Better Know An Orphan: 1957 Dual-Ghia

Some automaking giants begin life as a glint in the eye of their founders, others conglomerate to become huge. Relatively few set out with an actual business plan. Strangely, those in the last group seem to have the highest rate of failure. Take Detroit-based Dual Motors Corporation. The company's objective was to build exclusive cars at a moderate price; no small feat considering to do so without economies of scale would normally tip an idea like this into the trash bin. Somehow, founder Eugene Casaroll got this idea off the ground, if only for a short flight. The company's only formal offering was the 1957 Dual-Ghia, a handsome coupe with styling based on the Chrysler Firearrow. It sold for $7,600 ($55k-ish today). The bodies were built in Italy by, you guessed it, Ghia coachworks, whose pounded sheetmetal was mounted to a Dodge chassis. Under the hood was a 315 ci hemi V8, which was good for a hot-for-'57 215 ponies. My favorite bit of lore has to do with owner and president #40 Ronald Reagan losing one in a high stakes poker game to president #36 Lyndon Johnson. Only 117 of these chariots were ever built, supposedly only 32 survive, so if you find a funky one in an old lady's barn, give me a ring.

1957 Dual Ghia [Concept Carz]

Related:
Cadillac Ghia: Italian Design of an American Classic [internal]