Despite its sleek and dramatic styling, the 1956 Norseman, a Chrysler show car, is primarily remembered for its tragic fate—resting at the bottom of the Atlantic. The Norseman was part of the prolific collaboration between Italian coachbuilder Ghia of Turin and Chrysler during the 1950s, producing several memorable show cars. This particular creation, however, was never officially showcased to the public due to a disastrous incident.
In 1956, the Norseman was en route to Detroit aboard the Andrea Doria, an Italian passenger liner. Tragically, the ship collided with another vessel, the Stockholm, sinking around 50 miles off the coast of Nantucket and claiming 51 lives. Since July of 1956, the Norseman has remained in Andrea Doria’s hold at the bottom of the Atlantic, with only a handful of photos surviving.
Designed under the guidance of Chrysler styling chief Virgil Exner, the Norseman boasted distinctive features, with its fully cantilevered roof standing out as particularly spectacular. Bill Brownlie, a Chrysler stylist, designed the roof without A or B pillars, relying instead on the buttress-like C pillars and thin steel rods in tension at the forward edge for support.
Additional unique elements included hidden headlamps, floating bumpers, and a 129-inch wheelbase chassis powered by a 331 CID Hemi V8 coupled with a PowerFlite two-speed automatic transmission.
The Norseman represented a significant investment, consuming 50,000 man-hours and an estimated $150,000 to $200,000. Ghia’s portion of the build cost $15,000 and took 15 months. The show car had a distinctive cockpit with four bucket seats separated by wide consoles and covered in two-tone metallic leather.
The front seat backs are pivoted to facilitate access for rear passengers. Due to the Norseman’s sinking before any official display or photography, very few images of this unique creation exist. The available photos were taken at Ghia in Turin, showcasing the wooden body buck on which the aluminum body panels were formed.
While the Norseman is remembered for its unfortunate history, very few, if any, of its exotic features found their way into Chrysler’s production vehicles. The story of the Norseman serves as a poignant reminder of both the collaborative creativity between Chrysler and Ghia during that era and the tragic incident that consigned this remarkable show car to the depths of the ocean.
Hence, the ill-fated 1956 Norseman, a Chrysler show car that sank in the Atlantic during transit. Known for its unique features like a fully cantilevered roof, the Norseman never saw public display due to a tragic collision at sea.
Despite representing a significant investment and collaboration between Chrysler and Ghia, the car’s exotic elements had minimal influence on Chrysler’s production vehicles. The Norseman remains a poignant reminder of both creative collaboration and the unfortunate incident that consigned it to the ocean depths.
