The Intermeccanica Italia Spyder Is The Italian-American Grand Tourer That You've Never Head Of

Feb. 15, 2015 10:43 AM ET by Jacob Joseph Auctions / 46 Comments

But you can have one of your very own.

Buying an Italian exotic in the Sixties was an appealing but iffy prospect for Americans. Dealership networks weren't quite what they are today, and qualified mechanics were hard to come by, to say the least. So for a while there were several Italian carmakers that used American-sourced engines. Intermeccanica, along with the better-known Iso and De Tomaso, took this approach; and this car, the Italia Spyder, was first exported to the US in 1968.

The styling is fairly reminiscent of several Ferrari's of the era, and the company's logo is often referred to as a "prancing bull." But with the 250 horsepower Ford 301 V8 under the hood, the car went from 0 to 60 in 6.2 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph, damn good numbers for 1968. It wasn't a horrifyingly expensive car, about on par with buying a Corvette today, but it wasn't very well known and production was ridiculously slow, only about 400 examples were built from 1967 to 1973. The one you see here is going up for auction next month, and is an especially good example of the rare breed.

The Intermeccanica Italia Spyder Is The Italian-American Grand Tourer That You've Never Head Of

Join The Discussion

Gallery