Dual-Ghia: the Dodge chassis that crossed the Atlantic twice

The Dual-Ghia was a rare American luxury car produced between 1956 and 1958 by Dual-Motors of Detroit with bodies by Carrozzeria Ghia of Turin. Built on Dodge chassis and powered by Dodge’s Hemi V8, it was made in just 117 examples and bought mostly by celebrities.

Dual-Ghia at a glance

The Dual-Ghia was an independent make built on Dodge mechanicals rather than a Chrysler-branded car; this page uses the English Wikipedia article on the Dual-Ghia.

History of the Dual-Ghia

From Firearrow to Dual-Ghia

The idea for a sporty limited-production car came from Eugene Casaroll, who controlled the specialised vehicle builder Dual-Motors Corporation in Detroit, and the Dual-Ghia name reflects the partnership between builder and coachbuilder. The design was a modified version of Ghia’s Dodge-based show cars, the Firearrow I to IV and the nearly production-ready Firebomb, all designed by Luigi Segre under the conceptual guidance of Virgil Exner. With so many cars drawn along the same theme, Chrysler may well have intended to build the Firebomb or the Chrysler Falcon as an answer to the Ford Thunderbird and Chevrolet Corvette, but budget limits and a lack of appetite for direct competition left them as promotional talking points. Casaroll obtained the rights to the design and asked Ghia’s American representative Paul Farago, later a Dual-Motors vice-president, to develop the Firebomb into a production-friendly car: the series version used even more standard MoPar fittings, the road-legal two-headlamp arrangement, modest tail fins and a more slab-sided, square-edged shape than the show cars.

The world’s longest assembly line

Production involved shipping a Dodge frame and drivetrain to Italy, where Ghia built the body and interior, then bringing the partly finished cars back to the United States for Dual-Motors to complete — a route the company called the world’s longest assembly line. Performance was strong thanks to the 315 cu in Dodge hemispherical-head short-stroke V8, and some 1957 cars were built with the Dodge D-500 361 cu in engine with dual four-barrel carburettors. The only official body was a four-place convertible, though one coupé prototype was also made.

Price, rarity and owners

At close to US$7,500, the Dual-Ghia cost about US$200 more than most American luxury cars, among them the Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, but far less than the 1956 Continental Mark II at US$10,400 or the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham at US$13,074. Only 117 were built, of which 32 were known to exist in July 2006. Buyers were mostly American celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden and Richard Nixon; Desi Arnaz owned one that was ruined in an accident, and Dean Martin, who according to his son Ricci also owned one, can be seen driving it in the film Kiss Me, Stupid. A Dual-Ghia owned by the musician Rick Danko was sold by Sotheby’s for about US$350,000 in 2015.

Design and features

• Italian-American hybrid: a Dodge frame and drivetrain shipped to Turin for Ghia bodywork.
• Hemi power: the 315 cu in Dodge V8, with the D-500 361 offered in 1957.
• Exclusivity: a hand-built convertible costing about US$7,500 in the mid-1950s.
• Star owners: Sinatra, Hayden and Nixon among the first customers.
• Rarity: 117 built and only 32 known to survive by 2006.

Dual-Ghia versions

• Dual-Ghia convertible (1956–1958): the standard four-place open car.
• 1957 D-500: cars fitted with the 361 cu in dual-quad engine.
• Coupé prototype: a single fixed-roof example.

The Dual-Ghia was designed on Dodge chassis by Ghia under the eye of Chrysler’s Virgil Exner era, and it is a cousin of the coachbuilt Thunderbolt and Newport Phaeton show cars. More cars are in the Chrysler collection.

Video: Dual Ghia 1957 – we go for a ride

Video by RideswithChuck on YouTube.

Sources

• Dual-Ghia, English Wikipedia: design, construction, engines, price, owners
• Dual-Ghia, Wikimedia Commons: photographs