As the first day with Chrysler in bankruptcy dawns, let’s look at a mad car from an era when the automaker was set to conquer the very skies: the jet-powered Gilda coupé. There is something definitely wrong with the heat exchangers of Italian air conditioners. Granted, they have fans in them and machines with fans will never be silent but cooling a small building by Lake Como should not require a jet engine. There, I said it—and as if on cue, this orange-silver concoction from half a century ago rounds a bend and motorvates leisurely down a service road. The...