eBay Find of the Day: Sensational ex-Rat Pack Dual-Ghia L6.4 Barris Kustom

While perhaps not a household name, there was a time when the Dual-Ghia brand was the epitome of cool. Eugene Casaroll formed Dual Motors in the 1950's to build production versions of Chrysler's Virgil Exner-designed Fire Arrow show cars. Casaroll worked with Carrozzeria Ghia in Italy to build the restyled vehicles on Dodge chassis using Chrysler engines for motivation. Because of Ghia's contributions to the exterior styling, the cars were sold under the Dual-Ghia banner. Altogether, 117 D-Gs were sold from 1956-1958, mostly to the rich and famous.

As his health floundered, Casaroll concentrated more and more on his other business interests leaving Dual Motors Chief Engineer Paul Farago in charge of developing the follow-up model. The L6.4 was introduced in 1961 with a bigger 335-horsepower 383 engine, fresher styling and a big bump in price, going from $7,600 to a whopping $13,500. Only 26 L6.4s were sold before the company was finally shuttered for good in 1962, but those Dual-Ghias found their way into some interesting hands. Well-known Dual-Ghia owners included actors Desi Arnaz, Glenn Ford and Sterling Hayden, U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson, and a certain group of legendary entertainers known as The Rat Pack. Dean Martin had one. So did Frank Sinatra. Eddie Fisher owned a Dual-Ghia. Even Peter Lawford had one. In fact, Lawford once owned the very car you see above.

This particular 1961 Dual-Ghia L6.4 is even more rare than most of the other 25 examples made, as one of eight cars modified by legendary Kustom Kar King George Barris. It was the second L6.4 produced and shares the prototype's lower roofline, but was also remodeled by George Barris at his Kustom Coachworks when it arrived in Hollywood. According to the eBay Motors listing, the headlamps were remodeled into flush oval Euro Headlamps (the original design were traditional ovals), and the turn signals were subtly hidden inboard behind the grille.

One of the regular Dual-Ghia L6.4 models recently sold for better than $400,000 up in Pebble Beach, so the current price of just over $100,000 seems like a steal. Of course, the reserve hasn't yet been met. There are still three days left to scrape together a little extra scratch if you're interested in reliving your Rat Pack fantasies. Check out the listing for even more details and take a peek at the gallery below for more high-res images.

[Source: eBay Motors]