Beschreibung:

The word ‘exclusive’ scarcely does justice to the Dual-Ghia. Hand crafted to the highest standards and luxuriously appointed in a manner guaranteed not to disappoint even the most sybaritic of customers, the L6.4 model was priced in the USA at $13,500, making it twice as costly as the equivalent Cadillac! Dual-Ghia owners included Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Eddie Fisher, Sammy Davis Jr, Debbie Reynolds, Hoagy Carmichael, Sterling Hayden, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson. Brainchild of Eugene Casaroll, proprietor of Automobile Shippers Incorporated, the Dual-Ghia had been inspired by Virgil Exner’s Dodge Firebomb/Firearrow show cars. Chrysler’s decision not to proceed with production gave Casaroll the opportunity to purchase the original Firebomb show car, which was suitably re-engineered for public sale by designer Paul Farago who increased both passenger and luggage space. Complete Chrysler-supplied chassis were shipped to Turin for bodying in steel by Ghia craftsmen (builders of the original Firebomb body) before returning to Detroit where Dual Motors installed the drivetrain and interior trim. First-series models used Chrysler’s high-performance D500 (315ci) and D500-1 (325ci) V8 engines delivering 230bhp or 260bhp respectively. Despite competitive pricing - the first-series Dual-Ghia cost less than the contemporary Cadillac Eldorado and Lincoln Continental - Casaroll, like many similar automotive visionaries before and since, lost money on every car made. First-series production lasted from 1956 to 1958, by which time just 117 cars had been built, all but two being convertibles. Undeterred, Casaroll revived the concept in 1961. Built entirely in Italy, the second-series Dual-Ghia L6.4 employed its own bespoke chassis (Chrysler having gone unitary construction, Imperial excepted) and Chrysler’s 383ci (6.4-liter) V8 engine - hence the ‘L6.4’ model designation - and was offered only in hardtop coupé form. Casaroll doubled the price, but the problem of escalating overhead costs persisted and just 26 of these fabulous cars were made before production ceased in 1963. Exclusive, handsome, strongly built and fast (top speed was around 120mph) the ultra-rare Dual-Ghia is a landmark car in the continuing saga of US-Italian co-operation in automobile design. Finished in yellow with tan top and camel-colored interior, this first-series Dual-Ghia bears a dashboard badge which states: "This custom built Dual Ghia motor car was made especially for B W Godwin."