The Ghia 450 SS

The Ghia 450 SS challenge arrived at Ghia studios as one of the first assignments offered to their newest employee, Giorgetto Giugiaro, at the dawn of his brief but productive two-year position at Ghia. Hollywood producer and media mogul Burt Sugarman had seen the1965 Ghia Fiat on the cover of Road & Track magazine. Sugarman contacted Ghia to discuss building the design as a convertible. Initial production required all new engineering so Ghia decided to build the chassis in-house and leverage its relationship with Chrysler to supply 273 V8 engines, transmissions and various drive train and brake components. The all-steel body was formed and mated to the chassis and substructure. While a great deal of the beauty of the car was in the exterior design, unique interior features included unusual bucket seats and a complete array of copper-trimmed instrumentation adorning the full width dashboard.

The 450 SS was offered with only two options, a removable hardtop ($600) and air conditioning ($700). Customers could special order their car choosing from a range of colors and interior trim. Arriving with a splash and featured in an exclusive Beverly Hills showroom, celebrities Wilt Chamberlain and Johnny Carson (among others) purchased Ghia 450 SSs. Every car was delivered with a small gold plaque affixed to the glovebox door with the inscription “Specially Built For…” with the owner’s name inscribed before delivery. Initially intended to be a run of 250 cars, only 52 production cars were hand-built and delivered to the wealthy clientele. Wealthy indeed as the $13,000 price tag exceeded some of the top Italian sports cars of the period. Highly prized by collectors, approximately 40 of the production cars built are known today.