Dual-Ghia is a rare, short-lived, 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...

 make, produced in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 between 1956 and 1958. The idea for Dual-Ghia came from Eugene Casaroll, who formed Dual Motors in Detroit, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 to build an exclusive car at a moderate price.

The design was based on an earlier show-car of Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

, named the Firearrow, which had been designed by 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...

. The Dual-Ghia car was designed by Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

. The design was fairly conservative with single headlamps and slab-sided features, avoiding fins and other styling gimmicks. A four-place convertible was the only offering.

A Dodge

Dodge

Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....

 frame and drive-train was transported to Italy

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...

, where the bodywork was fabricated by the Italian Coachbuilder Ghia. Performance was excellent, due to the cars being powered by the small 315 cu in (5.2 l) Dodge hemispherical-head short-stroke V-8 engine.

Rarity

Out of the 117 cars produced, 32 still existed as of July 2006. The cars were mostly bought by American celebrities, such as Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, and Richard Nixon. Desi Arnaz owned one, but he wrecked it. Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 owned one, which he lost in a high-stakes poker game with then-President Lyndon Johnson, who kept the car for several years. Dean Martin

Dean Martin

Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...

 had one at one point as well, according to his son Ricci. Dean Martin can be seen driving his Dual-Ghia in the film Kiss Me, Stupid

Kiss Me, Stupid

Kiss Me, Stupid is a 1964 American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Dean Martin, Kim Novak, and Ray Walston.The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on Wife For a Night , an Italian film starring Gina Lollobrigida -- which was itself taken from a play by Anna Bonacci...

.