by Mike Gulett –
In the early 1950s Virgil Exner was hired by Chrysler to update the Chrysler design image which was a little stodgy at the time and obvious to all.
Exner developed a relationship with Ghia that lasted for 15 years, resulting in eighteen Chrysler/Ghia specials some owned by many celebrities.
1954 Chrysler Ghia GS-1
Ghia is a well known Italian automobile design and coach building company that originally made lightweight aluminum-bodied cars, notably the Alfa Romeo 6C 1500, that won the Mille Miglia in 1929. Before World War II Ghia designed special bodies for Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Lancia. The also worked with Volkswagen on the successful VW Karmann Ghia sports car.
These “Idea Cars” are still inspiring today as they were originally meant to be. The mechanicals are all Chrysler with a 331 cubic-inch Hemi V8 which puts out 175 hp. The Hemi was connected to a two-speed PowerFlite or Fluid Torque transmission. The body style, however, is from Ghia and Exner. This design compares very favorably to other American cars made in the early 1950s.
The beautiful example shown here is a 1954 Chrysler Ghia GS-1 and was photographed at the Palo Alto Concours d’Elegance in 2012.
Chrysler continued for many years delivering wonderful concept cars, which I suspect was influenced by the memory of Exner even though he was long gone.
What do you think about the results of cooperation between Chrysler and Ghia?
Let us know in the Comments.
Photos by Mike Gulett.
Currently I own two Karmann Ghis thus I appreciate this article.
Plenty of folks are huge fans of Virgil Exner, me being one, and there are those who don’t care for his designs, but he was a highly influential designer and gave the Chrysler Corporation their signature looks for at least a decade… he is responsible for the fin era at Chrysler and a prolific designer who did a variety of cars for a number of companies…The book on Exner is well worth the time and trouble… his son was also a very successful and capable designer but perhaps not quite as well known… a terrifically nice gentleman…