The '56-57 Dual Ghia was a semi-production luxury 2 passenger
convertible produced by Eugene Casaroll, owner of Auto Shippers
Inc. in Detroit using Chrysler Corp. drivetrain, chassis and
other parts, specifically '56 Dodge It was indeed based on the
styling of the Firebomb. When Chrysler decided not to produce
the Firebomb concept car, Ghia body builders of Turin, Italy,
had the right to sell the design and Casaroll purchased it.
There are many Dual Ghia cars around and restored. There is or
was a club for them in California where I saw several at shows.
There have been several articles about these cars. A nice
1-pager was in Autoweek, 9/20/93. These cars appear at auctions
every year usually referencing the fact that they were owned by
Hollywood's elite.
There was one '58 Dual Ghia prototype built but the company did
not go into production of it. It was known as the Dual Ghia 400
and was based on a '57 Chrysler 300C chassis/drivetrain. It is
in the Kanter collection and appears occasionally at concours in
the Northeast US. See article in Special Interest Autos #154,
Aug. of '96 on this car. this car is VERY similar to the
Chrysler prototype Dart, but is, in fact a different car.
Casaroll took another shot at producing the Dual in 1961-1962.
The car was dubbed the L6.4. These were 383 / torqueflite
powered luxury coupes. Only 26 are believed to have been
built.
One of the most comprehensive articles on these cars was the
July 1963 issue of Road and Track.
Many of you may have the May 1993 issue of Mopar Collectors
Guide which spotlights both an early and late "Dual".
Yes, as a matter of fact, I am an admirer of all coachwork from
the house of Ghia.
----- Original Message -----
From: Greg and Colleen Filtz <filtz@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 1999 4:15 PM
Subject: 1956 Dual-Ghia
> Forward Lookers,
>
> I have a "Motor Trend" magazine, August 1956 that has an
article about
> the Dual Ghia formerly "Firebomb" built by Dual Motors. This
is a
> beautiful car with many 1956 Dodge stock components (sparked
my interest
> in the car). Do any of you have any knowledge or history of
this car?
> Have any of you ever seen any restored examples of this car?
I , and
> maybe the rest of the list would be interested.
>
> Thanks,
> Greg Filtz (1956 DodgeRoyalLancer)
>
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