I’ve been a long time fan of the classy Chrysler-Ghia Falcon show car of 1955, perhaps my favorite of the “Idea Car” concepts built during the Exner-Ghia collaboration years. And here, in my perusal of vintage images online, what do I see? A Ghia Falcon, with Venezuela plates, pulling out of some upscale driveway in that nation.
I had at some point, while reading about the car, heard there was a debate on the number built and their whereabouts, with figures going from one to a top of three. Now, with photo in hand, it was time to give my Spanish some use, update myself with the car’s current details, and do a bit of digging for any isolated info out there.
First, as a previous post mentioned, the Falcon was at some point being considered as a potential Corvette/Thunderbird competitor. Heck, even Nash had entered the 1950s sports car frenzy with their Nash Healey. Why not the Pentastar?
Styling for the Falcon is generally attributed to Maurice Baldwyn, and as with lots of the “Idea Cars”, the final product had fine tuning by the skillful eye of Carrozzeria Ghia personnel in Italy. Always with parts and drivetrains supplied from the US, the Falcon rode on a Chrysler C-300 platform and was equipped with a Firepower V8 (either a 331 or 276CID unit) and a 2-speed PowerFlite automatic.
The sharp looking two-seater, with a neat mix of American and Italian cues, made its public debut on August 17, 1955, at the Chrysler International Salon.
Now, questions come as to how many Falcons reached the US; two or three? Whichever the figure, one of those, at least, remained Stateside and became Virgil Exner’s personal car (And that’s him above. Good choice, Virgil!). Wikipedia speculates that another one, perhaps, went back to Ghia and then was shipped to Venezuela. Meanwhile, Venezuelan sources believe theirs came straight from Italy since the start.
Whatever the order of events, one Falcon did reach the South American nation, presumably on time to be part of a fundraising raffle for the Venezuelan Red Cross, which was to take place on September 29th, 1955.
The raffle ticket contains some fun information, from the car’s estimated value at $25,000 USD, to highlighting its handcrafted nature in Italy. Other specs included an estimated 285HP, a number that doesn’t coincide with the ’54-’55 factory figures for either the 276 or 331CID V8s. Italian tuning, typo, or daydreaming?
Relevant in the ticket, the mention that the car was a special donation from C.A. El Automóvil Universal de Occidente, Chrysler’s commercial representative in that nation back then.
No idea who won the raffle, but it was unlikely they could have kept up with the car’s special needs. Here, the story gets murky. At some point after the raffle, the Falcon came under the possession of a Venezuelan magnate for about ten years and was frequently seen around Caracas’ classiest neighborhoods, like El Rosal, Country Club and Chacaito. Sometime in the ’70s, the car went back to the States and, after some further exchanges, became part of Joe Bortz’s collection (as per Wikipedia).
Now, why Venezuela? Hard to tell if the Falcon’s arrival in the nation was a Ghia connection or part of Chrysler’s interests.
I suspect the latter. For one, the 1950s was a period were American carmakers greatly expanded their operations in South America. Starting in 1950, assembly of Chrysler products started at Ensamblaje Venezolano’s new plant in Cortijos, on the outskirts of Caracas. Originally a Venezuelan enterprise, Chrysler Corp. took wholesale control of the plant by ’57.
So, Chrysler certainly had an interest in causing a local impression, partly due to its global ambitions, and well… Venezuela’s presumably oil-rich bright future.
Then again, Venezuelan rich men had already shown they had a fondness for Chrysler show cars way before the Falcon’s arrival. The first? Perhaps Chrysler’s earlier 1941 Thunderbolt, of which six units are known to have been built. Placed on sale after their required publicity tour, at least one reached Caracas in 1944, bought by a local magnate (how could it be any different?). You can see him in the image above, at Caracas’ Country Club neighborhood in 1945.
So it could have been a local fondness for Chrysler’s exotic show cars and some backroom dealings that got the Falcon down south.
In total, three Falcons are now known to exist. As for their Corvette/Thunderbird production aspirations, we know those didn’t pan out. But that unfulfilled destiny aside, a select few did enjoy them as the exclusive vehicles they were meant to be.
Related CC reading:
When I saw that first picture I was like, “OMG! It’s ‘The Car’!”
Fascinating! I hadn’t heard of Chrysler’s Venezuelan plant.
A Red Cross raffle! Who would have thought.
As to the horsepower figures, these specials commonly got a bit of tuning to up the power.
Great piece, and I too had never heard of a Venezuelan Chrysler plant.
This is cool some folks got to enjoy these cars. Nowadays, the concept car is usually destroyed after it makes the Auto Show rounds.
“IF” car mfrs. even bother to build concept show cars today. Their budgets and UAW demands don’t financially allow for concepts like they did back in the 50s. Besides; I can’t think of a single concept that was built in recent memory that seriously wow’d crowds. Cadillac’s 2015 concept coupe was gorgeous, but never lent itself to anything mass produced & was intentionally forgotten in time.
What an unexpected story! Winning this car in a raffle would be like winning a yacht in a raffle – seems fun, but taking care of it on a daily basis isn’t so much fun. Looks like the car has a 1957 license plate in the photo, so I’m guessing this was during the time the magnate (2nd owner) owned the car.
As a complete aside, I used to have a painting of Caracas in my dining room. I’d bought it at an estate sale, and I liked it because it was a striking painting. At some point, a neighbor of ours, who was Venezuelan, was at our house and couldn’t believe I had a painting of his home town. I gave it to him – I figured he’d enjoy it more than I would. The Chrysler plant postcard reminded me of it because of the hills in the background, which evidently is one of Caracas’s distinguishing features.
Anyway, great photo year, and thanks for the research on this.
Interesting to note then Chrysler wanted to re-use the Falcon nameplate for their upcoming compact for 1960 but they forgot to trademark the rights and Ford taked the opportunity to grab it for its own compact which forced Chrysler to use another name; hence the Valiant.
We could wonder what if Chrysler had kept the rights to the Falcon name?
First effort was the best one, any tickets left?
Nice, I think I’d prefer a Thunderbolt .
-Nate