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1967 Ghia 450 SS Project

1967-Ghia-450-SS-rear

If you thought the Fidia was at all interesting, then you will want to see this. It doesn’t look like much, but this is a very rare 1967 Ghia 450 SS. Unfortunately it sustained some damage back in the 80s and has been off the road since. Just like the Iso, this Ghia combines an Italian body with American V8 power, but this one is much more desirable. The owner knows it too and has priced it accordingly here on eBay.

Scottsdale-Ghia-450-SS

It is hard to tell from the auction listing, but the project car above once looked like this beautiful example which sold for $103k back in 2011 at Scottsdale. The 450 SS was the brainchild of Bert Sugarman. He lived in California and wanted his own sports car. After seeing a Ghia-bodied Fiat in a magazine, he knew who he wanted to tackle his own project. So he contacted Ghia and they agreed.

1967-Ghia-450-SS-engine

Ghia started with a Barracuda and replaced the body with their own design in either a coupe or convertible form. Since this car is basically a re-bodied Plymouth, thrust was provided by a Commando V8. This project has the engine and automatic transmission in place, but it is missing some other very important parts.

1967-Ghia-450-SS-side

Somewhere along the line a previous owner attempted to correct rust and damage done while the car sat in the first owner’s warehouse. Now the current owner cannot locate the headlight buckets and that may be a problem. We can’t find an exact figure on how many of these were made, but there couldn’t have been much more than 20 produced so finding replacement metal is going to be next to impossible.

1967-Ghia-450-SS-interior

We love this car. Exotic coachwork on the outside and common mechanicals on the inside. The restoration will obviously be a challenge, but we think the end result will be well worth it. The asking price does seem a bit optimistic, but these are valuable when you can actually find a buyer who knows what it is…

Comments

  1. Avatar paul

    67 Barracuda underpinnings as in torsion bar lousy handling….. rotted cowl……I think not.

    Like 0
  2. Avatar Dolphin Member

    Another Italian exotic with an American drivetrain, this time with Chrysler mechanicals and the body by Ghia. When complete and in good condition these are very attractive either as a convertible or with a hardtop.

    Unfortunately this car isn’t complete, so a lot of work, especially metalwork, will be needed. The SCM Price Guide doesn’t even list the 450SS, or the Iso Fidia either, so they don’t seem to have much of a market. My guess would be that this 450SS would take at least 3 to 5 times what it would be worth to make it into a nice driver—not very good odds.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar shawnmcgill

    I’m sorry, but realstically, this one had a date with the crusher,

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Webby

    Looking at the bumper/grille/headlight area, you can see where the worlds largest appliance maker got the inspiration for their Celica from.

    A beautfull car once & could be again, but out of my league pricewise.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar Dale

    There were 52 produced. While the exact number is unknown, there are thought to be about half of those 52 left. They are all roadsters but some, like the red one pictured, have removable hardtops. I know the red one well.

    It’s almost hard to justify bringing this one back from the dead, and certainly not worth it if your intention is to do anything but spend a ton of time and money on it. There is an enthusiast who has reproduced some NLA parts but finding any of the parts this one needs could be a lifetime project…

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Kman

    Hard for me to believe that Ghia would have tooled up to manufacture their own headlight buckets. And if they did, likely they used them in a lot of other cars. If these really were a one off, then find ones that are similar and MAKE them fit. If that’s the worst problem the rest is just sweat, time and money…. Lot’s of all 3.

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Horse Radish

    That’s an easy one to figure out.
    Second owner owned it for 30 years trying to figure out how to get it back together.
    Third owner (this one) only owns it for two years and figures out QUICKLY, that the only easy thing to do is to flip it for xxx times the money he’s got in it (my guess under $10k).
    ALL THE WORK, hassle of finding (if ever) needed parts, and put in money is left to the next guy.
    NICE !
    There are enough fools out there, that this concept will actually work !

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Bernie H.

    Boy!, you guys above are a “tough crowd”, and 99.9% correct! There’s not much left to work with, and too much missing to ever get it looking correct. I dont think a good metal-man has enough detail to reconstruct the front. Parts car here, little value in Chrysler powertrain.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Bryan Cohn

    Surely its a misplaced decimal point, right? $3500 seems about right, but $35,000? Apparently the current owner got hold of some recently legalized weed prior to placing the ad on ebay…..

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Jesse Mortensen Staff

    The seller ended the auction early. Must have worked a deal offline.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Kman

    As to the headlight buckets, what company that made 20 odd cars would have stamped their own? Best bet is they bought from another producer. Question is who?

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Ghia

    New

    Like 1

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