Intermeccanica Italia Spyder

Does the car brand Intermeccanica mean anything to you? Older readers might know it. The history of the brand dates back to 1959, when Ferenc Alfred ‘Frank’ Reisner, a native Hungarian, founded the ‘North-East Engineering Company’ in Turin with his wife Paula. Soon he renamed it into ‘Costruzione Automobili Intermeccanica’. Initially, under his management, tuning kits for various vehicles from Puch were produced under the sales name IMP (Intermeccanica Puch). Soon the company began to develop independent cars in hybrid concept for small-series manufacturers, meaning the use of proven drive technology from the USA in combination with European-designed bodies. One example of such a development is the Apollo GT, for which Intermeccanica built the chassis, bodies and interiors between 1962 and 1964, then completed the drive technology at Carbondio in Turin and then shipped to the USA for International Motorcars (IMC). From 1964 the car ran as the Vetta Ventura and in 1965 it became the Apollo again. For Griffith Motors a 2+2 seater version was finally developed, which eventually became the Omega GT.

After this incredible back and forth between various American companies, Frank Reisner decided to produce his own sports car on the same basis to which he acquired the rights and which he originally presented as the Intermeccanica Torino. However, there was soon an official complaint from Ford, who had been using this model name for years. This led to the renaming to Italia after 97 produced cars. Under the bonnet of the sports car, which was once drawn by Franco Scaglione and was subsequently modified several times by Reisner and his team, a 5.7-liter V8 engine from Ford with 310 SAE-hp worked as before in the Omega GT. This high-torque engine matched Reisner’s claim to offer the Italia mainly in the USA. In fact, most of the 411 units built between 1968 and 1970 originally went there, but are now found all over the world. In Germany Erich Bitter took over the distribution, but was soon so apalled by the extremely poor manufacturing quality that he marketed the jointly planned successor model Indra after a few years on his own and with various detail and design improvements as the Bitter CD.

Due to the current Corona pandemic, live auctions can’t take place and the classic car show Techno Classica in Essen will be cancelled this year without replacement, the auction house RM Sotheby’s moved the planned auction there to their own website. Among various other vehicles, the Essen auction would have offered ‘La Collection Petitjean’, which includes an Intermeccanica Italia Spyder from 1970. This black painted sports car with red leather interior was originally sold to a first owner in Los Angeles. Today the car is in good condition, but not in running order, as the cars of the ‘La Collection Petitjean’ were exhibited unmoved for many years. An extensive technical inspection is therefore advisable, as well as a careful visual refreshment of minor quirks. As estimate, RM Sotheby’s set a range between 90,000 and 110,000 € for the online auction, which will end tomorrow. Since there is no reserve on this lot, the highest bidder automatically wins.

Images: RM Sotheby’s, Dirk de Jager