1955 Ghia Streamline X Concept

Automobile design and technology during the 1950s were heavily influenced by the space and aviation industries. With the end of World War II, the economy experienced a boom in the United States thanks to the dramatic increase in consumer spending, and the automobile industry was one of the biggest beneficiaries of these funds. As Automakers looked to the future, they found inspiration from planes and rockets, which at the time represented the pinnacle of engineering. Concept cars incorporated many of these styling traits, such as towering tailfins, sleek profiles, glass bubble canopies, and jet engine-style taillights. Experiments with the latest technologies gave previews and promises for the cars of tomorrow, with in-car TVs, communication systems, and even turbine engines. In the end, many of these dream cars were just 'dreams' that were far too unrealistic. Once their spark vanished, they became passe. Posing a potential liability risk for manufacturers, especially if brought to the road, most were destroyed. Examples that survived have become valued treasures.

The Chrysler Airflow
Many of the most daring, dramatic, and futuristic designs of the 1950s came from the Chrysler design studio. The company was a proponent of aerodynamics, and it nearly led to the company's destruction. Their Airflow vehicles (Chrysler and DeSoto) of the 1930s were incredible engineering successes and a crushing commercial failure. Featuring the beginning of unit-body construction, they were the first mass-produced automobile design with the entire passenger compartment moved forward within the wheelbase, and the engine placed over the front axle instead of behind it. Additionally, they were the first cars with the rear seat forward of the rear axle instead of over the rear axle. The engine sat between the front wheels. They had low ground clearance, a low-drag body, a rounded radiator grille, a slanted, V-shaped windshield, and fully-skirted rear fenders.

Chrysler and Ghia
The Chrysler Corporation and the storied Italian coachbuilder Ghia began a long and fruitful relationship in 1950 with the introduction of the Plymouth XX-500 show car, a four-door fastback constructed on the chassis of a Plymouth P20. Throughout the 1950s, Chrysler and Ghia would collaborate on over two dozen 'idea cars,' with the Italian design house bringing to life many of the designs penned by Chrysler's Advanced Styling Group. The alliance between Chrysler and Ghia birthed the 1952 Chrysler K-310, the mid-1950s Dodge Firearrow series show cars, the DeSoto Adventurer, Chrysler d'Elegance, the Plymouth XNR Ghia Roadster, and the Ghia Streamline X.

K.T. Keller, Virgil Exner, and Giovanni Savonuzzi
Kaufman Thuma Keller (K.T. Keller) served as the president of Chrysler Corporation from 1935 to 1950 and as its chairman of the board from 1950 to 1956. He was a general master mechanic at the Buick Motor Company from 1916 to 1919, and was appointed vice president of Chevrolet in 1921, later becoming a vice president for Chrysler.

Virgil Max Exner Sr. studied art at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana for two years before being forced to drop out due to lack of funds. After working in an art studio specializing in advertising, he was hired by GM's Harley Earl and soon was in charge of Pontiac styling. Joining Raymond Loewy's industrial design firm Loewy and Associates in 1938, he created designs for military vehicles and cars, and Studebaker automobiles. In 1944, he was hired by Studebaker in South Bend, Indiana, and penned some of the first automobiles to wear all-new styling in the post-World War II era. Studebaker adopted the slogan, 'First by far with a post-war car.'

In 1949, Exner joined Chrysler's Advanced Styling Group, where he partnered with Cliff Voss and Maury Baldwin, along with Luigi 'Gigi' Segre, of Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Ghia S.p.A.

Exner is most famously remembered for the 'Forward Look' he created for the 1955–1963 Chrysler products.

Giovanni Savonuzzi was awarded a degree in mechanical engineering from Politecnico di Torino in 1939. Before the onset of World War II, he worked for Fiat Aviazione and taught aeronautics at the politecnico. After the war, he became technical director of Cisitalia in 1945 and worked with the Società Valdostana Automobili (SVA) in 1948 and 1949. He was the technical director for Carrozzeria Ghia under Luigi Segre from 1953 to 1957. Among the many designs he created were Giacosa's Cisitalia D46 cigar-shaped racing car, the Spider Nuvolari, 202 CMM Aerodinamica Savonuzzi, Ford-Cisitalia 808, the 'Supersonic' series, DeSoto Adventurer II, and the Ferrari 410 Gilda Superamerica.

The 1955 Ghia Streamline X 'Gilda' Coupe
Chrysler commissioned Virgil Exner and the Italian design firm Carrozzeria Ghia to create a concept car that would explore the benefits of aerodynamic and streamlined styles for automobiles, the stabilizing effect of fins, crosswind resistance, rear-end grip, and the benefits of wind tunnel testing. In fact, it was the first car to benefit from wind tunnel analysis. While the Alfa Romeo Carabo, unveiled in 1968, is widely considered the genesis of the 'wedge' shaped styling on an automobile, the futuristic Ghia Streamline X could certainly be a contender for that title. More akin to a rocket ship, the road-going vehicle had a pointy nose, an elongated nose and rear deck, and tailfins. Initially built without an engine, it is currently powered by a gas turbine. The car's 'Gilda' nickname is in reference to the 1946 film noir classic 'Gilda,' where actress Rita Hayworth was given the nickname 'La Vedette Atomique,' or 'the Atomic Starlet' for her dangerous appeal and sleek lines.

The Ghia Streamline X was designed by Italian designer Giovanni Savonuzzi and received coachwork by Carrozzeria Ghia. The body was formed from aluminum and placed atop a square tube chassis. It had a separate aluminum floor for the passenger compartment and a full belly pan for aerodynamic efficiency. The interior was equally futuristic and elegantly simple, with controls similar to an airplane. There were no foot pedals; instead, thrust (throttle) and braking were controlled by levers and switches. Short armrests served as side bolsters to hold the driver and passenger in place during cornering.

While in private ownership, the Ghia Streamline X was fitted with the powerplant that it had been originally designed to receive - a single-stage AiResearch turbine. AiResearch Jet A-1 Fuel-Burning, Single-Stage Gas Turbine produces 70 horsepower at 55,000 RPM. It has an assembly hydrostatic fluid drive transmission (neutral, reverse and infinitely variable forward drive), and hydrostatic transaxle brake and mechanical emergency brakes. The front suspension is independent via coil springs, while the rear has a solid axle differential.

Provenance
Ghia Spa owned the car in 1955, and after its show career concluded, it was donated to the Ford Museum where it resided until 1969 when it entered the William F. Harrah Collection in Reno, Nevada. In 1985, it was acquired by the Blackhawk Museum where it remained until 2005. It was offered for sale in 2009 at the Gooding & Company auction at Pebble Beach, Ca., and at Barrett-Jackson's Scottsdale auction in 2017.

by Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2024