1957 Dual Ghia By Ed Blumenthal – Page 2
Ed & Carole Blumenthal acquired it, with 44,557 miles on the odometer, then and began a complete restoration project that has taken 12 years to complete. According to automotive researcher, “these cars recently are certainly obtaining a following with well-known collectors and have been referred to by some as the Duesenburg of the 50s”.
Additional Facts for Dual-Ghia #137
MoPar Related Components Information:
This car was truly a “Barn Find”. The car was put into a barn in Greenwich, CT. in the 60’s and remained there for more than 3-decades. During that time it became a place for families of raccoons to use as their “facility”. It was a disposable White suit and mask “rescue” but as you see, very well worth the effort.
The car looked totally intact when we saw it in the barn – BUT the dark green paint was hiding the rust that was attacking from within. The Ghia factory did not consider rust proofing when they were hand building these cars. Consequently the floors and rockers were attacked and needed replacing. A serious concern since this is a “Monocoque or Unibody” type of construction and the rockers are actually the main support of the body. The construction begins when a 1956 Dodge chassis is shipped to Ghia in Italy. The front sub-frame and rear sub-frame are retained and the center section, of the chassis, is discarded and replace with hundreds of welded together sections of sheet metal. The fenders and doors and other body panes are hand hammered over a wooden “buck” and then all welded together, and leaded. We must have removed 100 pounds of lead from the extra wide gaps left on the hand made body. The completed body then receives all interior trim, top, windows, dash, paint, windshield (56 Dodge Convertible) and Italian Carello lights, in Italy.
The engine compartment on most cars are painted a Robins Egg Blue/Green. The dash instruments are all 1956 Dodge with the addition of a mechanical tachometer that has the face designed to match the Dodge speedometer. The dash switches are various 1956 MoPar for the ignition, lighting and heater. The radio is the MoPar Town & Country with standard antenna mounted on the right front fender. The heater water control valve is a cable operated late 40’s or early 50’s Dodge Pickup truck valve. All of the dash knobs are 1956 Plymouth including the floor shift lever that uses a 1956 Plymouth standard column shift chrome knob. The Cowl Vent mechanism is 1954 Chrysler and a 1955-56 Dodge Cowl vent cover with a slightly larger outer skin.
For more information & photos of Ed’s Dual Ghia: