Carrozzeria Ghia – Driven To Write

Book of the Dead – Dual-Ghia

Not to be confused with a Karmann-Ghia.

For a brief moment, it was the car to have amongst the rich and famous in the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Peter Lawford, Debbie Reynolds, Dean Martin, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra — you get the picture. Ronald Reagan also owned one, but lost it in a high stakes poker game to fellow political heavy hitter Lyndon B. Johnson. Columnist and reporter of the rich and famous Dorothy Mae Kilgallen was moved to remark that a Rolls-Royce had become “merely a Hollywood status symbol for those who can’t Continue reading “Book of the Dead – Dual-Ghia”

A Right Pair of Nymphs

Designer, Tom Tjaarda took two very different bites at the Lancia Flaminia during the 196os. Only one however is truly memorable.

1969 Lancia Flaminia Marica: (c) topcarrating

During the Autumn of 1969, carrozzeria Ghia debuted the Marica concept at the Turin motor show, a styling study based upon the platform of the Lancia Flaminia, a car which had already ceased production. Not only that, but its maker had also gone bankrupt and was desperately seeking a benefactor.

Enter Alejandro de Tomaso, a phrase which would be uttered with increasing regularity within the Italian motor industry over the coming decade or so. Having purchased carrozzeria Ghia in 1967, he is alleged to have sanctioned the Marica study as a means of assisting Lancia’s bid to find a buyer – a statement which sounds suspiciously altruistic for such an automotive opportunist as he. But we are perhaps getting a little ahead of ourselves. Allow me to Continue reading “A Right Pair of Nymphs”

The Idea of North

An Italo-American curiosity receives a broad DTW brushstroke.

Ghia’s Thor concept, gets the late ’60s split screen treatment. (c) Coachbuild.com

Some cars emerge into the world fully formed, and regardless of where one lands upon their aesthetic merits, defy the facelifter’s scalpel, or indeed much in the way of subsequent enhancement. In stating this, I must add, I am not suggesting these cars were never the subject of facelifting exercises, more that perhaps they really ought not to have been.

Of the cars in question (and you can Continue reading “The Idea of North”

Way To Blue

A thirty year-old concept from Ghia comes of age. Perhaps?

It has been stated before upon these pages : The future of the distant past looks considerably more futuristic to our eyes now than that of its more recent equivalent. By way of illustration I urge you to Continue reading “Way To Blue”

Cars That Could Have Been Citroëns – 1977 Ghia Megastar

Driven to Write’s chevron-shaped codex gains a new entry.

Megastar I (c) http://www.allcarindex.com

It’s possible to argue that by 1976 the world of car design had attained peak-wedge, exemplified by William Towns’ startling Aston Martin Lagonda. The projectile-shaped luxury saloon so defined the dart theme, there was really nowhere else it could be taken, not that this prevented the likes of Marcello Gandini and others within the design community from trying. However, as evidenced by subsequent efforts, the returns were rapidly diminishing.

But while change was in the offing, the 1977 Geneva motor show was business as usual, with Ford-owned carrozzeria Ghia displaying a striking wedge-shaped saloon, dubbed Megastar. Created to Continue reading “Cars That Could Have Been Citroëns – 1977 Ghia Megastar”

Crossing Continents : Part One

The legacy of the 1961 Continental lays heavily upon Ford’s Lincoln division. Today we begin an examination of two concepts aimed at re-establishing that defining car’s visual pre-eminence.

Just masterful. Image credit: old car brochures

Europe does not have a monopoly on history or heritage. Long shadows of the past also haunt the American automotive landscape, as the big-name US automakers struggle, just like their European counterparts, to reinterpret the past while straining for relevance in a rapidly approaching future.

European sophisticates are fond of looking at the products of the US automakers with a mixture of Continue reading “Crossing Continents : Part One”