Carrozzeria Ghia
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
design and coachbuilding
Coachbuilder
A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for carriages or automobiles.The trade dates back several centuries. Rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Anne's Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer , formed in 1810. Others in Britain included...
firms, established by Giacinto Ghia
Giacinto Ghia
Giacinto Ghia was an Italian automobile coachbuilder, founder of Carrozzeria Ghia. He was a test driver at Rapid and Diatto, getting seriously injured ....
and Gariglio as Carrozzeria Ghia & Gariglio, located at 4 Corso Valentino in Turin.
Ghia initially made lightweight aluminum-bodied cars, achieving fame with the Alfa Romeo 6C 1500
Alfa Romeo 6C
The Alfa Romeo 6C name was used on road, race and sports cars made between 1925–1954 by Alfa Romeo. 6C refers to a straight 6 engine. Bodies for these cars were made by coachbuilders such as James Young, Zagato, Touring, Castagna, and Pininfarina...
, winning Mille Miglia
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 ....
(1929). Between the world wars, Ghia designed special bodies for Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
, Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
, and Lancia
Lancia
Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more...
, one of the most famous was the Fiat 508
Fiat 508
The 508 was a car introduced by Fiat in 1932. It effectively replaced the Fiat 509, although production of the earlier model had ceased back in 1929. It had a three-speed transmission , seated four, and had a top speed of about . It sold for 10,800 lire...
Balilla sports coupe (1933). The factory was rebuilt at Via Tomassi Grossi, after being demolished in an air raid during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(1943).
After Ghia's death (1944), the company was sold to Mario Boano
Mario Boano
Felice Mario Boano was an Italian automobile coachbuilder.With Giorgio Alberti, he bought the Carrozzeria Ghia in Torino when their friend Giacinto Ghia died...
and Giorgio Alberti. The Ghia-Aigle
Ghia-Aigle
Carrosserie Ghia S.A., Aigle was a Swiss automobile design and manufacturing company, commonly referred to as Ghia-Aigle....
subsidiary was established in Aigle
Aigle
Aigle is the capital of the district of Aigle in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The town has a population of 8,100 people.The name of this municipality in French means eagle.-Geography:...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
(1948).
Following differences between Boano and the company's Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
born chief engineer and designer Luigi Segre, Boano left the company in 1953 and ownership passed to Segre in 1954. Under the leadership of Luigi Segre
Luigi Segre
Luigi "Gigi" Segre was an Italian automotive designer and engineer, leading the Carrozzeria Ghia from 1953, when Mario Boano left, until his death in 1963, from complications during surgery....
, the decade between 1953 and 1963 saw many foreign firms ordering Ghia designs, such as Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
(the Lincoln Futura
Lincoln Futura
The Lincoln Futura was a concept car designed by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company. It was built by Ghia entirely by hand in Italy at a cost of $250,000 and displayed on the auto show circuit in 1955...
concept car
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
), Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
(the Karmann Ghia), and Volvo (the Volvo P1800
Volvo P1800
-History:The project was started in 1957 because Volvo wanted a sports car, despite the fact that their previous attempt, the P1900, had been a disaster, with only 68 cars sold. The man behind the project was an engineering consultant to Volvo, Helmer Petterson, who in the 1940s was responsible for...
). Chrysler and its designer Virgil Exner
Virgil Exner
Virgil Max "Ex" Exner, Sr. was an automobile designer for numerous American companies, notably Chrysler and Studebaker. He is known for his "Forward Look" design on the 1955-1963 Chrysler products and his fondness of fins on cars for both aesthetic and aerodynamic reasons.-Early life:Born in Ann...
became a close partner for 15 years, resulting in eighteen Chrysler Ghia Specials (1951–53), the K-310, the Chrysler Norseman
Chrysler Norseman
The Chrysler Norseman was a concept car built in 1956. It was a four-seat coupe. Although designed by Chrysler Corporation's stylists, actual construction was contracted out to the Italian coach-building firm of Ghia. Ghia had experience in the construction of low-volume vehicles and one-off...
, the Crown Imperial limousines (Jackie Kennedy, Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
, and other luminaries owned one), and others. There are even a few Ghia-bodied Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
s. Ghia also participated in the short-lived Dual-Ghia
Dual-Ghia
Dual-Ghia is a rare, short-lived, automobile make, produced in the United States between 1956 and 1958. The idea for Dual-Ghia came from Eugene Casaroll, who formed Dual Motors in Detroit, Michigan to build an exclusive car at a moderate price....
venture. Production by Ghia was always in very low numbers, giving the company's products even greater exclusivity than those of the other Italian coachbuilders.
In 1953, Boano left for Fiat, the factory moved to via Agostino da Montefeltro, and Luigi Segre took over. Ghia then bought Pietro Frua
Pietro Frua
Pietro Frua was one of the leading Italian coachbuilders and car designers during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early years:...
, appointing Frua as head of Ghia Design (1957–60), designing the Renault Floride. After Segres death (1963), Ghia was sold to Ramfis Trujillo
Ramfis Trujillo
Lieutenant General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Martínez , better known as Ramfis Trujillo, was the son of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina and María Martínez...
(1966), who sold to Alejandro de Tomaso
Alejandro de Tomaso
Alejandro de Tomaso was a racing driver and industrialist from Argentina. His name is sometimes seen in an Italianised form as Alessandro de Tomaso. He participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on January 13, 1957...
(1967), owner of a rival design house, who took over, but had difficulty in running Ghia profitably. In 1970, he sold his shares to the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
. During this transition period, Ghia had partial involvement in the De Tomaso Pantera
De Tomaso Pantera
The Pantera was a sports car produced by the De Tomaso car company of Italy from 1971 to 1991, the last one being delivered to a customer in 1992.The word "Pantera" is Italian for "Panther".-History:...
, a high-performance, mid-engine car with a 351 cubic inch OHV Ford V8.
From 1973, the Ghia name became Ford's top trim-level in its mainstream model range. The trend began in Europe (Granada
Ford Granada (Europe)
The March 1972 released Granada succeeded the British Ford Zephyr, and the German P7-series as Ford's European executive car offering. At first, lower models in the range were called the Ford Consul, but from 1975 on they were all called Granadas. The car soon became popular for taxi, fleet and...
Ghia, Capri
Ford Capri
Ford Capri was a name used by the Ford Motor Company for three different automobile models. The Ford Consul Capri coupé was produced by Ford of Britain between 1961 and 1964. The Ford Capri coupé was produced by Ford of Europe from 1969 to 1986...
Ghia, Cortina
Ford Cortina
As the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...
Ghia, Escort Ghia, Fiesta
Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta is a front wheel drive supermini/subcompact manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India, Thailand and South Africa...
Ghia, later Sierra
Ford Sierra
The Ford Sierra is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....
Ghia, Orion
Ford Orion
The Ford Orion is a saloon car built by the automaker Ford for the European market from 22 July 1983 until 19 September 1993. A total of 3,534,239 Orions were sold throughout the car's 10-year life....
Ghia, Scorpio
Ford Scorpio
The Ford Scorpio is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from 1985 through to 1998.It was the replacement for the European Ford Granada line...
Ghia, Mondeo
Ford Mondeo
The Mondeo was launched on 8 January 1993, and sales began on 22 March 1993. Available as a four-door saloon, a five-door hatchback, and a five-door estate, all models for the European market were produced at Ford's plant in the Belgian city of Genk...
Ghia, Focus Ghia) and the Brazilian Ford Del Rey
Ford Del Rey
The Ford Del Rey is a midsized car produced by the Ford Motor Company in Brazil from 1981 to 1991. It was a remake from the popular Ford Corcel II. Like the Ford Corcel II, the Del Rey was designed exclusively for Brazil, but was sold in Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay as well...
Ghia but soon spread worldwide, particularly to the U.S, South American and Australian markets.
In the British market, however, the practice of using the Ghia name in such a capacity was finally phased out in 2010. The 'Titanium' name has instead replaced Ghia as the flagship trim level. The British Ford Fiesta
Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta is a front wheel drive supermini/subcompact manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India, Thailand and South Africa...
retained the Ghia trim designation for the longest amount of time of any model; for thirty-one-and-a-half years, uninterrupted, from February 1977 to November 2008.
Today, the Ghia studios produce many various concept car
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
s under the Ford banner. However, it will also forever be linked with Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
's top-line models.