Dean Martin had one at one point as well, according to his son Ricci.
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It appeared in 1971 with a 351 Cleveland Ford V8 and a low, wedge-shaped body designed by Ghia's Tom Tjaarda.
The 500 Series was developed in the early 1960s, with styling by Ghia and engineering by Rootes Group in Kew, England.
A prototype was again produced by Ghia, and 50 buyers signed up, including Elvis Presley and Jerry Lewis.
Relative rejection of the Telstar forced Ford to import completely built-up (CBU) premium models built in Genk, Belgium from 1990: the Sierra 2.0 GLX Wagon, the Sierra Sapphire 2.0 Ghia and the XR4×4 were part of this range.
In November 2004, Dreyfus played Carmen Ghia in the London premiere of Mel Brooks' musical The Producers, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
Venues include The Jehangir Art Gallery, The National Gallery of Modern Art, the David Sassoon Library, Max Mueller Bhavan, Elphinstone College, the K. R. Cama Institute, the M C Ghia Hall, and the street area of Rampart Row.
The 5000 GT was sold at prices around USD 17000 (twice the cost of a Maserati 3500), and in many respects individualized to the desires of its celebrity buyers, including Aga Khan, Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli, sportsman Briggs Cunningham, actor Stewart Granger, Ferdinando Innocenti (Ghia-bodied 5000 GT), Basil Read, count Giuseppe Comola, and president Adolfo López Mateos.
Some character names, such as "Don Octave" and "Donna Ribalda" play on the Mozart opera, referring to Don Ottavio and Donna Elvira respectively, while the castanet-clicking "Carmen Ghia" plays on the title character of Bizet's opera (and puns on the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia).
The Karmann Ghia is also the subject of a secret pass phrase in the 2011 movie Cars 2.
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On the 1970s sitcom Good Times an orange Karmann Ghia convertible is seen briefly during the intro.
He has inspired a newer generation of artists around the world, for example with his recording "Black But Sweet" covered by Mighty Dub Katz ("Son Of Wilmot"), Sabres of Paradise ("Wilmot"), Shantel ("Bucovina") and Eleftheria Arvanitaki ("Den milo ghia mia nychta ego").