Cruise for 50th Anniversary of the Karmann Ghia July 17th 2005
  
     
  Earlier in the year we received an email from a club in Germany informing us of celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Karmann Ghia. We couldn't let the event go past without some sort of celebration.
  We gathered at our usual Plane Tree Drive kick off point on a warm sunny Sunday morning. The forecast was for some wind but overall a clear day. As is our club policy, even though the event was themed as a KG run, it was open to all VW's (and of course to members who can't get out in a VW on the day and have to bob in something else). Our group for the day was small but included 3 KG's (a fourth joined us later in the run), two T3's, a split window kombi and both new and old beetles.
  The group was led off by Paul Creswell in his splittie. This is a great bus and being restored section by section while it is kept on the road. We headed down Hackney Rd, up Robe Terrace and down past North Adelaide and on to Port Road. From there down to Semaphore Rd and along the Esplanade to North Haven. Once there we were joined by our 4th KG. We had left the intended passengers of this car back at Hackney Rd, as the owner was to meet them there at 10:00. Messages were left on mobiles top see why he was not there yet but to no avail. When he had not arrived by the appointed set off time, we left the with the assurance he would not be far away.. The explanation? An early game of golf gone wrong. After finishing the round, time to grab the phone and let the other half know you were on the way. Oops. no phone! Must have fallen out some where along the course. Nothing to it but to retrace the footsteps, hole by hole. Eventually the phone turned up - very worse for wear and obviously the victim of a hit and run by a car or errant golf buggy. No wonder he couldn't be reached! Even with this bad luck, the group had still made the effort to continue with the run. That's great VW enthusiasm!
  The Beach Pit is an excellent spot for an outing. The Volks Enthusiasts Club is even luckier, having its owners, the Grenneman's as members. The Beach Pit is decked out with German paraphernalia and of course VW items dominate. We exchanged VW stories over brunch and ventured out for the mandatory check of the car park. KG's never fail to turn a head and seem to generate more attention every year. We may not have had a large crowd but we did our bit to mark this auspicious occasion.