(first posted 8/1/2011) The relationship that Chrysler had with Ghia was multidimensional. Initially, Virgil Exner picked Ghia because they could quickly transform his 3/8 scale clays into a complete and very drivable car for $10,000; considerably less than Farina. But it blossomed into much more, where Ghia took the lead and modified Exner’s designs to be built in small quantities, in the classic role of the carozzeria. Only a very limited number of these magnificent GS1 were actually built.
Exner’s Chrysler Special of 1952 (above) was the basis of the Ghia production cars. And Virgil Exner’s son claims that the Special, as well as the K310 and the D’Elegance was 100% daddy’s work (along with his small group of designers). And of the three, the Special is very special indeed.
And, lo! No toilet seat to be found. That is a very tasty rear, reminiscent of the Bentley R-Type Continental and of course the ’49 Caddy.
Green or blue? Hmm… It’s quite apparent that the main difference from Exner’s Special and the “production” GS1 is the roof line. The GS1 has a lighter roof, reflecting the changing taste that was leaving quickly the fastback quickly behind. It’s hard to think of a more delectable way to wrap a husky Chrysler hemi.
The Borgward Isabella Coupe , from 1957, also shows a lot of similarity with these Ghia Chryslers around the window and rear wing lines.
Ghia also got the contract to manufacture Imperial limos for Chrysler through 1966. In 1967, Imperials switched to unibody construction, and Ghia didn’t have the skill to stretch those.
Spanish coachbuilder took over for the ’66s, according to the Online Imperial Club. But they’re beautiful, too.
This car always struck me as a better alternative to the R-type Continental, with it’s gorgeous Italian craftsmanship and good ole American drivetrain. Update one of these with a modern 7 or 8 speed transmission and it would surpass any modern luxury car for daily use, IMO. Not now, I still like to drive too much. But when I’m 75 or so, this would be perfect.
We all have our dreams… 😉
Some 400 of these magnificent GS1 were built.
Paul, where did you get that number? I searched for more info online and got conflicting information. A couple sources said that said the GS1s were based on a Chrysler concept car called the Thomas Special, and that only a handful were made, not hundreds.
http://www.imperialclub.com/Articles/53GhiaSpecial/index.htm
“Chrysler and Imperial: The Postwar Years” By Richard Langworth
Page 85: “Thus Ghia built 400 copies of next machine, the 125 inch wheelbase GS1 – a larger grilled modidification of the long wheel base Special of 1953…”
That don’t make it the gospel truth. What does?
Another source: “A production run of 400 has often been cited for the GS-1. But John White, in whose Ramshead Automobile Collection the car shown here now resides, says new research suggests perhaps only a dozen Thomas Specials and nine GS-1s were ever actually made.”
That sounds more credible to me.
I found an explanation for the 400 figure when I researched these cars: When Chrysler authorized Ghia to series-produce and sell the cars, the agreement specified that Ghia could build up to 400 units. Given how much cars like these cost, I suspect it was a little difficult for Ghia to estimate in advance how many they would be able to sell, so I imagine what happened is that Chrysler set an upper limit that would be probably be more than sufficient without risking Ghia’s cars becoming serious competition for Chrysler’s own (modest) European export business. (As I recall, some of the cars Ghia did sell went to European Chrysler distributors as showroom eye candy.)
This is a beautiful car. Make mine green.
A really good question is why didn’t they try to bottle and sell it? It would have killed the T-bird in its crib.
I think it’s price would be pretty high.The later cars were only affordable to Frank Sinatra and others with that sort of income.
Yes, these cost more than twice as much as a T-Bird, which was already a fairly upmarket car.
Man, oh, man, oh, man! My ultimate dream rides if I had the money in any color.
Not sure how I missed this the first time around. A beautiful design of an era that lasted a very short time. It seems to me that a company of Chrysler’s resources in 1952 could have built this. It would have been expensive, but not nearly so costly as the hand built Ghia version. A car like this for a Cadillac price would have been a unique offering.
A very similar 1954 Chrysler Ghia ST Special sold for $288,000 at Retromobile in Paris on the weekend of 2/9/13…
From the front….
Delicious. Prettier than the GS1.
I find the nose on the ST Special more attractive too, Don. I have long been amazed that Chrysler produced such a wide variety (albeit in VERY low numbers) and minutely different gorgeous Ghia dreams. These aforementioned cars, the 1953 D’Elegance and the 1953-4 DeSoto Adventurer I were all so very beautiful and, of course, were Hemi powered.
I will be forever grateful that a few examples have survived to the present day….
DeSoto Adventurer I….
..and from the rear….
The ST doesn’t have the quirks and the profile is beautifully proportioned. Reminds me a bit of the Ford Comete by Facel, but more langurous.
Very much so, Don. The Comete is also a very pretty design albeit not as flowing.
These were so beautiful. It is too bad the big three never figured out how to make money on small production runs of hand made hyper expensive cars. That way designers could have had a free hand to wow us and the halo effect goes into full force.
Interesting. When Rolls-Royce talked to Pinin Farina around the same time to use the Bressani MkVI, the price PF gave them per body would have resulted in a sticker price three times higher than that charged to customers for the Mulliner R type Continental bodies.
One of the panel beaters in my home town did his apprenticeship making those R model Bentleys, brilliant tradesman he could repair anything.
In the movie, Kiss Me Stupid, Dean Martin drove one of these, which was his personal car.
Drop dead beautiful. Clean and elegant,it rivals the Continental Mkll for purity of style and desin. It may not be perfect,but its damn close.
Just beautiful. That ST Special several comments up may be even better…or may not. I can’t decide which is prettier. I do know that either of them would have a permanent home with me!
So clean and understated –it makes you wish that the same aesthetic had carried over to Chrysler Corp.’s more mainstream vehicles. Some details of Exner’s later vehicles, like the grilles on the “Forward Look” Dodges and DeSotos.look overwrought by comparison.
True, but that would have been out of sync with the wild late 50’s. If you look at that green ST Special that Gene Herman posted in his comment, though, that is almost the exact grille that was used on the ’57-’58 Chryslers. In that application, it was a touch of simplicity in a flashy design.
There was a Chrysler Ghia for sale on trademe recently in dismantled but complete condition for 100K, I forget exactly which model but it was claimed to be very rare.