I get that everything is pretty miserable at the moment in the world, which makes me think that perhaps contemplating a lovely object will help soothe you, a bit. If that’s the case, then we’re in luck, as , a car that These never made it out of Brazil officially, and as a result are absurdly rare here, so I expect this auction will bid up to a pretty hefty price. I think.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Karmann-Ghia TC, it’s not unlikely that you may think it looks a bit like a hybrid of a Pinto and a Porsche 911. I kind of think that, but I also think, somehow, it really works.

It differs from the better-known Type 1 Ghia pretty significantly, as it’s based on the Type 3 platform and drivetrain, though it’s not the same as the other Type 3 Ghia, the Type 34, just to keep things nice and confusing.

Like any respectable Type 3, it has the very compact pancake engine, in this case with twin carbs and making 65 horsepower from its 1584cc, crammed down low under the rear hatch floor, meaning you’ve got luggage room front and rear.

This one on BaT is looks so achingly wonderful in it vapor-gray color; it seems it had a restoration in Brazil a while back before making its way to Texas, and while it’s in excellent condition, it’s not nearly so perfect that you couldn’t, say, buy it and gleefully daily drive it until you evaporate into a sparkling cloud of joy that most witnesses thought was an intense, localize aurora.

At the moment, the bidding is just under $5,000, which would be an incredible steal for this car, but, of course, there’s a whole week to go. If anyone reading this ends up winning the auction, please consider this my formal request to drive this car for an episode of Jason Drives, which will hopefully return when all the plagues and riots and murder hornets and cruelty and all that bullshit dissipate, at least a little bit.

I still maintain that the next big thing for collector cars in America will be South American cars; I see auctions like this as a sort of vanguard, predicting what’s to come. I hope I’m right!

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