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Forward Look NON-Technical Discussions -> 1955-1961 Forward Look MoPar General Discussion | Message format |
59 Togamaster |
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Regular Posts: 83 Location: Uniontown, Pa. USA | Hey who can remember the Norseman? It was on the ship Andrea Doria and went down after being hit by the Stockholm. The car was designed in Turin Italy where all the Ghias were done I think this is right but please correct me if I'm wrong. Also the Norseman was to have no A pillar the roof cantilivered over the front windshield and windshield was the support. Just a little triva for you all. | ||
Nathan D. Manning |
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I've seen some of the promotional pictures (posted below). That Norseman was a GORGEOUS car... albeit perhaps ahead of it's time. Edited by Nathan D. Manning 2005-08-02 10:36 PM (Norseman1.gif) (Norseman2.jpg) (Norseman3.jpg) (Norseman4.jpg) (Norseman5.jpg) Attachments ---------------- Norseman1.gif (53KB - 248 downloads) Norseman2.jpg (7KB - 206 downloads) Norseman3.jpg (6KB - 371 downloads) Norseman4.jpg (5KB - 205 downloads) Norseman5.jpg (6KB - 495 downloads) | |||
forwardlookparts |
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Expert Posts: 2721 Location: Minneapolis | There was talk of salvaging some of the treasures from this wreck a couple years ago. This vehicle was actually mentioned, but with all of the salt, well, you know... I also heard that this happened shortly after Ex's heart attack and no one dared mention it's fate until he was out of hospital for fear it may set him back! | ||
58 DESOTOS RULE |
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Expert Posts: 2308 Location: The Bat Cave, Fairborn, OH | Never saw the car in person, but I have seen some studio pictures. It would have been a success at the annual auto show and might have spawned a couple of interesting styling cues in the FL era. I don't believe there would be any use in trying to salvage a FL car that's been immersed in salt water for 50 years. The FL models didn't last that long when exposed to fresh water! | ||
forwardlookparts |
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Expert Posts: 2721 Location: Minneapolis | Stephen, NO one (except the builders at Ghia) saw it in person! | ||
58 DESOTOS RULE |
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Expert Posts: 2308 Location: The Bat Cave, Fairborn, OH | The roofline is pure 1965 AMC Marlin, so that is kind of ironic. Edited by 58 DESOTOS RULE 2005-08-03 1:56 PM | ||
realgone58 |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1111 Location: Ocala, Florida | Roofline is quite a bit different from the Marlin. Look at the Aug.'05 issue of Collectible Automobile, pp.66, artilcle on designer Vince Geraci. On page 69 there is a great factory pic of Geraci with the roofline of the stock Marlin. The Norseman was supposedly in a water tight vault within the Andrea Doria. The factory pics posted above are reportedly taken in that vault. Can anyone shed more light on this? How about a forwardlook.net sponsored mission to retrieve the Norseman??? Just an idea, but not all that far fetched if we get some good educational meterial spread about the car and promote the rescue. Anyone contact Joe Bortz about it? | ||
forwardlookparts |
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Expert Posts: 2721 Location: Minneapolis | Well, I suppose we could sponsor it, a few more Joe dash magnet orders and we'll have the cost of those covered. Then we can withdraw 15 or 20 million bucks from the slush fund and maybe ask Robert (Titanic) Ballard to salvage it for us! | ||
FuryFan3909 |
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Regular Posts: 90 Location: castaic | thats a really cool looking car | ||
61plymy |
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Expert Posts: 2824 Location: Snohomish, WA. | If it was in a water tight enclosure of some sort, itis now crushed like a Canadian beer can at the depth it sits at. Mike | ||
forwardlookparts |
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Expert Posts: 2721 Location: Minneapolis | Not only that, remember that this tub capsized before it sank. I wonder if the Plymouth was strapped down and if it was, would the straps have held? Aaaaah, another MoPar mystery for the ages..... It is interesting that Cadillac would adopt the concept of that tail lamp treatment in '63 and sculpt it over the years. I wonder if GM's Bill Mitchell "borrowed" this design for his own! Edited by forwardlookparts 2005-08-04 10:35 AM | ||
realgone58 |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1111 Location: Ocala, Florida | Sort of like wondering how the Tulsa '57 looks now. | ||
Swept57 |
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Expert Posts: 1622 Location: Seville, OH | From a professional wreck diver named David Bright: "One of the "casualties" of the Andrea Doria sinking has received quite a bit of attention in the past decade; however, this casualty was not a person but a beautiful automobile called the Norseman. The Norseman was a special prototype car that was a joint project of Chrysler and Ghia. It is thought that the complete development of this automobile cost more than $100,000 1956-dollars. Normally, all passenger cars were placed in the garage section of the Andrea Doria that is slightly aft of the collision point where the Stockholm impaled the Doria underneath the bow wing bridge. These cars would have been placed on to the Doria by use of a crane and meticulously parked in the garage and arranged strategically for stability. However, the Norseman was no passenger vehicle and was specially packed and treated with extra care. The Norseman was put into a wooden crate and placed in the number 2 cargo area. While looking for a lost diver, I had an opportunity to see the Norseman for myself in the cargo hold. The crate had disintegrated and the car was in very, very poor condition. The ocean's salt water invaded the Norseman's metal and most of the car is rust, corrosion and a heap of indistinguishable junk. The tires are still there and have assisted to its identification. I have been back to the cargo area several times (it is pretty scary in the cargo hold because the ship is lying on its starboard side) and visited the Norseman on a couple other occasions. I contributed to an article authored by a New York Times reporter that appeared in the Hemmings Motor News in the early 1990's. In 1996, a website in Germany translated part of this Hemmings article and added additional information. The link to this article is: http://riekmann.prohosting.com/magaz...r_norseman.htm I have been interviewed about my dives to the Norseman several times since the original Hemmings article appeared. I have not been back to this cargo site since 1994 and with all the decay that the wreck has had over the past 10 years, it is doubtful if I will ( or anyone else) ever get a chance to see the remains of the Norseman again." On July 8 of 2006, Bright made yet another dive into the wreck, and apparently suffered some kind of mishap - he signaled that he needed help, was pulled aboard the boat where he subsequently died. Several theories - including explosive decompression sickness, helium bends - have been mentioned, but I haven't found the official cause listed anywhere. | ||
zephyr9900 |
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Veteran Posts: 204 Location: St. Louis, MO. USA | Swept57 - 2012-01-19 9:58 AM From a professional wreck diver named David Bright: "One of the "casualties" of the Andrea Doria sinking has received quite a bit of attention in the past decade; however, this casualty was not a person but a beautiful automobile called the Norseman. The Norseman was a special prototype car that was a joint project of Chrysler and Ghia. It is thought that the complete development of this automobile cost more than $100,000 1956-dollars. Normally, all passenger cars were placed in the garage section of the Andrea Doria that is slightly aft of the collision point where the Stockholm impaled the Doria underneath the bow wing bridge. These cars would have been placed on to the Doria by use of a crane and meticulously parked in the garage and arranged strategically for stability. However, the Norseman was no passenger vehicle and was specially packed and treated with extra care. The Norseman was put into a wooden crate and placed in the number 2 cargo area. While looking for a lost diver, I had an opportunity to see the Norseman for myself in the cargo hold. The crate had disintegrated and the car was in very, very poor condition. The ocean's salt water invaded the Norseman's metal and most of the car is rust, corrosion and a heap of indistinguishable junk. The tires are still there and have assisted to its identification. I have been back to the cargo area several times (it is pretty scary in the cargo hold because the ship is lying on its starboard side) and visited the Norseman on a couple other occasions. I contributed to an article authored by a New York Times reporter that appeared in the Hemmings Motor News in the early 1990's. In 1996, a website in Germany translated part of this Hemmings article and added additional information. The link to this article is: http://riekmann.prohosting.com/magaz...r_norseman.htm I have been interviewed about my dives to the Norseman several times since the original Hemmings article appeared. I have not been back to this cargo site since 1994 and with all the decay that the wreck has had over the past 10 years, it is doubtful if I will ( or anyone else) ever get a chance to see the remains of the Norseman again." On July 8 of 2006, Bright made yet another dive into the wreck, and apparently suffered some kind of mishap - he signaled that he needed help, was pulled aboard the boat where he subsequently died. Several theories - including explosive decompression sickness, helium bends - have been mentioned, but I haven't found the official cause listed anywhere. http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2009/08/01/hmn_feature9.html | ||
StillOutThere |
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Location: Under the X in Texas | More photos (1956_Ghia_Chrysler_Norseman_04.jpg) (Interior1vi-vi.jpg) (Interior2vi-vi.jpg) (Ghia221-reg.jpg) Attachments ---------------- 1956_Ghia_Chrysler_Norseman_04.jpg (277KB - 145 downloads) Interior1vi-vi.jpg (271KB - 375 downloads) Interior2vi-vi.jpg (239KB - 170 downloads) Ghia221-reg.jpg (103KB - 150 downloads) | ||
mogge65 |
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Expert Posts: 1295 Location: Nasco , SWEDEN | . (chrysler-norseman-concept-1306394930-483.jpg) (chrysler-norseman-concept-1306394932-484.jpg) Attachments ---------------- chrysler-norseman-concept-1306394930-483.jpg (121KB - 155 downloads) chrysler-norseman-concept-1306394932-484.jpg (112KB - 153 downloads) | ||
wizard |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 13055 Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | Ahhh, the Norseman - that surely was a dreamcar - the interior looks fantastic and full of gadgets - just love the dagger door handles | ||
Chrome58 |
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Expert Posts: 1316 Location: Belgium, 40 miles south of Brussels | What a loss that was for the automotive history ... It's truly a beautiful car, inside out !! I seem to remember someone was in the process of building a clone of it ? | ||
StillOutThere |
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Location: Under the X in Texas | Yes, the Norseman exists as a fiberglass project today. (Marty-martino-1956-chrysler-norseman3.jpg) (norsemanfront1m.jpg) Attachments ---------------- Marty-martino-1956-chrysler-norseman3.jpg (36KB - 180 downloads) norsemanfront1m.jpg (87KB - 162 downloads) | ||
1960DesotoAdventurer |
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Expert Posts: 3588 Location: Plymouth Spaceport | How is the guy building the replica able to get the dimensions of the molds correct? Did blueprints or some sort of documentation survive? | ||
Finsinthemirror |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1116 Location: CA | I wonder why there aren't any photos of the dive especially if the car is still recognizable? | ||
ttotired |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 8445 Location: Perth Australia | I thinkif I was going to try to build a replica of this car, to get the dimentions, you could find something that is a known size (like the wheel or something) and then, using the pictures of the norseman and pictures of say a 57 dodge (or something from 57 up as it looks like a 60 phoenix a bit) taken at the same angles, you could pretty accurately scale the size and shape of things, I think. It would be a big job though, sort of like a lifetime project, like people that decide to build there own yatch. I think I would try to use a 60 dodge actually as the base to build off although, I would assume the norseman was a full chassis car, in which case, maybe a 59 something would be better. The back widow looks about the same as a 2drht window, so that wouldnt be to hard, but no A pillar would make the front glass hard to do. Getting the roof support strong enough without it weighing a ton would also be a challenge, I think. If the car was ever going to be road going, I think the roof has to be strong enough to support the entire weight of the car + incase of a rollover. Be easier to make a 1 of 0 and make a roadster? enough blah blah, I will never make it | ||
wizard |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 13055 Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | ttotired - 2012-01-22 4:28 AM Getting the roof support strong enough without it weighing a ton would also be a challenge, I think. If the car was ever going to be road going, I think the roof has to be strong enough to support the entire weight of the car + incase of a rollover. Be easier to make a 1 of 0 and make a roadster? enough blah blah, I will never make it Actually, the roof was strong enough - the roof construction was designed as a drawn bow and held down by the front "A" iron rods. If the rods snapped, the roof would "spring up" instead of crumble. This was all in the aim and whish to have no "A"-pillars | ||
Chrycoman |
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Expert Posts: 1819 Location: Vancouver, BC | 59 Togamaster - 2005-08-02 9:37 PM Hey who can remember the Norseman? It was on the ship Andrea Doria and went down after being hit by the Stockholm. The car was designed in Turin Italy where all the Ghias were done I think this is right but please correct me if I'm wrong. Also the Norseman was to have no A pillar the roof cantilivered over the front windshield and windshield was the support. Just a little triva for you all. Little bit late with this, but none of the Chrysler Ghia show cars were designed in Italy. They were all designed in Detroit. Ghia was the body builder, using the designs and dimensions as supplied by Chrysler. A common error since the advent of the internet. Ghia did design cars, but not for Chrysler although they did use one of Chrysler's designs as a basis for another client - Volkswagen. | ||
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