Custom Search
logo
The online car show dedicated to American-made iron: old skool, new school, and no school
Home Join Login Member cars Games Calculators Tips

Mario's Tribute to 1956 Chrysler Dart Diablo

1956 Chrysler Dart Diablo

The 1956 Chrysler Dart Diablo Concept Car designed by Virgil Exner and built by Italian coachbuilder Ghia, one of the best body builders in Italy.

Not only did Virgil Exner design this car on his own personal drawing board but he was also aided by the fact that the car was designed in a wind tunnel.

The chassis used for this build was a new off the production line 1956 Chrysler 300.

The chassis used for this build was a new off the production line 1956 Chrysler 300.

Four bucket seats and a star wars dashboard.

Automatic push-button transmission.

392 V8 375hp special modified engine with two 4 barrel carburetors and a ton of chrome in the engine compartment.

The car is equipped with power steering, power brakes, power windows, power top, power antenna and air conditioning.

The car is enormous just under 21' long and extremely wide with a streamlined body and faired-in wheels.

After modifications in 1957 by Ghia, the Diablo was shown to the public at the 1958 Chicago auto show.

Chrysler Corporation's concepts were little seen and remain to this day relatively unknown to most auto enthusiasts.

Note the Diablo pitchfork emblems, even an emblem on the gas filler lid which is in the trunk area.

The Dart has a steeply raked windshield that extended fairly deep into the roofline, the A pillars are relatively thin.

Check out the sculpting on the exhaust tips, which reportedly took Virgil several days on the drawing board to get the design just perfect.

Ultra modern front end for 1956/1957 showing things to come in the sixties.

The 1956 Chrysler Dart Diablo Concept Car was sold to a private collector at the 2013 Barrett-Jackson auction for $1,375,000.


Video and audio clips

1956 Chrysler Diablo


Interview 2008 Virgil Exner Jr


Diablo Concept In motion 2014


Barrett Jackson 2013 Auction Intro


Barrett Jackson Video 2013



Related

More Cars of the 1950s
More Chrysler Coverage

821 car nuts gave this a thumbs-up. Do you? Thumbs-up


Comments

Mario on Oct 21, 2021 said:

The 1956 Chrysler Dart Diablo designed by Virgil Exner and built by Ghia in Italy was a fine Concept Car for its time.

Smooth lines, aerodynamic and numerous power options were new in 1956.

A well designed concept car with forward looking ideas used by car manufacturers for decades.

[Reply to this comment]

57timemachine on Oct 29, 2021 said:

Car companies like Chrysler and Ford were really scrambling in the 1950's to come up with concept or dream cars to keep up with what GM had started in the late 1930's. It seemed real labored to me, the efforts from both those car companies. Not all but most of the cars were just horror shows coming from these companies. Cheers.

[Reply to this comment]


[Login] or


Direct link: