The story of Ghia – part 1
The beginning In tracing the genealogy of coachbuilding firms, it turns out that they originated in the early years of the last century as…
The Fiesta Tuareg was a joint design exercise between Turin’s Ghia and Dearborn’s Ford Design Center led by Eugene Bordinat Jnr, Vice President of Design in North America.
The Ford Fiesta Tuareg project involved the construction of a practical off-road car, using the unmodified floor of the Ford Fiesta, from which the 1100-liter engine combined with a 4-speed gearbox was also taken. The car, made in collaboration with the italian design studio Ghia, was therefore identical to the Fiesta, but had an elongated roof at the rear, making it look like a small station wagon, thus allowing greater load capacity. The car had a length of 147 inches (about 3733 mm), a width of 65.4 inches (about 1661 mm), and a height of 59 inches (about 1498 mm). Compared to the standard body, the Ford Fiesta Tuareg was 6.7 inches longer, 3.7 inches wider and 7.3 cm higher. Externally the changes related to the increase of the slits to improve the cooling of the engine, widened fenders to allow the mounting of Goodyear Terra 26 “off-road tires, knobby tires mounted on 7J steel rims which improved the ground clearance. In addition, the tough look was given by a simple black tubular bumper, and by a pronounced spoiler, again at the front, which connects with the widened fenders. The Ford Fiesta Tuareg is also revised in the suspension, now more harder. Internally, the changes were minor, which focused mainly on covering the seats in abrasion-resistant tweed fabric, the folding rear sofa, to increase load capacity, and a thick mat for the floor. Presented at various American shows, the Ford Fiesta Tuareg, beige in color, with stripes in orange and brown contrast, obtained good acclaim, but not such as to convince the house to produce it in series, thus remaining a simple study.
The beginning In tracing the genealogy of coachbuilding firms, it turns out that they originated in the early years of the last century as…
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