Never before has there been a car like Gilda - or has there?
07/07/2024
In the 1950s, Chrysler was still the US car manufacturer with the closest ties to Italian coachbuilders. Thirty years later, however, Ford and General Motors turned to Italy to have their flagship convertibles built there. Ford had already taken over the former Chrysler partner Ghia in 1970. Cadillac joined forces with Pininfarina.
The respective results were presented to the public for the first time at the 1986 Paris Motor Show. But while the Cadillac Allanté subsequently went into series production on the "world's longest assembly line", the Vignale Gilda was intended from the outset as a pure exhibition vehicle and remained a one-off. However, its name was a little misleading.
Although both coachbuilders had been united under one roof since 1969, the black convertible was officially built by Ghia. It also shared the name of Rita Hayworth's most famous film character with her four-wheeled spaceship study from 1955. However, the body design itself was of American origin: it came from the styling offices in Dearborn.
Under the simple bodywork was the obligatory Fox platform, which is why the Ford, unlike the Cadillac, was classically powered by the rear wheels. Called exclusively by its first name Vignale in publications, the unbranded study is unofficially attributed to Lincoln. The arch between the rear lights is intended to recall the style-defining spare wheels of the Continental coupés.
Even the Tokyo Motor Show in November 1987, for which Gilda was given a new, metallic dark red paint job, did nothing to change Ford's lack of production intentions. Nevertheless, the Cadillac Allanté was not completely unrivaled. In the meantime, Chrysler had returned to Italy and stepped into the breach in 1988 with the TC by Maserati.
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