It’s Scottsdale Auction Week, and also apparently “Sell Your Ghia Week”, given the hefty lot of Ghia-bodied cars we’ve been called upon to write about lately. Better a Ghia-a-day, though, than a diet of Chevy Vega’s, right? Bonhams is representing three of these lovely vehicles and RM Sotheby’s has two. This one, a 1954 Chrysler Ghia GS-1 coupe, is scheduled to sell at Bonhams on January 27th. The estimate is $600,000 to $800,000. Larry D. is responsible for this exotic submission – thanks, Larry! This car comes from the Ramshead Collection, curated by John White of Sacramento, California. Provenance does not end there, however, as Bonhams lists owners from the 1980s, starting with Car Guy Martin Swig. Along its route to Ramshead, the car was treated to a thorough restoration in the 1990s, culminating in its acceptance to and debut at the 1995 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The restoration has remained nearly ageless over the years, just about guaranteeing the new owner an entree to any Concours.

Devotees of the Chrysler hemi will know this engine as one of the progenitors of the entire breed: the 331 cu. in. FirePower V8, installed in many Chrysler models produced from 1951 through 1958. Here, it is coupled with a four-barrel carburetor. Horsepower is estimated at 180 and the transmission is a PowerFlite automatic, making this car a cruiser rather than a racer. As expected, the engine bay is as immaculate as the rest of the car.

The interior is resplendent with wool and leather, trimmed to complement the Turquoise paint coat. Beauty aside, it is up to bidders to determine what works and what does not; cars that are less driven than shown can dish out niggling – or more serious – mechanical and electrical failures. Here, the courtesy light on the roof above the passenger’s side is not lit.

We cannot complete this article without a mention of rarity and value. The Chrysler Ghia Specials owe their existence to contention and collaboration among a stew of characters including Felice Boano, Luigi Segre, K.T. Keller, and Virgil Exner from Chrysler. A disagreement between Boano and Segre put Ghia into the hands of Segre, who was eager to accept assignments from Keller. Keller’s “Idea Cars” would prove that Chrysler could play the style game, too. The collaboration between Exner and Ghia put Ghia on firmer financial footing and gave Chrysler a much-needed boost in the marketplace. Still, only about fifty examples of “Idea Cars” were made, and just nine of them were GS-1s. Five survive today. So rarity will certainly be a factor in the final price. Meanwhile, at Mecum’s Kissimmee auction this year, a 1955 Chrysler Ghia sold for $770,000. This same car had failed to sell at a previous auction with an estimate in the $1 million area. RM’s candy-apple red Ghia, covered the other day by Adam Clarke, is estimated at $500,000-$800,000. But I’ve never seen such an onslaught of Chrysler Ghias coming to market at once – is it possible that the appetite for these fine cars will wane after the first couple of examples hammer?