wedding car so, in the
end, I gave up and painted it black again.
A perfect match
Originally it was white, but I didn’t
want it to look like a wedding car
5. 2002
Cha ssis all don e, wit h two
floo rpa n hal ves wel ded in new
6. 2003
You can see I was experi menti ng
with pepper mint green…
The interior was in bad shape with big
holes in the front seats and a few areas
worn through to the springs. I like to try
and do most things myself, but decided
that this was a job for a pro, so I took the
original seats down to Bernard Newbury
and had him match the material as closely
as possible. The transformation was
incredible. To complement the new seats,
a new carpet set from Newton Commercial
was also fitted.
2)
7. 2006Choppi ng out the old
➜
After seeing
light,
heaterthe
chann
el the
the colour
old
choice went back to black
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BUILT AT HOME
1965 Karmann Cabriolet
There’s something about a classic
VW painted black and fitted with
wide whitewalls that just works
Vintage VW fan and restorer of this once
accident damaged ’65 Karmann Beetle, Rob Amos,
along with his daughters, Kate and Chloe
when the car is running well
the weather is terrible
The next big job was the hood,
something I was very worried about
tackling myself but, as I just couldn’t afford
to pay anyone else to do it, I knew I had to.
I read up as much as I could and also asked
people who had done it themselves for tips.
I replaced the header bow and rear bow
with new wood, then put the foam kit on
and test fitted the mohair outer. I was not
convinced it was going to look okay. I then
bought some horse hair padding to replace
the foam, did another test fit and was much
happier with how it looked, so stapled it on.
Cutting the hole for the rear window was
the most nerve racking part of the process
as it’s the only part you can’t really undo.
The engine is a single-port 1600 with a
dog house oil cooler conversion, rebuilt
heads and new rings, but apart from that
it’s stock. For a short while I had dual Solex
carbs on it, with a Fram oil filter and Abarth
exhaust for that Vintage Speed look, but
couldn’t get the carbs adjusted correctly so
ended up going back to stock.
The 1584cc single
port is back to stock
spec, although Rob did
dally with the Vintage
Speed route for a while
The front indicators
Rob fitted are the early,
thinner units used up
to1964 as he prefers
their looks
8. 2007
The original seats were well past
it, so a re-trim was essential
0 8 8
J U LY 2 0 1 3
9. 2008
I wasn’t looking forwar d to doing
the hood, but I had to do it
The car was finally put back on the road
about four years ago, and I have taken it to
a few shows since then but not really used
it as much as I would have liked. One thing
I have discovered is that when the car is
running well, the weather is terrible. But as
soon as a few nice days come around, the
car has some kind of problem. So if we have
another wet Summer this year you’ll know
to blame my car!
I’d like to say thanks to my brother,
Ken, for encouragement and occasional
breakdown recovery, to Julian Hunt at
Karmann Konnection for great deals on
Cabrio parts, to Sally, my wife, for putting
up with a lack of DIY around the house
while the car was being done, and finally
to my girls, Kate and Chloe, because they’d
love to see their names in the magazine!
I’d now like to restore an earlier
Cabrio, and hopefully my next car will be
something old enough to be eligible to
take part in the German vintage shows such
as Bad Camberg and Hessisch Oldendorf.
210 )
. 2008
Choppi ng out the old
Cuttinheater
g the rear
window
chann
el outoldwas
the most daunt ing bit the
of the job