This stunning Dual-Ghia Convertible was owned by Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner

Looking for a little convertible sportscar for summer? Yeah, there are the usual options – Mazda MX-5, Toyota MR2 or perhaps an MG TF if you’re really on a budget. There's also this.

This is a 1957 Dual-Ghia Convertible that was purchased new by Frank Sinatra’s production company. Sinatra then gifted the car to his ex-wife, the American actress Ava Gardner. And yes, it’ll cost a little more than a Miata. In fact, it’s up for sale through Daniel Schmitt & Co in St. Louis for $349,900. Yikes.

Quite the looker, though, isn’t it? The Dual-Ghia was the brainchild of Eugene Casaroll – the owner of the Dual Motors Corporation which specialised in building military vehicles and industrial generators. Naturally, Casaroll decided that his company’s next step should be to make a luxurious convertible land yacht, so he bought the rights to a Dodge Firearrow concept car and commissioned Carrozzeria Ghia to turn it into a proper production car.

The Dual-Ghia quickly became supremely popular with those in Hollywood, but despite aiming for a production run of 150 cars, only 117 were built before the plug was pulled. It probably didn’t help that it cost a bomb to produce, with the Dodge frame and 5.9-litre HEMI V8 being built in the US, before the whole thing was shipped over to Italy for Ghia to fit that wonderful tail finned body and the stunning interior. The cars were then sent back to the US for final assembly.

Daniel Schmitt & Co reckons that just 34 Dual-Ghia Convertibles still exist, with this particular car possibly being one of the very best after a recent restoration. It was also previously featured in the 1992 TV series Sinatra, and it was once on display in the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Perfect for this fine weather we’re having, no?