Further development
In this short series on the ‘idea cars’ from Chrysler and Ghia, we first presented the ‘Special’ from 1952, here, followed by the D’Elegance from the same year, here. In October 1953, a new variant was on display on the Chrysler stand at the Paris Motor Show: the GS-1. Although it looked quite similar to the ‘Special’, Chrysler felt that it would be able to sell at least 400 of this vehicle, so Ghia had to use more original Chrysler parts. The chassis was again from New York, with a Hemi engine and PowerFlite automatic transmission, all off-the-shelf. In addition, there were bumpers, lamps, steering wheel and instruments, which also came directly from the spare parts shelves in Detroit. Even the spoked wheels came from the American special equipment catalogue. The GS-1 was exhibited at least three times: in Paris, then in Brussels in January 1954 and in Turin at the end of April 1954.
The only problem was that demand was apparently very low, and the plan for a small series was immediately abandoned. There were probably only two of these GS-1s, one of which has certainly survived, chassis number #7252368. Chrysler showed it around the USA for a while, then it was taken over by the then Chrysler board member, Citgo Gas boss W. Alton James. He actually wanted to give the GS-1 to his wife as a present, but she couldn’t find a suitable seating position – and so, it is said, she went straight to the Bentley dealer during the test drive to order a car that better suited her. Her daughter Elizabeth, on the other hand, fell in love with the Ghia-Chysler. In 1967, she put it in her garage at her house in Aspen, where #7252368 remained untouched until her death in 1999. After a gentle restoration, the vehicle became part of Don Davis’s magnificent collection and was auctioned by RM Sotheby’s in 2013 for $616,000.
Meanwhile, Chrysler itself had lost some interest in these Italian finger exercises. But design chief Virgil Exner continued to enjoy travelling to Piedmont – and he was able to continue providing Ghia with technical material for further designs. The ST Special, which can be seen developing over time in the pictures, became more elegant and Italian in form. Ghia was able to sell four of these ST Specials, two to France and two to Italy.
This particular example, chassis number N55-8768, was the exhibit at the 1955 Turin Motor Show. In October 1955, it was sold to Oscar Lacroix, head of the French plastic producer Gilac – and in the late 1960s it came to a Chrysler dealer in Normandy. In 2014, an American bought the largely dismantled ST Special and had it fully restored; in 2018, the vehicle was auctioned off by RM Sotheby’s for $527,500.
We’re not finished with the ‘idea cars’ yet, but we’ll take a short break now. More exciting rarities from the USA can be found under ‘Numbers’, otherwise we still have the archive.
Be First to Comment