Chrysler ST Special by Ghia

After the deprivation-rich post-war days of the late 1940s had passed, the golden age of the European automobile industry began again in the 1950s. At the car shows the different manufacturers presented wild concept cars and coachbuilt cars based on mass-production models. Today these design excesses are often sought after and score awards at big Concours events. One of these vehicles stood at the Ghia stand at the 1955 Turin Motor Show and was based on a Chrysler. At the American company they had realized that the wild showcar ideas of Virgil Exner could be formed into metal cheaper and better at well-known coachbuilders oversea than at home in the USA. So they formed a cooperation with Ghia. Between 1951 and 1959 several showcars of the Chrysler Group were built in their studio in Italy.

At the request of the French Chrysler importer Charles Ladouch even some low-volume production vehicles based on series models of the American manufacturer emerged, whose stylings were based strongly on the eye-catching concept cars. One of these series was offered from 1954 to 1955 and named ST Special, based on the New Yorker. From this base vehicle Ghia took over the bumpers, headlights and the dashboard in its basic form. Otherwise, however, they gave the car a whole new look with a sleek, low Coupé bodywork in typical Italian shape. In contrast to the pure building process with the concept cars, Ghia was able to let off steam with the low-volume production cars and could incorporate own design ideas. The ST Special got a beltline with upward swing behind the doors and time-typical small tailfins, which are completely occupied by chrome-fitted taillights.

Under the long bonnet of the Chrysler ST Special by Ghia sits a 5.6-liter Hemi-V8 engine with 250 hp, which are transferred to the rear wheels via a two-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission. During the two years of production, Ghia built only four copies of this particular New Yorker, each two for Italy and France. The vehicle now offered by RM Sotheby’s initially served as a showcar during the 1955 Turin Motor Show as already mentioned. Subsequently, the CEO of French plastic company Gilac, Oscar Lacroix, acquired the car and licensed it in Paris with plate 8996-EK-75. Until the late 1960s the vehicle changed hands three times before it was sold to an early enthusiast by the Chrysler dealership in Puteaux.

In 2014 the car finally reappeared in the Normandy region as a restoration project with bodywork partly prepared for painting and already overhauled powertrain. The current owner sent it over to a specialist in the Southern US for perfection. Today, after an extensive restoration, the car wears its original colors again, copper and ivory. Inside it carries leather upholstery in havana and white with matching piping. For the Monterey Car Week auction, RM Sotheby’s expects a hammer price between 600,000 and 800,000 US$.

Images: RM Sotheby’s, Darin Schnabel