Chrysler Ghia L6.4 Coupé
Luxury that Moves with you”: This classically American slogan was coined in 1962 for what is a very unorthodox American luxury automobile. The subject of that tagline is the Ghia L6.4, a beautiful Chrysler-based, Italian built follow up to the Dual-Ghia which debuted at the 1962 Paris Motor Show. The L6.4 was badged strictly as a Ghia but it was very much a continuation of the long and fruitful relationship between Chrysler’s Virgil Exner and Ghia’s Luigi Segre as well as the reasonably successful but flawed Dual-Ghia project.
Vehicle Overview
This large and striking machine was a classic Ghia interpretation of an Exner design. Flamboyant and futuristic, yet elegantly proportioned and delicately detailed, it struck a brilliant balance between Exner’s extravagance and Ghia’s exquisite judgement. Exner had long been working with the sides of the car as a styling point, and the L6.4 featured a body that rolled in deeply at the sills, and featured a subtle yet striking upswept swage line on the quarter panel. A large wraparound rear window was framed by delicately tapering B-pillars. The cockpit was equal parts Jet-Age and Italianate suave, a far cry from the timber and wool of contemporary British cars, yet every bit as luxurious. Keeping with tradition, the L6.4’s running gear was all MoPar, the heart being the 383 cubic inch “Wedge” V8, mated to a robust TorqueFlite automatic trans. The engine was good for 335 horsepower, which afforded the L6.4 proper continent-crushing status. Priced at an astonishing $13,500 US, the L6.4 brought back Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball as return customers, who had been early adopters of the Dual-Ghia. Likewise, Dean Martin was a huge fan of these Ghia cars and owned several variants. While tremendously expensive, no one could deny that the buyer got his or her money’s worth; the Ghia was among the finest-finished automobiles in the world. But it was not the purchase price that crippled sales of the L6.4, it was the cost of production, as well as the complications of building a car in Italy and selling it in the United States. In the end, the L6.4 was doomed to a brief yet glamorous flash of existence, with only 26 examples produced.
Technical Specifications
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Body
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Year1962
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MakeChrysler
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ModelGhia L6.4 Coupé
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CoachbuilderGhia
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Units built25
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Engine TypeV8
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DesignerVirgil Exner
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