1955 Chrysler Ghia - Chrysler Norseman

Not only human being who has a tragic story, the car can. One of them is the Chrysler Norseman Ghia. The story begins in the mid-20th century, precisely in the early 50's. At that time Italy was perekonomia self cleaning due to the war. Conditions that make labor costs lower in Italy than the United States.

Karen factors, plus Pizza country had always known in the design and build car body design, while Chrysler would make a prototype, which first occurred is Italy.

Chysler Styling Head, CB Thomas, contacted Fiat to ask which company is fit to run a contract with Chrysler. Fiat gave two names: Ghia and Pinin Farina. Finally, the choice fell on Ghia thanks to the low level of expertise and the proposed cost, considering the two companies should build a car based on pictures sent from Detroit.

This was a turning point in the history of a small company that provides Ghia Turin valuable opportunity to show their designs to the world under the auspices of and costs incurred by Chrysler.

After developing several prototypes, in the year 1955 Chrysler Ghia finally commissioned to create a car that will form the exhibition 'most automatic cars in the world'. For design matters are usually entrusted to Virgil Exner, but keyataannya some of the work done by his subordinates, Billie Brownlie.

The result, truly innovative design. And the most striking is that it supports the roof rests on the back of pilat. There was no side pillars and window ventilation is usually there at the time. In addition to the rear pillar, the roof, just resting on a curved windshield.

On the roof sunroof is electrically operated, highly advanced features and at the time was very difficult to integrate this device into a slender roof structure.

The interior has four nerlapis leather upholstery and a set of measuring device that is very futuristic, complete with luminous paint behind the front seat as an experimental method of lighting systems.

Power source using Hemi V8 engine capacity of 331 ci (5.424cc) 235hp-powered Powerflite transmission speed of 2-diperasikan by pressing the button, the possibility of using seementara sasisnya Chrysler 300.

There was no agreement with the color of the car. Chrysler booked with a dark green color, with interior green and gray, while according to Exner should be painted silver. But the journalists who saw this car in Italy before being shipped, is reported using two-tone blue with black and red leather accents.

Complex design makes this vehicle a long time in the solution. The team led by Sergio Coggiola takes 15 months, and Chrysler spent more than U.S. $ 150 thousand to complete the Norseman.

The project was on schedule and Chrysler Norseman completed on July 17, 1956, and then packed in crates and put into a luxury Italian cruise line that operates the route between Genoa and New York.

While at Highland Park, Michigan, Chrysler's design team can not wait for the new car is scheduled to be the star in the 1956 auto show circuit. Although those who designed the vehicle, but none of them ever saw the end result in tangible form. Especially when the news that the forwarder Norseman was lost forever.

On Wednesday evening July 25, 1956, SS Andrea Doria who headed west through the Gulf of New York. No one will know if it was his last voyage. The ship is expected back in New York the next morning at 23:10 o'clock, 40 miles off the coast of Nantucket, collided with the Swedish passenger ship Stockholm MS in thick fog.

Bekat professional rescue operation, about 2,500 passenger ship that sailed from New York to Gothenburg, only 53 people who died in the disaster. Eleven hours later, the SS Andrea Doria sank with all cargo, including the Chrysler Norseman, 72 meters deep into the dark ocean floor.

Since then, only one person who had seen the car. In 1994 a diver David Bright is famous for a number of diving expedition discovered what he described as 'rust Hulk' (read: giant green rust), Chrysler Norseman.

According to what he described, the position of the car in the accident made him almost certain no one would be able to see again. David Bright died in 2006 due to decompress after another dive after a diving accident SS Andrea Doria.

If Norseman to America, he would certainly affect the design of Chrysler in the late 50's to early 60's. The rest, only a few periods of the remaining images to see and remember the car that had been described as 'the handsome lad who never made it to his prom'.