Ford Prima by Ghia

The dream of having a reconfigurable car on the market is one that many designers, engineers, and backyard hobbyists have attempted to popularize.

In my beloved reference book World Cars (1978), there's an entry for the Prima that says:

“On the chassis of the Ford Fiesta and in collaboration with the Ford Design Studio in Dearborn, Ghia has prepared this prototype, themost versatile of the ones built up to now and with the widest range of uses. The estate car illustrated above is one of the four different cars into which the Prima can be transformed in a few minutes”

Problem?

That's just about all the information I've been able to find on the concept. It was first shown in 1976, in Turin, later making its debut Stateside in 1978 at the Chicago Auto Show.

Since, a number of manufacturers have tried to introduce their own multi-functional vehicles, and I’ve already written about the Mercedes-Benz Vario, Mitsubishi ЯVR Open Gear, Škoda Felicia Fun, and others.

Let’s dig in.

How do you give customers a vehicle that can do multiple things?