Type 3 Ghia in a Junkyard!
On a tip from an email list, Tom Mink inspected this Type 3 Ghia at the Pick and Pull on Airbase Parkway in Fairfield, CA. I'm indebted to Tom for publicizing the plight of the car.
As you can see, it was stripped, but in excellent shape and totally rust-free. There's no way this car should have ended up here. The VIN number is 0018896 which makes it the 21th oldest car known to the Type 3 Ghia registry! It was built in the spring of 1962 which means that it came with several parts unique to its vintage. The engine number is 0014504. I believe this is probably the original engine which, if so, will probably reveal its own secrets as the early engines had their own unique parts. The latest news is that I have managed to locate most of the ACTUAL PARTS that were taken off of the car while it was at Pick-N-Pull. Such as: AM/FM Blaupunkt, doors, hoods, front bumper, lights, seats.
Click on any image for a full-size view.
Stripped, but looks pretty solid.
Still has the rear interior panels, top half of the rear seat and quarter glass.
Looks great from this angle. I'll bet the dent in the rear fender was put there by the forklift operator.
The dash was great. The lower dash pad looks re-usable
Inside the nose. A minor bump, but nothing too bad, and again, no rust.
Too nice to be in a junkyard. Look how clean this rear sheetmetal is!
Excellent pans. Someone added some sort of reinforcement plate on each side, though.
The car sat for over 2 months before I found out about it.
The paint is all cracking off but that nose is really nice.
There's that low mileage engine.
Saved by a giant cat.
Set it down gently.
All set for the trip home.
Amongst her own kind again.
The proud new daddy.