Description
Author: Jan P.Norbye, Softbound, 176 Pages, ISBN: 9780879382025, 1st Edition, 1985
My prime objective in undertaking the writing of this book was to search out the truth about how this car actually came into being. In the past I had often been struck by the paucity of information on that subject. In some sources it was glossed over by enthusiastic talk about its beauty. Others stirred controversy.
None of the principal actors in the drama of its creation are alive today, and none, as far as I could find out, had left records that future historians could consult.
By the grace of honest and objective help, advice and information from many quarters I have been able to present what I believe is a complete and factual account of the events.
Both Wilhelm Karmann, Jr., and Gian Paolo Boano granted me the full benefit of their memories in personal interviews. My friend Dick Langworth provided material from his interviews with the Exners, father and son, and allowed me to use excerpts from articles he had written.
Filippo Sapino, general manager of Ghia Operations, opened the archives for me and allowed me to borrow freely of its drawings for publication as long as the house of Karmann had no objection. In this way I secured much illustrative material that had never been revealed to outsiders before.
Sergio Coggiola received me in his office and talked freely about his years at Ghia. And Giacomo Gaspardo Moro was able to shed new light on some questions, confirm or deny the truth of much that had been said and written about the people of Carrozzeria Ghia and their work.
Some extremely rare Ghia car photographs, on loan from the collection of Angelo Tito Anselmi, have been put into my hands by courtesy of Dr. Antonio Amadelli of Fiat's Centro Storico. Dick Langworth again came to my rescue with pictures of many Chrysler styling prototypes.
My visit to the Karmann factory and museum was organized by Herrn P. Jilhe, who also was able to pull valuable information out of the Karmann archives for my use. It was Wilhelm Karmann, Jr., who agreed to release the Ghia drawings I wanted, and two Karmann engineers, Gottfried Niemann and Gerd Gieseke, told me the stories of their involvement with the Karmann-Ghia over the years.
Dr. B. Wiersch gave me free access to the Volkswagen archives, and his assistants supplied copies of hundreds of documents. All my work at Wolfsburg was facilitated by Gunther Hornig and Dietmar Fritsche of the Press Department.
To all of these individuals and the organizations they work for I wish to express my most sincere gratitude. Their active help has been vital to the completion of this work, and if it fails to present some aspect of the Karmann-Ghia story in the light they would like to see it, I can only apologize and say that I have tried to balance my account equally and strictly on the strength of the available evidence, to the best of my ability.
Jan P. Norbye
