Karmann Ghia Typ 34 Cabriolet: The Prototype That Never Sold

The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 34 was unveiled at the 1961 Frankfurt IAA in two forms — a Coupé and a Cabriolet — both styled by Sergio Sartorelli at Carrozzeria Ghia and built on the Type 3’s mechanical platform. VW distributed sales brochures and price lists for both, and even featured the Cabriolet in the official launch ceremonies for the new VW 1500 range.

But the open-top version never made it to market. Without the Coupé’s roof structure, the Cabriolet needed extensive reinforcement to achieve adequate torsional rigidity — modifications that would have made it too expensive to compete in the market. Volkswagen shelved the project in early 1962, after only a handful of hand-built prototypes had been produced — estimates range from 16 to a few dozen units. Today, only two or three examples are known to survive, held in the Volkswagen and Karmann museums.

Inside, the Cabriolet prototype carries the same three-gauge dashboard layout used across early Type 3-based Volkswagens, with a shared fuel and clock dial flanking the central speedometer, and a VW crest set into the horn button of the thin-rimmed steering wheel. The floor-mounted shifter and simple black dash trim reflect the era’s straightforward approach to cabin design — a rare interior view of a car almost no one ever got to sit in.

While the Coupé went on to a respectable production run of over 42,000 units through 1969, the Cabriolet remains one of the rarest ghosts in Volkswagen’s postwar history — a car that was priced, marketed, and launched, only to be cancelled before it ever reached a customer.