I should visit the local hardware store more often. This orange Karmann Ghia is sporting local plates, but was a local vintage car I hadn't seen. The bumpers indicate it is of the last vintage of Volkswagon's Italian designed "two-door sports coupe". With the energy-absorbing bumpers and the large tailights this is a 1973 or 1974. It's still and interesting body design on a nearly half-century vehicle.
The Karmann Ghia had modest roots in the VW Beetle, but it had a sleek outer skin that still looks wonderful today. This one was with guests in Shenandoah. It appears to be in the process of some work as shown by the missing trim ring on the passenger headlight and the missing trim pieces. It looks like a loved machine seeing some work. In non-COVID times, I would have looked for the owners and told them how much I appreciated their ride. This year we were only able to enjoy spotting it as it headed south on Skyline Drive.
I spotted this dune buggy in the parking lot for Mentor Lagoons. These were made possible through the work of Bruce Meyers who decided in 1962 that he could take time off from surfing to use his boardmaking knowledge to create a fiberglass body for a dune buggy. Using a donor Volkswagon Beetle let history be made. I'm not sure of the body manufacturer for this one. It doesn't seem to have the right lines for a Manx body including the hood bulge. It was looking inviting near the shores of Lake Erie on a perfect summer evening.
On a visit to Knox County, I spotted this Diesel Rabbit pick-up at a parking area for the Kokosing Gap Trail. The size of this early 80's pick-up is a huge contrast to the Chevy Silverado towering over it. I'm certain these small diesel pick-ups were really slow even for the early 80's. 0-60 was probably in near 20 seconds. This survivor appears to be in really good shape with only a small amount of rust on the passenger-side, front fender.
