Will Volkswagen revive the iconic Karmann Ghia?

How does an electric Volkswagen Karmann Ghia sound to you?

Reviving an iconic nameplate isn't a new trend. Almost every manufacturer has done it, and Volkswagen is one of those who do that every so often. They brought back the Beetle in the late 90s, reimagined the Scirocco around the mid-2000s, and the Kombi is coming back this decade as an electric vehicle.

Aside from the Kombi, it seems that Volkswagen also has another model they plan to resurrect. It's also a model that has not seen a revival since its discontinuation. The name hasn't been used since 1974, but one mention of it will excite old-school Volkswagen fans. We are talking about the Karmann Ghia, and it looks like the German automaker has plans of bringing it back as an EV.

Volkswagen recently registered the name e-Karmann in the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO). Before you take this as a sign that Volkswagen will build an electric Karmann Ghia, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Manufacturers usually trademark names from the past to protect and keep them within the company. However, it's the addition of the “e” that caught our attention. It's the first time Volkswagen attached that prefix to the iconic nameplate.

Think of this then as Volkswagen giving serious thought to reviving the Karmann Ghia. It's not a guarantee that they will build it, but at least we know they want to do something about the name. But it's not just the Karmann Ghia that could get an EV reboot. Volkswagen registered more classic names in the database, and all have an “e” prefix. Other models mentioned were the e-Golf Classic and e-Kübel.

There is also a company tapped by Volkswagen to turn classic models into modernized EVs. The company is called eClassics and they use original Volkswagen parts to bring these icons into the modern, electrified era. So far, they have two models to offer, the e-Käfer (aka the e-Beetle) and the e-Bulli (Kombi). eClassics fits into this story since they could be the ones who will build the e-Karmann, e-Golf Classic, and e-Kübel. Either way, we're glad to see Volkswagen celebrating some of their most cherished models.