Volkswagen Kharmann Ghia


A buddy of my old man used to cruise around in a Volkswagen Kharmann Ghia back in the 1970s. He was a real nice, sensible, and fun fella, but he was also a bit of a wild vestfolding from Norway with an old-school mixed accent from inner Vestfold and Grenland. What made him a bit crazy, or well, at least a touch eccentric, was that he had a tendency to drive his car a mite too far, and on top of that, he used to sleep in his car, which he called his "home-mobile." Now, this whole "home-mobile" thing wasn't just about sleeping in the car; I reckon it had a lot to do with the fact that his cars were often filled with critters called "house beetles," bugs that like to hang around windows and such. The nutty part is that he supposedly had a nice ol' single-family home down in Stokke, East Norway, with a really big yard. Ain't nothin' wrong with that place, they say. But his "home-mobile," now that's a different story. Even though he used to buy his cars brand spankin' new, he apparently held on to 'em for a whopping 20 years each and drove 'em a crazy long distance. This Kharmann Ghia might've been the only one that wasn't bought fresh from the lot, and it was the most beat-up of the three German cars he owned. Word is, that car was red and rusted.

A Volkswagen Kharmann Ghia is one slick sporty coupe, but it's got more of a cool design than full-on sports car capabilities. Still, it's supposedly quite good for long drives, which actually fits right into the description of this peculiar character.

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