Ghia 450 SS - Barracuda power in Italian robes

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Ghia 450 SS - Barracuda power in Italian robes

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Created on August 4, 2024

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

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Bruno von Rotz

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Road & Track

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Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - enjoying the sun in style

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - 235 hp is enough for around 200 km/h

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - it was not built for the race track

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - with large rear overhang

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - no recognizable wedge shape yet, that came later

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - its presence also fills empty parking spaces

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - elegant convertible

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - View of the clearly Italian-designed cockpit

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - almost all cars were delivered with automatic transmission

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - Ghia-style instruments

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - Displays for charge level, oil pressure and water temperature

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - 4.5-liter V8 from the Barracuda

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - A look under the hood

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - impressive twin headlights

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - Borrani wheels with central locks

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - Borrani wheels at their finest

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - the convertible roof disappears under a flap

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - chrome-plated wire wheels

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Ghia 450 SS (1967) - tail lights and type lettering

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Fiat G230 S Ghia (1964) - elegant coupé with six-cylinder technology from Fiat

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Fiat G230 S Ghia (1964) - at the 1964 Turin Motor Show

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Ghia 230 S (1964) - the sports car already known from the 1963 Turin Motor Show on the shortened chassis of the Fiat 2300 S with a set-back engine

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Fiat 230 S (1963) - shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1963 - elegant coupé, style-defining for many later vehicles by Ghia and other designers

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Fiat 230 S (1963) - shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1963 - rear view

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Fiat 230 S (1963) - shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1963 - Interior

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Fiat 230 S (1963) - shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1963 - Engine compartment and spare wheel

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Fiat G230 S Ghia (1965) - seen at the 1965 Geneva Motor Show

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Ghia 230 S Spider (1965) - open-top version of the Ghia coupé based on Fiat 2300 S technology - Geneva Motor Show 1965

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Plymouth Barracuda (1965) - with long roof, released at the end of 1964 - Geneva Motor Show 1965

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Plymouth Barracuda S (1966) - lots of chrome on the test car

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Ghia 450 SS (1965) - prototype, still without flap over the open folding roof

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Ghia 450 SS (1965) - prototype with not yet finalized dashboard

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Ghia 450 SS (1965) - at the 1965 Turin Motor Show

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Ghia 450 SS (1966) - wooden mold on which the metal sheets were fitted

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Ghia 450 SS (1966) - at the Geneva Motor Show 1966

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Ghia 450 SS (1966) - on the Ghia stand at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show

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Ghia 450 SS (1966) - with hardtop at the Turin Motor Show

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Ghia 450 SS (1966) - Interior, seen at the 1966 Turin Motor Show

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Ghia 450 SS (1966) - with closed fabric roof

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Summary

Between 1965 and 1967, almost five dozen Ghia 450 SS were built, which received the technology from the Plymouth Barracuda S, but the rest from Carrozzeria Ghia. The design came from the Sartorelli/Giugaro team, but the idea for the car came from the American Burt Sugarman, who later became a film and TV producer. This report tells the story of the unusual convertible and shows it in current and historical pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

A man with a vision
The Fiat G230 S from Ghia as inspiration
Tradition and reality
A prototype in a short time
Presentation in Turin and Zurich
As expensive as a Ferrari
At the wrong time?
Stealth American

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The development stories of automobiles always take surprising turns. A good example of this is the Ghia 450 SS, which combined American technology with Italian design flair in the second half of the 1960s. Special projects usually require a free-thinking mind and liquid funds. Burt Sugarman had both. And he had connections, for example with John DeLorean, who was working in a leading position at Pontiac at the time. Sugarman, born on January 4, 1939, was not short of glamor either; after all, at a young age he was already in a relationship with the actress Ann-Margaret (Olsson), who could be seen in various Hollywood and later television productions.

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