Ghia 450/SS how many manual trans? and questions about Sugarman's loss/profit

These were kind of mini Dual Ghias, the same idea in a way American drivetrain and Ghia built body. I bought one of these about 20-25 years ago off a lady film editor in Studio City. I think it was dark blue (i bought it at night and sent it on to New York). It was an automatic but I heard rumors the first one was a manual. I have also seen pictures of a white one one with hand made taillight lenses at an auto show, maybe that was the first one. Did Burt Sugarman make money on making the 52 cars or take a bath as labor costs rose (and he probably discovered the frequent labor strikes in Italy as well) ? I know he originally fell in love with a Ghia 2300 coupe on the cover of Road & Track which gave him the idea of making an open verison but did he originate Ghia making the Ghia 450/SS or were they planning it anyway and he came along?. I never looked underneath, was it using the whole floorpan of a Chrysler or Barracuda or only the mechanicals? I have seen a very nice gold one in California, I would say at least $50K was spent on that restoration but I think just now they are breaking the 100K price barrier.

Also I read ads where only 28 are left, anybody know how many of the 52 are left? Were they sold in other countries.

 

My understanding is that the project was underwritten by a Detroit trucking magnate, Gene Casaroll. There is a nice chapter on the cars in the out of print book, Modern Classics, authored by Rich Taylor of Vintage Rallies. You can get the book for a few bucks on Amazon used usually. Great book to read, too. He claims in the chapter that only automatic trannys were available though.

 

One was spotted in downtown Chicago a few weeks ago:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/chicago/402594-spring-spotters-15.html

 

he lost money onhis Chrysler powered four seaters because he spent so damn muchmoney painting the cars over again.
I never read that Casaroll bankrolled Sugarman. Casaroll was in Detroit.
I'd still like to know, tho, if Sugarman lost on his venture as much as Casaroll did.
Bythe way Dual Ghias are way past 100K now, more valuable than 450/Ss because of the connection with the Rat Pack where Dean Martin, Sammy Davis and F.Sinatra had them.

 

There is some good basic history on these cars out there and a Yahoo group too.

 

I do not think Eugene Casaroll had anything to do with the Ghia 450SS and I don't think Burt Sugarman had any money invested except he bought the first one after he talked Ghia into making the car. I believe all 52 cars were sold through a dealer in Beverly Hills.

 

There is one local to me with a manual transmission. The drivetrain is not original, but I don't know if the trans was originally an automatic. I will look through my pics when I get a chance.

 

I need to update this and mention that the car in question is in fact an auto.

 

The car local to me is the first 450/SS. It was Sugarman's personal car for a while. It's red, and an automatic.

 

I haven't seen the car. I can refer any interested party to the guy who told me about it.

 

The pictures I have seen of it at its first show had hand-made taillights
about 18" wide compared to the smaller taillights on the production car. I thought that first car was the manual shift. It is a black and white photo so can't tell the color, I think white. Maybe the factory retrofitted the car with production taillamps to move it out the door. Does the owner of the ex-Sugarman car have a copy of the title with Sugarman's name on it?