During the Geneva Auto Show in the Spring of 1959 Wilhelm Karmann (from Karmann Coachwerks) and Luigi Segre (from Carrozzeria Ghia) met to continue discussions about the new VW sports model design. After several days of negotiation, it was agreed that Ghia would be responsible for the design and development of the sports Coupe prototype. VW would then provide input to the redesign and then the final prototype would be handed off to the engineers at Karmann for final development of body panel tools and dies. Karmann would then manufacture the car through its entire lifecycle and provide VW with spare parts. It was agreed that the Type 34 Cabriolet would be designed and built exclusively by Karmann once the Coupe was completed. VW wanted the final production-ready models in time for the September 1961 Frankfurt International Auto Show. This left only 15 months to transform the concept drawings into a production car.

The Type 34 project was given the code name Lyon by the Karmann design team. At Ghia Sergio Coggolia was negotiated as the director of the project and responsible for the development of the prototype. Sergio Sartorelli was the Chief Stylist at Ghia and was responsible for creating the initial drawings. During the Geneva Auto Show Segre called Sartorelli in Italy and gave him the specifics of the new design. Segre ordered Sartorelli to create a series of drawings in simple perspective views. Amazingly in only three days, Sartorelli had completed four basic designs for the new sports Coupe and made the trip to Geneva to show the drawings to Segre. When he arrived early in the morning Segre was still sleeping but had Sartorelli show him the designs. Segre laid all the drawings out and chose one to show Wilhelm Karmann Jr. (top drawing). When Segre met Karmann that morning Karmann approved the initial design for further work.

From this sketch came the development of the full-size prototype Coupe. A couple different wooden mock-ups (right) were constructed from Sartorelli’s original design. If you look closely at the upswept beltline area you will see the differences in where it comes up and the addition of cooling louvres which were not implemented in the final vehicle. The rear of the wood buck shows the different decklid design with the lid opening down into the rear panel area, again not seen in the final version. The responsibility of developing the metal prototype was given to Ghia’s newest designer, Tom Tjaarda. Tjaarda was an American fresh out of the University of Michigan. He was recruited by Luigi Segre in May 1959 and immediately got to work on the VW 1500 Sports Coupe prototype. He made both a scale clay model and a modified version based on his own ideas. These two versions were both built into full-size prototypes in July 1959, only 90 days after Sartorelli’s initial design sketches were done. The Sartorelli prototype would eventually be chosen for the final vehicle and the Tjaarda prototype would forever remain a prototype.

The 1959 Sartorelli prototype had several unique features that were not crafted into the wood bucks nor implemented in the final production model, the most noticeable of which was the curved rear fender line that swept downward to the rear tire. It is believed that Tom Tjaarda added this design feature to the metal prototype without consulting Sartorelli or Segre, something that caused friction between the designers at Ghia. Other features not carried over to the final vehicle included the dash-mounted rear view mirror, front turn signals flush into the body, stylized angular bumpers, a completely different rear decklid design, and the inward-facing windshield wiper arms. Although it was not a common practice for prototypes to be built into full-size vehicles, Ghia felt this project was a showpiece for their work and included a fullly detailed interior as well as front & rear compartments. However, since the mechanical aspects of the VW 1500 series had not yet been completed the prototypes were not driveable and were simply fitted with closed rear compartments.