Chrysler Special Coupé by ghia – 1953
Marca : Chrysler
Modello : Special Coupé
Anno : 1953
Telaio N. : 7231533
Motore N. : C53-8-31901
Esemplari prodotti : 18 ( 6 dalla Chrysler-Ghia e 12 dalla Ghia )
Designer : virgil exner
Carrozzeria : Ghia
Motore : 8 cilindri a V di 90° HEMI
Cilindrata : 331 cu. in.
Distribuzione : OHV
Valvole Cilindro : 2
Alimentazione : Carburatori
Potenza : 180 CV
Top speed Km/h :
Auction Results
2014 – Monaco – RM Sotheby's – € 336.000
2017 – Quail Lodge – Bonhams – unsold
This numbers-matching example was equipped with Fluid-Torque Drive, power steering, heavy duty seat springs and a heavy-duty suspension. It was delivered new by Chrysler's French importer, Société France Motors, to industrialist Leon Coulibeuf, who had made a fortune in the manufacture of concrete electric poles used in the millions in the rebuilding of post-war Europe.
Coulibeuf was an avid automotive enthusiast and a gentleman racer who competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and numerous other events. His best finish was in 1956, when he took 14th place in the automotive Tour de France in an Alfa Romeo Guilietta Veloce. Among his personal cars were a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupe, a Porsche 356 and an Alfa Romeo 1900, all fitting choices for a connoisseur.
This example was shown by Coulibeuf's wife at the 1953 concours d'elegance of Enghien-les-Bains in France, and featured in the September 1953 issue of the French magazine L'Action Automobile.
Little is known about the car's history between Coulibeuf's ownership and its discovery in the 1990s by Jacques Pelve, a Chrysler dealer in Brittany. Found on the premises of a factory near Rennes, France, the coupe was in poor condition, though it retained the red-and-white paintwork and the license plate – 4756-CC75 – that it had worn while on display at the Enghien-les-Bains concours some four decades earlier.
