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Chrysler Diablo

Chassis

#9999796

The Chrysler Diablo Concept actually dates back to 1957 when it was the star of the U.S. auto show circuit. The car was originally conceived by Chrysler’s renowned design head, Virgil Exner, and is an example of aerodynamic design study in the ’50s. It’s said that the car’s shape was inspired by watching ink blots blown by 200 mph winds across the surface of plastic models, which we don’t really see in the svelte shape but we’ll take their word for it. The 22-foot-long car is built on a shortened 1955 Chrysler 300 series chassis and features a soft convertible top that was added by the Italian styling firm Ghia, who tweaked the car’s design by reworking the fins and painting it red (it was originally black) before the car debuted on the 1957 U.S. auto show circuit.

Vehicle Overview

The Chrysler Diablo: The director of automotive design for Chrysler in 1953, Virgil Exner Sr., was given the responsibility to design all of Chrysler’s concept cars starting in 1954. Exner quickly collaborated with Ghia, one of the best coachbuilders in Italy, to execute several of his now famous concept show cars designs on production Chrysler chassis. According to Virgil Exner Jr., a legendary designer in his own right, one of the greatest design works and the most elaborate design by his father that was ever produced with the collaboration of Chrysler and Ghia was the 1956/1957 Chrysler Dart/Diablo. Not only did Virgil Exner execute the design for this car on his own personal drawing board but also his design was highly aided by the fact that the car was designed in a wind tunnel. The Chrysler Diablo is one of the largest custom bodied convertibles ever built by the Ghia body builder and in its second phase it retained a full convertible top, the basic Dart design, four bucket seats and a star wars dashboard. The chassis used for this build was a new off the production line 1956 Chrysler 300 with a special modified engine with two 4 barrel carburetors, automatic push-button transmission and a ton of chrome in the engine compartment. Every detail on this car was fastidiously gone over by Virgil Exner. Photo courtesy of Barret-Jackson.

chrysler diablo ghia

Technical Specifications

  • Body
  • Year
    1957
  • Make
    Chrysler
  • Model
    Diablo
  • Coachbuilder
    Ghia
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  • Units built
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  • Engine Type
    V8
  • Designer
    Virgil Exner
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