Dual-Ghia is a rare, short-lived,
automobileAn automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
make, produced in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
between 1956 and 1958. The idea for Dual-Ghia came from Eugene Casaroll, who formed Dual Motors in
DetroitDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
,
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
to build an exclusive car at a moderate price.
The design was based on an earlier show-car of
ChryslerChrysler Group, LLC is an American automobile manufacturer headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG...
, named the Firearrow, which had been designed by
Virgil ExnerVirgil Max "Ex" Exner, Sr. was an automobile designer for numerous American companies, notably Chrysler and Studebaker. He is known for his "Forward Look" design on the 1955 through 1961 Chrysler products and his fondness of fins on cars for both aesthetic and aerodynamic reasons.-Early life:Born...
. The Dual-Ghia car was designed by
ChryslerChrysler Group, LLC is an American automobile manufacturer headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG...
. The design was fairly conservative with single headlamps and slab-sided features, avoiding fins and other styling gimmicks.
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Dual-Ghia is a rare, short-lived,
automobileAn automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
make, produced in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
between 1956 and 1958. The idea for Dual-Ghia came from Eugene Casaroll, who formed Dual Motors in
DetroitDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
,
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
to build an exclusive car at a moderate price.
The design was based on an earlier show-car of
ChryslerChrysler Group, LLC is an American automobile manufacturer headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG...
, named the Firearrow, which had been designed by
Virgil ExnerVirgil Max "Ex" Exner, Sr. was an automobile designer for numerous American companies, notably Chrysler and Studebaker. He is known for his "Forward Look" design on the 1955 through 1961 Chrysler products and his fondness of fins on cars for both aesthetic and aerodynamic reasons.-Early life:Born...
. The Dual-Ghia car was designed by
ChryslerChrysler Group, LLC is an American automobile manufacturer headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG...
. The design was fairly conservative with single headlamps and slab-sided features, avoiding fins and other styling gimmicks. A four-place convertible was the only offering.
A
DodgeDodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, sport utility vehicles, and pickup trucks, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
frame and drive-train was transported to
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, where the bodywork was fabricated by the Italian Coachbuilder Ghia. Performance was excellent, due to the cars being powered by the small Dodge hemispherical-head short-stroke V-8 engine.
Out of the 117 cars produced, 32 still existed as of July 2006. The cars were mostly bought by American celebrities, such as Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, and Richard Nixon. Desi Arnaz owned one, but he wrecked it.
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
owned one, which he lost in a high-stakes poker game with then-President Lyndon Johnson, who kept the car for several years.
Dean MartinDean Martin was an American singer, film actor and comedian. He was one of the best known musical artists of the 1950s and 1960s. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Mambo Italiano", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That A Kick In The...
had one at one point as well, according to his son Ricci. Dean Martin can be seen driving his Dual-Ghia in the film
Kiss Me, StupidKiss Me, Stupid is a 1964 American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on the play L'Ora della Fantasia by Anna Bonacci.-Plot:...
.
External links
- http://glass.s5.com/
- http://thecityreview.com/s02ccar.html
- http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?