One of the most interesting 1900s is the Savonuzzi-designed Ghia coupe, of which perhaps as many as eleven were built. So far we can account for at least six of them. Each one was a bit different, and there were very similar bodies built on other chassis too...most notably Jaguar. Here's a close look at six of the Savonuzzi Ghia 1900s.    

Please note, however, that I'm not an expert on 1900s and the opinions expressed are solely my own. Feel free to send me any comments or corrections you might have.

*01089* and *01838* are maybe the easiest to confuse because of these similar photos on the left. But *01838* may be the only one that has "intake" headlights (headlights seeming to float inside air intakes).

*01089* has a sidespear that stretches all the way from front to rear and no side intake, while the others have a stubby sidespear only on the rear fender and a small intake or intake-like decoration below the rear quarter window.

While *01949* appears to be a near- duplicate of *01838*, it lacks the chrome front bumper piece that spans the curved overriders, at least in this photo (below). 

*01838* and *01903* have a script over the front wheel arch, a script which does not appear on all of the these Ghias.

And is it my imagination or does *02186* have a subtly-different greenhouse compared to the others on this page? Most notably, isn't there less of a "dogleg" to the windshield?

*01903* was sold sometime in 2006 or 2007 by Stefano Paracchi, who sent us several of the *01903* photos on this page. As you can see in the photo on the left, *01903* has a fairly simple (crude?) front bumper rather than the elegant bumper seen on the other cars here. It also sports auxiliary lights inset into the grille opening.

But *01903* may not be the only Ghia with front auxiliary lights. There is one with auxiliary lights shown on page 94 of the book, Alfa Romeo 1900 Sprint (left and below), and at first glance it appears to be a dead-ringer for *01903*. The auxiliary lights appear identical, and the center grille insert an add-on from a later Alfa.

More obvious differences between the page-94 car and *01903* are the crude front bumper on *01903* (which could be a later replacement) and the side marker lights that *01903* has and the page-94 car lacks, which could also be a later modification. 

But more telling differences are towards the rear of the cars. The door handle on the page-94 car appears to be higher up the door panel than on *01903*, and the page-94 car appears to have a bullet tail lamp at the end of the side spear with no lens at all above it, just like *01089*. Based on the rear view photo of *01903* (below), I would expect to see a bit of that lens in the side view of the page-94 car. Consequently, I don't think that these are the same cars...but more and better photos might convince me otherwise.

The rear views of *01089* and *01838* show two main distinctions: the taillight style and the presence of little air extractor vents near the base of the backlight on *01838*. So far, *10838* is the only one of these cars to feature these air extractor vents.

The proportions of the two cars look quite different, too, but that could easily be a trick played by the photos themselves (*01838* was probably photographed with a wide-angle lens).

And *01949*? It appears to be a blend of *01089* and *01838*, mostly favoring *01089* but with *01838*-style sidespear. 

*01903* has what looks like standard Marelli taillamp lenses, and large reflectors in place of the active taillamps used on *01089* and *01949*. It's also the only one on this page with bumper overriders. It's rear aspect is a bit less special looking than the others, at least in my eyes. It's rear lighting more closely resembles the XK140 Jaguar (below) but is different from that car, too.

Speaking of the Jaguar Ghia, the rear view of *02186* is very, very similar to the rear of the Jaguar, suggesting that those two cars were executed at about the same time. These rear end treatments are the most highly-developed of the Savonuzzi Ghias that we see here.

The rear of *01906* is just like that of *01889* and *01949*. We could almost call this rear end treatment the "standard" for the Savonuzzi Ghias, if there could be such a thing.

Compared to the others, the interior of *01089* looks a bit plain. Note the paucity of gauges and red background of the *01089* dash compared to that of *01838*, *01949* and *02186*. Three of these cars sport Nardi steering wheels, while *01949* has a more normal 1900 steering wheel.

*01838* and *01949* have floor shifts, while *01089*, *01903* and *02186* have column shifts. There are also differences in the pattern and shape of the seatbacks and the uphostery color. But *02186*'s seats are decidedly more square-edged than those of the other three cars here. 

*01949*'s upholstery is black, and it's the only one of the cars on this page where the dash color and material do not carry over onto the windowsills. *01903*, also black, has unupholstered sills which may be the original configuration since this car appears to be unrestored.

The door panel pattern on *02186* is decidedly different than on the other three cars shown here, too. 

These engine bays all look similar, and the differences might be restoration-related. 

Both *01838* and *01949* have red lettering on the air cleaner cover, while *01089* does not. Engine finish varies; one is crackle-painted, one is a mix, and one is unpainted. *02186*'s black & white photo makes it difficult for me to judge the type of finish on its engine, but I suspect it's crackle-finished.

All three of these cars seem to have the same carburetion setup except *02186*, which has the single-carb setup.

*01949* may not be restored or may be an older restoration. It seems to be missing some parts that are present under the hoods of the other two cars, most obviously the long, black air duct that should be along each fender well.

In the photo of *01286*, below, there's something added behind the left headlight, something that looks like a brake booster but is in the wrong place to be a booster. 

Is *01903* unrestored and is this the original appearance of the engine bay? Are the intake airhorns original or added later?

Is *01906* the 1955 Geneva Show car? It very possibly may be the same. Alan Routt says the original paint on *01906* was white and he has the bumpers, script and badging as shown in this Road & Track photo. Both cars appear to have the same "shoulder" intake under the rear quarter window. And if you look carefully at the contemporary photo of *01906*, at the hole locations for the bumper and turn signal, it's easy to imagine *01906* looking just like the Geneva photo when the bumper and signals are installed.

*01903* has a combination of headlights and bumpers like none of the others, at least in detail. Note that this car and *01949* have "imitation" airduct headlights, while *01838* has functional airduct headlights and *01089* and *02186* have regular headlights.

The bumpers on *01903* are very crude compared to the elegantly-curved bumpers of the other cars. And speaking of bumpers, perhaps *01949* never had a cross piece between the outer bumper section, as those outers are much more curved than on *01089* and *01838* and might not have provided a very good attachment point for a crosspiece. In any frontal shots you see of *01949*, what might be taken to be empty slots for bumper attachment are, I think, air intakes. 

Jaguar XK140

And this two-tone XK-140 made an appearance at the 2008 Concorso Villa d'Este

 

The car on the left is unidentified, but these three are probably old photos of *01949*; they date to April 1998 or earlier. Other than the presence of that script over the front wheel arch, the exterior appears to be identical to *01949*. The front bumper seems to be as extremely curved as on *01949*. The interior, too, seems to be exactly the same, as far as can be determined by this photograph. And, finally, the engine bay appears to be identical to that of *01949*.

Immediately below is *01903* at the March, 2007 Oldtimers Show in Forli, Italy (bottom photo). 

Jaguar XK140

The red Jaguar XK140 shown here must not be confused with 01838! The giveaway at the front is the hood scoop, while the rear combines the lights of 01838 and *01089*/*01949* and the rear bumper has small overriders like *01903*.

The other XK-140, the duo-tone car, appeared at Villa d'Este in 2008. The two Jaguars and *02186* appear to have virtually identical rear-end treatments, save for small details such as the presence or absence of overriders and exhaust plumbing.

And then there's this Ghia on a show stand, below, probably Paris Salon 1954 or 1955. The most notable difference for identifying this car is the height of the bumper uprights. This is the only one of this series where the uprights end halfway up the headlights. All the others bumper uprights end much lower. All three photos below seem to be the same car, *01837*, though the car currently is missing the front bumper crossbar.

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