Ghia Microsport

The Ghia Microsport, sometimes called the Ford Microsport, was a one off concept car created by the Italian design studio Ghia as part of the design operation of Ford of Europe. It served as a prototype test bed for reducing aerodynamic drag and cutting weight and was displayed at the 1978 Turin Auto Show. Ghia, founded in Turin in 1916 and sold to Ford in 1970, built the working prototype in sheet aluminum on a Fiesta platform with the wheelbase shortened by 10 inches and a new fuel tank reduced to 20 to 25 litres. The design followed a formal notchback theme with an integrated rear spoiler. It was approved in December 1977, a plaster and epowood model arrived on 6 January 1978 and the prototype was finished on 24 March 1978. After Ford shrank the Ghia studio the car was sold in a Ford collection auction and shown at Ford headquarters in Dearborn for the Ford centennial.