Chrysler’s Ghia-built show cars of the early 1950 demonstrated the potential of a marriage between Italian coachbuilding (influenced by Virgil Exner’s designs) and American engineering. Chrysler only had six Ghia Special Coupes constructed, but Ghia followed up with another dozen Special Coupes of their own. Last weekend, a 1953 Chrysler Ghia Special Coupe, one of the 18 cars originally built, crossed the stage in Monaco, where it sold for a price of 336,000 euros ($462,353) including buyer’s fees.

The Ghia-bodied Chryslers were never intended to be merely show cars, as both companies contemplated the potential of putting the exclusive coachbuilt coupes into limited production. Ghia Specials were never offered through American Chrysler dealers, but buyers in Europe could drive away in one of the stylish two-doors, sold through Société France Motors, Chrysler’s European sales agent. The similarly-styled Ghia GS-1 even saw a production run of 400 units, once again available only to buyers on that side of the Atlantic.

The Chrysler Ghia Special Coupe that crossed the block in Monaco last Saturday, chassis number 7231533, came powered by its original 331-cu.in. Chrysler Fire Power Hemi V-8. mated to a PowerFlite two-speed automatic Fluid Drive transmission. According to RM’s auction description, chassis 7231533 was sold new by Société France Motors to Leon Coulibeuf, a postwar industrialist with a passion for sports cars and a racing resume that included participation in the 1953 Tour de France Automobile and the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s not entirely clear if Coulibeuf purchased the Ghia coupe for his own use or for his wife’s enjoyment, but its first time in the spotlight (at the 1953 Concours d’Elegance d’Enghien-les-Bains) listed his wife as the car’s entrant.

Restored by a previous long-term owner in 1990, the Chrysler Ghia Special Coupe has, until now, spent its entire existence in France, and it’s reportedly been shown just once post-restoration, at the 2001 Louis Vuitton Concours at Bagatelle. Its sale on Saturday represented the first time the car has been offered to the public since new, and its selling price of €336,000 ($462,353) reflected its clean-but-not-quite-concours-ready condition. A comparable 1953 Chrysler Ghia Special Coupe, in unrestored form, sold at RM’s 2010 Monaco Auction for a price of €246,400, then the equivalent of $309,832.