Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars were known for their design beauty and numerous race victories. Famous Bugatti automobiles include the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41 "Royale", the Type 57 "Atlantic" and the Type 55 sports car.
A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in early 1902 and are currently produced by many manufacturers around the world.
AC Cars, originally incorporated as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. As a result of bad financial conditions over the years, the company was renamed or liquidated many times until its present form. In 2022, the new corporate structure began the production of new AC Cobra models, with a slightly modified structure to adapt it to modern safety and technology requirements and obtain the European road homologation certificate.
Giovanni Michelotti was one of the most prolific designers of sports cars in the 20th century. His notable contributions were for Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati and Triumph marques. He was also associated with truck designs for Leyland Motors, and with designs for British Leyland after the merger of Leyland and BMC.
The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia are a family of three overlapping sporty Volkswagen model series, marketed in 2+2 coupe (1955–1975) and 2+2 convertible (1957–1975) body styles, though German production ended one year before that in Brazil. Internally designated the Type 14 (1955–1975), the Type 34 (1962–1969), and the Type 145 TC, the Karmann Ghia cars combined the floorpans and mechanicals of the Type 1 / Beetle or Type 3 'ponton' models with styling by Italy's Carrozzeria Ghia, and hand-built bodywork by German coachbuilding house Karmann.
Wilhelm Karmann GmbH, commonly known as Karmann, was a German automobile manufacturer and contract manufacturer based in Osnabrück, Germany. Founded by Wilhelm Karmann in 1901, the company specialised in various automotive roles, including design, production and assembly of components for a wide variety of automobile manufacturers, including Chrysler, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group.
Virgil Max "Ex" Exner Sr. was an automobile designer for several American automobile companies, most notably Chrysler and Studebaker.
Imperial was the Chrysler Corporation's luxury automobile brand from 1955 to 1975, and again from 1981 to 1983.
Dual-Ghia is a rare, short-lived, automobile make produced in the United States between 1956 and 1958. The idea for a sporty limited production car came from Eugene Casaroll, who controlled specialized vehicle builder Dual-Motors Corporation based in Detroit, Michigan; the name Dual-Ghia is representative of the collaborative efforts between the builder and Carrozzeria Ghia. 117 examples were built.
Carrozzeria Ghia SpA is an Italian automobile design and coachbuilding firm, established by Giacinto Ghia and Gariglio as "Carrozzeria Ghia & Gariglio". The headquarters are located at Corso Guglielmo Marconi, 4, Turin. The company is currently owned by Ford Motor Company and focused on the European market through Ford's subsidiary in the region.
Ferrari America is a series of top-end Ferrari models built in the 1950s and 1960s. They were large grand touring cars with the largest V12 engines and often had custom bodywork. All America models used a live axle in the rear, were front-engined, and had worm and sector steering.
The Bugatti Type 57 and later variants was a grand tourer car built from 1934 through 1940. It was an entirely new design created by Jean Bugatti, son of founder Ettore. A total of 710 Type 57s were produced.
The Chrysler Norseman was a four-seat fastback coupe built in 1956 as a concept car. Although designed by Chrysler's stylists, actual construction was contracted out to the Italian coach-building firm of Carrozzeria Ghia. The concept car was lost during the sinking of the SS Andrea Doria.
The Chrysler Falcon is a two-seat roadster concept car commissioned by Chrysler and built by Carrozzeria Ghia for the 1955 model year. The car was never put into production, but some of its features reappeared on later Chrysler designs.
Exner Revival Cars were created by noted automobile designer, Virgil Exner. He produced a series of "Revival Car" concepts for a December 1963 issue of Esquire magazine. His designs included an updated model for four famous American marques: Stutz, Duesenberg, Packard, and Mercer. He later designed updated Bugatti, Pierce-Arrow, and Jordan cars. Little came of these designs, though they became well known as plastic model kits produced by Renwal.
Luigi "Gigi" Segre was an Italian automotive designer noted for his business and engineering acumen during his stewardship and ownership of Carrozzeria Ghia (1953–63), one of an Italy's premier automobile design and coachbuilders.
The Abarth 205A Berlinetta was a coupé sports car, also known as the Abarth 205A Monza built by Austrian born tuning expert Carlo Abarth in 1950. It was a development of the Abarth Cisitalia 204A but with a new platform chassis, still using the engine and other components from the Fiat 1100 B/E. Only three 205As were finished in 1950; chassis numbers 101, 102, and 103, but an additional car was built in 1953 with an extravagant Ghia body. Slow sales meant that for the next few years Abarth chose to focus on building his exhaust and tuning business, allowing competition and car manufacturing take a backseat. In 1955, the 205A was succeeded by the 207A Spyder and its derivatives.
The Plymouth XNR is a concept car developed by Chrysler. It was designed by Virgil Exner, and first shown in 1960. Also called the XNR 500, the car is an open roadster with some asymmetric features, and was proposed as a sporty addition to the Plymouth model lineup, and as competition for the Chevrolet Corvette.
Pichon-Parat was a French carrosserie based in the commune of Sens, in the department of Yonne. Established in 1952, it was known for producing custom cabriolet, coupé, estate car, and shooting brake conversions of established models from major automakers, and for building their own distinctive sporting models with completely original bodywork.
