This House-Age 1957 Chrysler Idea Might Fetch Practically $1 Million at Public sale
Optimism outlined the late Fifties for People, particularly with the appearance of the House Age. The notion of going into outer house was particularly inspiring to automotive designers, who added wings, fins and bubble home windows to their creations, bringing a rocket-powered imaginative and prescient all the way down to earth and providing automotive patrons the chance to park a bit of the long run of their driveway.
A number of the most outrageous designs got here out of Detroit, with GM and Chrysler primarily vying for public consideration with idea automobiles from the very starting of the Fifties. By the tip of the last decade, issues reached an excessive, and whereas Cadillac’s preposterous rear tail fins stay the epitome of extra, it was actually Chrysler’s visionary designer Virgil Exner who pioneered a few of the most forward-thinking—and flamboyant—automotive styling of the age.
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On January 26, the Bonhams Scottsdale Public sale, on the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, will function three examples of Exner’s ingenuity—what the public sale home calls a “trans-Atlantic trio” of Chrysler Ghia present automobiles. A part of the Ramshead Assortment, from which 13 American mid-century vehicles can be provided, these three rarities symbolize the evolution of automotive styling ideas over a short few years, combining the American and Italian design aesthetic at its highest.
Essentially the most putting of the group is the distinctive 1957 Chrysler Ghia Tremendous Dart 400 idea automotive, resplendent in yellow and black, with tail fins as sharp as a knife and a grill that might look fairly at dwelling on a flying saucer. Coincidental is that Russia’s Sputnik 1 turned the primary synthetic Earth satellite tv for pc in October of the identical yr.
Italian coachbuilders, like Ghia, had the expertise and capability to show ideas into actuality. Chrysler’s Exner labored with Ghia to execute many show-cars, one of the vital influential of which was the 1955 “Gilda.” A 1956 “Dart” adopted, and for 1957, the “Tremendous Dart 400,” first displayed on the 1957 motor reveals in Torino and New York.
The automotive was constructed on a 1957 Chrysler 300 C chassis, and was powered by a 392 ci “Energy Pack Hemi” with a claimed 400 hp. Inside, 4 black-and-white bucket seats sandwich a large middle console. A futuristic sprint featured a push-button transmission and even Chrysler’s Freeway Hello-Fi document participant.
After it accomplished its European present tour, the Tremendous Dart was acquired by Twin Motors, whose Ghia-bodied, Chrysler-based vehicles have been a well-liked standing image for Hollywood show-offs. It was seemingly offered quickly thereafter for $15,000, a not inconsiderable sum in 1958. Unrestored and unmodified, this Chrysler idea actually is a time capsule from the House Age, and has been pushed simply 49,000 miles with solely three house owners from new.
It’s troublesome to place an absolute worth on a one-of-one idea automotive, and the market will resolve what a rarity like Chrysler’s Ghia-bodied creation will command. For now, Bonhams estimates it to convey $750,000 to $950,000. Regardless of the value, we are saying, “the place are you gonna discover one other?”
Click on right here for extra photographs of the 1957 Chrysler Ghia Tremendous Dart 400.
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