10 Jul CSP’s Awesome Type 34
Form meets function in Peter’s 15 year undertaking to built the ultimate “fast and fierce” piece of VW art.
Text: Georg Otto Photography: Stefan Bau
It’s been is three years and 20 runs, since the CSP Ghia first blasted down the quarter mile. And from the beginning crew chief Peter Köhmann promised the car a proper paint job, if it runs into the eights. Well, at SCC (Scandinavian Cal Look & Classics) 2010 in Gardermoen, Norway, all added up. Ron Lummus ran an 8,855 at 156,25 mph. Peter abode by his promise and got in touch with the artists of Paintbox and Prosign, both from England. The finished Ghia had show car level and reached 99 out of 100 points at the prestigious Volksworld Show (England) in March 2011. That was the highest number of points ever given to a show car at the Volksworld Show and the CSP Ghia was awarded with the “Best of Show” trophy. Nevertheless the CSP Ghia is a race car and will be raced again.
It took Neil Melliard of Prosign fame and Peter Köhmann several sleepless nights, countless gallons of tea and more than one sheet of paper to develop the final design of the Ghia. The Type 34 is the most difficult Volkswagen to paint, because of its body lines – at least if you don’t want to paint it in one color only. And the CSP guys wanted a multi colored paint scheme! But not the way the 70s Gasser looks like – the car has a more modern appearance. But they thought about transferring some design features into today’s race world. White is the basic color, traditional CSP-orange and black join in. These three colors are the only colors on the car, with a few exceptions like the Aeroquip fittings and some other small parts. The most difficult part was the integration of the typical edge into the design. This edge is interrupted just behind the B-pillar, facing upwards to the rear side window. This little piece had to be integrated and they did a pretty good job the way they did it. Particular attention has been paid to the matt black areas. These sections bear ghost CSP Products logos, arranged like on a wall paper and only visible under certain light conditions. Sticking the logos to the car was not that difficult – they were on a carrier foil. But first you had to remove the surrounding foil around the CSP products logos. Really difficult and time consuming was the removal of all those single letters after the car was painted! This wasn’t the end of the gimmicks! Peter Köhmann suggested to continue the stripes from the outside on the inside of the body. And added: “But we have to have the sponsor logos and CSP Products scripts as well, this time mirror-inverted, otherwise it wouldn’t be perfect!” Okay, if that’s what he thinks … Shane Whitworth and Grant “Bob the Hobbit” Tatum from the Paintbox and Prosign-Neil set themselves to work. First they laid the white. After that the areas to be matt black were masked. They sprayed a kind of rough metal flake black on these sections. And we are not talking just about the stripes on the front fenders, the lids and the roof. All raised areas in the wheel wells, on the bulkhead partition, on the interior panels and on the seat were treated like that. Now it was time for the carrier foil with the CSP Products logos. Sticking them on in the right angle, removing the carrier foil. Inside the body the same, but – don’t forget it – mirror-inverted! Then they painted these areas in a luscious black. And now the grind: Every single letter from countless CSP Products scripts had to be carefully removed by hand! A bit less stressful were the bigger CSP, Rancho, Ron Lummus Racing, JP Motorsport, Paintbox and Prosign logos – all painted of course! Orange and black came next on the designated areas. Several layers of clear coat followed for a perfect shine. Special matt clear coat brought the wanted effect to the sections with the CSP products logos. Finally Neil Melliard framed all orange and matt black areas with dark orange and black pinstripes. And as they wanted to transfer some 70s features into modern times, the figures on the rear wing showing the engine displacement were laid out with variegated copper leaf. Neil Melliard did a wonderful job there! If you ask the guys from Paintbox and Prosign how many hours they spent on that masterpiece, they answer with a shrug. But they say “it was the most difficult job so far!” The icing on the cake: A white seat cover from Bernard Newbury with a black and orange stripe. That will be fun for driver Ron Lummus, when he has to dust his overall every time before he is allowed to enter the Ghia!
Brand: Volkswagen Model: Karmann Ghia Type 34 Year: 1966 Driver: Ron Lummus CHASSIS RLR (Ron Lummus Racing) tube chassis with integrated roll cage, FIA and NHRA-approved Strange Engineering suspension with A-arms Strange Engineering struts Strange Engineering spindles Strange Engineering disc brakes up front, spindle mounts Rack and pinion steering RLR (Ron Lummus Racing) rear suspension with QA1 coil overs CSP Race disc brakes up rear, PCD 5×205 RLR (Ron Lummus Racing) chromoly wheelie bars Monocoque Racing Wheels 3,5×15 front Monocoque Racing Wheels 7×15 rear Mickey Thompson tires 4.0/22.5-15 front Mickey Thompson tires 28.0/9.0-15 rear BODY VW Karmann Ghia Type 34 Year 1966 Painted by Paintbox and Prosign Full steel except GRP bonnet Engine lid cut Aluminum rear wing Carbon fiber torsion bar covers One-piece carbon fiber bumpers, painted with chrome effect color NOS headlight lenses NOS fog light chrome rings Re-chromed headlight reflectors White indicator lenses Red taillights CSP Type 34 sill trim INTERIOR OMP steering wheel Autometer Pro-Comp rev counter Autometer Pro-Comp boost Autometer Pro-Comp fuel pressure Autometer Pro-Comp oil pressure MSD shift light Autometer oil pressure light Switch panel at the right upper corner of the cage CNC pedal assembly CNC staging brake CSP shifter 40 %, T-handle with button Kirkey seat with Newbury Creative Interiors cover NOS lower dash padding with transport securing device CSP made aluminum panels ENGINE Type 1 AS41 magnesium case, original VW 2165 cc Shuffle pins on center main bearing All Type 4 main bearings 78 mm Scat flange crank RLR flywheel 5,7“ Pauter rods 94 mm JE pistons 94 mm Mahle cylinder 10 mm CSP head studs JPM MS230 cylinder heads Compression ratio 8,5:1 Titanium valves, inlet 48 mm, outlet 38 mm K800 valve springs JPM 1:1,45 rocker arms CSP valve covers CSP push rod tubes Gene Berg push rods Udo Becker 62 g lifters FK 87 Engle cam Magnum straight cut gears CSP made intercoolers JPM intake manifolds GT 40 Garrett ball bearing turbo 46 mm Tial waste gate 750 cfm Holley carb, modified by RLR CSP made intake 45 mm CSP Turbo Python prototype exhaust system 30 mm Schadeck oil pump CSP Full Flow oil pump cover CSP Full Flow adapter CSP Full Flow oil cooler block off CSP oil filter bracket 4,5 l CSP made oil sump Fram HP 1 oil filter CSP fuel pump block off Grant electrical fuel pump Dynoed at JPM Motorsports: 500 hp at 9180 rpm TRANSMISSION Original VW transmission case, swing axle, build by Rancho FTC 1st and 2nd gear shafts (3,78/2,21) Erco 3rd gear (1,56) Erco 4th gear (1,16) JayCee aluminum spool Axel tubes, narrowed by 5″ HD drive shafts, made out of MoCN315 SPECIALS Racepak Data Logging System, can record 20 different relevant data: Engine rpm Clutch rpm Wheel rpm Rear suspension travel Acceleration Lateral acceleration Gas pedal position Voltage of the complete system Exhaust gas temperature of every single cylinder Cylinder head temperature Intake temperature before intercooler Intake temperature after intercooler Air-fuel-ratio Turbo speed Boost Exhaust gas pressure Oil pressure Oil temperature Fuel pressure
Waste gate CO2 pressure
FASTEST TIMES: 1/8 mile: 5,617 s @ 201,68 km/h (126,05 mph) at Gardermoen Raceway, Norway 1/4 mile: 8,855 s @ 250,00 km/h (156,25 mph) at Gardermoen Raceway, Norway
