Pure T34 Memories: Rose Vardanian's 1965 European Vacation

In 1965, I decided it was time for me to get a new car. At the time I was driving a "used" VW bug. A friend of mine, Robert Harris, advised me to consider this new, great looking, 1500 Ghia. One look at a picture of it was all I needed to agree. Since it could not be ordered here, I asked a friend of mine, Maria Eder, who lived in Furth, Germany (a suburb of Nurnberg) to look into ordering it there. No problem. (She always enjoyed being part of a project like this!) So, in June 1965, I went to Furth, picked up the car, and celebrated with a party that Maria planned in her home. Everyone there was admiring my new car - it was as special for the people in Germany as it was for me.

I spent the entire summer in Europe, traveling around with my new car. For my birthday in July three of us drove to Budapest for five days. After crossing the border, we came to a section of the road that was being repaired. For 7 miles, we were driving on a recently tared surface with loose tar constantly hitting the bottom of the new car. The car survived while receiving a "complimentary" under-coating - courtesy of the Hungarian road works. One of my friends had to leave Budapest early, so she took the train back to Munich. When the two of us returned to the border, we were surprised when the border guard recognized us and wanted to know where the third lady was. Maria promptly responded "She went off with a gypsy". With a laugh, he waved us on.

At the end of the summer, I said "good-bye" to my friends in Munich and drove the car to Le Havre, France. I left the car there for shipment home to Southern California, then took the train to Paris and to the Airport for the flight home - and back to work. My car traveled through the Panama Canal, and we met again, at the end of October, in a warehouse at the Wilmington harbor.

Everyone here admired my car and, of course needed an explanation, since they had never seen this model before. It was often confused with the Chevy Corvair. I have always enjoyed the "look" of the car, and its great visibility. Mechanically, it has been somewhat "tempermental". I wil never forget the time it just stopped in the middle of the Wilshire-Santa Monica intersection, or a couple of times it stopped on the San Diego Freeway. The Auto Club became a frequent "rescuer". Whenever I took the car to the mechanic, he always found a different problem, which gave me quite an education in how cars work!

After 18 years of driving this car, I felt the need to buy a new car - so in 1982, I bought my present car - A Mercedes Benz CDT (Turbo Diesel Coupe), again ordering it from here, and picking it up at the factory in Stuttgart. That is another wonderful story.

I wanted to keep the Ghia as a second car. In 1985 I bought a Condo (while still making payments on the Mercedes). A month after I moved in, I went down to the garage and smelled gasoline. Lookling closer, I saw the gasoline was pouring out of my Ghia. We immediately called the Fire Department. They arrived with the sirens going full blast, so, of course, all the neighbors came out to see what was going on. I was embarrased but the fire men were delighted (for them an easy call - and a chance to have some fun as they "skated" on the gasoline). After one hour I was left with a cleaned out garage, amused(?) neighbors, and an inoperable Ghia. At that time I couldn't afford to have the car repaired, so I just left it there where it had a nice spot to "rest".

And now, 18 years later in 2003, I decided I should do something about this car, and have a little fun with it. I met CJ at the Department of Motor Vehicles, heard good things about him, and finally called and asked him to consider bringing my car back to life. He agreed and was most kind in billing me in small installments, willing to take time in getting the job done. That's where we are at this point in time. I'd like to improve the car's appearance, be a part of some future activities, and then make a decision about its future with me.

While it's been in the USA I have only driven the car in California -always to work, and a few fun trips to San Francisco, San Diego, and often to Palm Springs. Most summers, I would travel (out of the country) and the Ghia stayed home - resting.



Rose's 1965 was sold through PureT34 Consignments and shipped to Oahu Hawaii in late-2008. Here's the web site listing with final photos.