Solved - NEH 2028: Ghia Chrysler Thomas Coupe - 1953

[Carnut]

Identify this car fully together with who built it and when, for 1 point:

ANYONE FOUND GIVING ANSWERS GLEANED BY USING GOOGLE SEARCH BY IMAGE MAY BE BANNED FOR AN INDETERMINATE PERIOD!

[Carnut]

Experts?

[mekubb]

American base car, body by Ghia ?

[fyreline]

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of folks identify this as either a 1952 or 1953 Chrysler Styling Special, more familiarly called just the Chrysler Special. Designed by Virgil Exner and built by Ghia on a Chrysler New Yorker chassis, the 1952 and slightly longer 1953 were two-seaters . . . But Chrysler Export Division President C. B. Thomas, while he admired the car, wanted a more practical four-seat version of the same car. As Luigi Segre, head of Ghia, was a friend of Thomas he agreed to build the car, and it ended up being known as the 1953 Thomas Special. While it was very, very similar to the Chrysler Specials, it differed in many small details. Eventually 18 of them were built, which in turn led to a production run of 400 Chrysler GS-1 cars sold exclusively in Europe. These 400 cars were again slightly different, especially the front end styling.

I believe the quiz car is a 1953 Chrysler Thomas Special, styled by Virgil Exner and built by Ghia for Chrysler Export President C. B. Thomas.

[Carnut]

Good answer!

I did expect people to answer that it was a Ghia Chrysler but you are right that it is in fact the Thomas special from 1953!  Well done.

[Carnut]

Here's a colour picture:

[Otto Puzzell]

Did Mr.Scharoo paint that? 

The correct colors are green, inside and out.

[Carnut]

And the roof is a darker green...
And there aren't any blue trees in the background either!
Very strange..

[fyreline]

Remember, friends . . . A total of 18 Thomas Specials were built, I'm pretty sure there were quite a few different colors and color combinations produced (any of which would be "correct"). I would also be willing to bet that more than a few of them have been repainted at least once over the past 59 years.

[Wendax]

You can have them in red:

[Wendax]

Or black:

[Wendax]

Or red over ivory:

[Wendax]

Or silver over black:

[fyreline]

We have to be careful about calling all cars of this style "Thomas Specials", as well. One of the telltale items is a two-piece windshield, which the Thomas Specials did not have. The very, very similar Chrysler Specials are easy to confuse with these cars, the Chrysler GS-1 cars less so.