Ghia 230 S

Ghia
	Ghia 230 S
230 p
Production period:	1963
Class :	Sports car
Body versions :	Combi coupe
Engines:	Otto engine : ; 2.3 liters (110 kW)
Length:	4340 mm
Width:	1630 mm
Height:	1330 mm
Wheelbase :	2440 mm
Empty weight :	1150 kg
successor	Ghia 450 SS

The central design element of the rear of the Ghia 230 S: the large, three-part rear window. The rear lights of the car come from the Fiat 850 .

The engine compartment: the six-cylinder engine taken over from the Fiat 2300 S Coupé and revised by Abarth.

The Ghia 230 S is an Italian sports car that Carrozzeria Ghia developed in 1963 on the technical basis of the Fiat 2300 S Coupé . The car anticipated design features of later sports cars in some details. The volume of production was extremely small.

The background

Since 1959, the Italian automobile manufacturer Fiat has had a large four-door sedan with a six-cylinder engine in its range with the 2100 model . When two years later the 2100 was replaced by the 2300 , which used an engine enlarged to 2.3 liters, apart from that - and apart from a few design details - but was almost identical to its predecessor, Fiat decided to give the austere sedan an elegant one To put the coupé aside. The Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin was commissioned to design the body ; the main work was done by Ghias chief designer Sergio Sartorelli and the American Tom Tjaarda .

The Fiat 2300 Coupé was mostly perceived as elegant, but it did not have a particularly sporty look. Ghia saw the need for an independent version with a sporty body. For this reason, and to demonstrate the creativity and efficiency of the Carrozzeria Ghia, the car that was later named Ghia 230 S was developed in Turin on its own initiative.

The Fiat 2300 Coupé, designed as a notchback vehicle, was produced in around 4,400 units from autumn 1961 to the end of 1968.

The vehicle

The Ghia 230 S is based on the drive technology of the Fiat 2300 S Coupé. However, it has a completely independent body, which was designed by Sergio Sartorelli. It is designed as a two-door hatchback coupé. A notchback version of this design was realized in 1965 under the designation Ghia 450 SS .

A special feature of the Ghia 230 S is the large rear window that extends into the sides of the vehicle, is part of the tailgate and swings upwards as a whole when it is opened. The Maserati Mistral , designed by Pietro Frua and presented a little later, has a similarly designed tailgate and - much later - the Porsche 924 . While the curved rear window of the Maserati is designed in one piece, in the case of the Ghia 230 S it consists of a large central component and a small lateral part on the left and right. The individual parts of the glazing are held in place by thin struts. In this respect, the Ghia 230 S quotes the design of the series coupé. Another independent element is the sloping line of the fenders in the area of the front of the car, which merge into upwardly curved bumpers. The line of the bonnet is optically separated from it. The headlights, adopted from the Fiat 1300 , have a prominent position. A similar design can be found in the Lamborghini 350 GT, which was presented a little later .

The Ghia 230 S uses the drive technology of the 2300 S Coupé. However, it is based on an independent tubular space frame that Gilberto Colombo from Gilco Design constructed exclusively for this model. Unlike in the case of the series coupé, the engine is positioned in a so-called front-mid-engine position behind the front axle to improve weight distribution.

The engine of the Fiat 2300 was adopted unchanged in its basic concept, however Carlo Abarth revised the engine in detail. This resulted in an output of 150 hp.

Presentation and production

The first roadworthy prototype of the 230 S was built at Ghia during 1963. It was presented on the occasion of the Turin Motor Show in autumn 1963. At the time of presentation, the 230 S was painted gray-metallic. The car was received favorably; many considered the 230S “the most beautiful car in the salon”. The second prototype was also shown in Turin in 1964 with some bodywork changes and completely changed interior equipment (dashboard), initially also painted in gray, later red and now painted in light green metallic.

Four Ghia 230 S vehicles were produced: two coupés (1963 and 1964) and two convertibles (1965). Initially, only the second coupé prototype was known to the scene. In 2013, the prototype, believed to be lost, reappeared in a complete, but partially dismantled state. Photos of this vehicle can now be found in the relevant literature. A convertible version was shown with the complete 2300S-FIAT technology as a Ghia G 450 SS prototype in white. This vehicle is under restoration in Europe. The whereabouts of the first convertible prototype, painted gray metallic as usual at Ghia, is unknown.

So three prototypes still exist today: both coupés and a convertible. The Coupé from 1964 is registered in Germany and is shown repeatedly at exhibitions, for example in September 2010 at the 8th International Concours d'Elegance Classic Gala in Schwetzingen.

literature

Michael Schröder: Only this one . Driving report Ghia 230 S in: Motor Klassik 9/2010, p. 42 ff.
Georg Amtmann and Halwart Schrader: Italian sports cars . Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-613-01988-4 .
David Lillywhite, Halwart Schrader: Encyclopedia Classic Automobiles . Stuttgart (Motorbuch Verlag) 2005, ISBN 3-613-02552-3.
Rainer Schön: Fiat 2300 S Coupé and all special versions, self-published, March 2013. www.fiat2300.de

Web links

Commons : Ghia 230 S - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ The name of the car varies in the sources. Most of the time the car is listed as the Ghia 230 S; see. z. B. Motor Klassik issue 9/2010. Other sources, however, use the name Ghia G 230 S; for example Schrader / Amtmann: Italian Sports Cars, p. 189.
↑ The Ghia 450 SS was a sports coupé very similar to the 230 S, which used the drive technology of the Plymouth Barracuda . Its design was based on the American businessman Bert Sugarman; In 1965 and 1966 twelve, according to other sources around 40, of the 450 SS were made. See Schrader / Lilliywhite: Encyclopedia Classic Automobiles, p. 209
↑ Colombo was involved in the development of the Maserati Tipo 61 "Birdcage" in 1959 , which was also based on a filigree tubular space frame.
↑ Auto motor und sport, issue 24/1963.
^ Rainer Schön: "Fiat 2300 S Coupé and all special versions", 2013
↑ Note on the Classic Gala in Schwetzingen 2010 on www.oldtimergala.de ; Retrieved November 11, 2010.

[1] The name of the car varies in the sources. Most of the time the car is listed as the Ghia 230 S; see. z. B. Motor Klassik issue 9/2010. Other sources, however, use the name Ghia G 230 S; for example Schrader / Amtmann: Italian Sports Cars, p. 189.

[2] The Ghia 450 SS was a sports coupé very similar to the 230 S, which used the drive technology of the Plymouth Barracuda . Its design was based on the American businessman Bert Sugarman; In 1965 and 1966 twelve, according to other sources around 40, of the 450 SS were made. See Schrader / Lilliywhite: Encyclopedia Classic Automobiles, p. 209

[3] Colombo was involved in the development of the Maserati Tipo 61 "Birdcage" in 1959 , which was also based on a filigree tubular space frame.

[4] Auto motor und sport, issue 24/1963.

[5] Rainer Schön: "Fiat 2300 S Coupé and all special versions", 2013

[6] Note on the Classic Gala in Schwetzingen 2010 on www.oldtimergala.de ; Retrieved November 11, 2010.