Chrysler GS-1: ghia bodied Chrysler made for French distributor of Chrysler in Fifties

I am currently trying to freshen my memory. I heard 400 of this model were made but other estimates are much less. They look a lot like the Chrysler "concept cars" inspired by Virgil Exner Sr.

In looking at my pictures I also found one with more of a semi-slantback with a spare tire cover inmetal on the rear deck, I guess that was a Chrysler concept and not a production GS-1. It was kind of an olive green and I photographed it in California decades ago. What did these GS-1 cars cost in the States back in the 1980s? I am most interested in hearing about ones that were "barn finds" even if found on a used car lot. These are not to be confused with Dual Ghias that were formerly imported to Detroit by Dual Motors in Detroit.

This blue one I have seen several times in Los Angeles, identified as '54 Chrysler Special GS-1

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1954_Chrysler_Ghia_Special_GS-1_coupe_-_blue_-_fvl.jpg

Thsi maroon one I would call a "semi fastback" not full fastback but I guess it's not a GS-1 and consequently more rare as a Chrysler concept car. I thas the spare tire on the rear and Imperial type free standing taillights. Maybe it was green when I photographed it decades ago. Was it ever a dereiict barn find?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seat850/3163205545/

The light green one shown here I would call a full fastback if you consider its roof a twin of the Bentey S1 Continental two door fastback. Am I using the right decription? I guess this was also a prototype, not a production GS-1

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/dreams-for-sale-the-production-chrysler-ghias/

I was in Detroit when Exner & son were still creating these but was too dumb to knock on the door of their shop and talk to them (though I did peek in the windows...!)

I will take the maroon one.

The maroon one is the Chrysler concept car, D'Elegance. It was designed by Virgil Exner and his staff with the body built by Ghia in Italy.

The Chrysler Special, another Exner creation put into metal by Ghia, was the inspiration for the GS-1. By the way, the GS-1 was built on Chrysler New Yorker chassis, and production was no where near 400 units. Chrysler built 21 New Yorker Deluxe chassis in 1953 and 17 in 1954. Which makes a total of 38 chassis available for the Ghia GS-1 and any Exner creations.

The D'Elegance was also used by Ghia for another car they "designed" - the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. If you cover the nose and the taillights you can see where the Karmann Ghia came from. The D'Elegance also influenced the grille and taillights on the 1955 Imperial.

Keep researching and you will find the GS-1s were a brief production series in Europe and that there were similarly styled one-off Chryslers as well that were not GS-1s per se.

The attached was shown at Pebble in '12. Car was astounding!

I am a little thick headed, so bear with me. I am now concluding that in the case of Bob Frumkin's turquoise 1954 Chrysler Special, often seen at informal LA car shows like the Best of France and Italy,

it was either one created for a Chrysler executive or one of the ones ordered by the Chrysler distributor in France. But at any rate, please tell me if this conclusion  is  true, that Frumkin had earlier found a fastback version with a continental tire inlaid in the rear deck but missing chrome trim and customized in an amateur way. He concluded that the amount of bondo I nit and the cost of having to hand make trim (for which there probably were no patterns) outweighed keeping it and sold it to buy the more intact more original less rusty  notchback he has now, which is a more common body style among Ghia Chryslers.

I think it was a tough decision to give up on the rarer body style  but what can you do if the rarer car requires much more work than the slightly more common one? Any opinions appreciated...