eBay Motors is really an amazing thing. Not only are there countless hidden treasures, but it can also be a source of automotive education. And as it turns out, we learned something new this week ourselves. For those who didn't know before, Intermeccanica is a small automaker originally founded in 1959 by Frank Reisner and was based in Torino, Italy. At first, the company made tuning kits, but shortly began doing modifications to Peugeot engines for racing purposes.
Their first car was the Apollo GT, built from 1961-63. By 1970, the company was producing the Italia Torino. Handcrafted and powered by the reliable Ford 351 Windsor V8, it had an in-house designed chassis and body and was composed of various parts coming from such familiar names as Ferrari, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, and of course, Ford. All told only 425 units were built. And now one of those is for sale on eBay. According to the dealership selling the car, it was originally sold to a vineyard owner in California back in 1970. Shortly thereafter, the car was moved to Santa Barbara, where it remained in a dry, rust-free environment.
In 1980, it was given a light cosmetic restoration that included an exterior paint touch-up job and a reupholstered interior, both of which were done in their original colors. It remained stored in a garage until 2004 when it was purchased by the current owner who went ahead with a more thorough restoration and a serious set of upgrades. He began by completely taking the car apart and having the engine rebuilt by a known expert. After adding many modern components, the engine was tuned to produce 440hp.
The cooling system has also been updated with a new oversized aluminum radiator and electric fan, both of which were custom designed specifically for the project. Also completed was an upgraded suspension with rebuilt original Bilstein shocks and four new springs. Overall, this Italia Torino is in fantastic condition with only a few very minor paint blemishes and a small tear on the driver's side sun visor. With just 54,429 miles on the odometer, it has a bid of $46,100 at the time of this writing.
The reserve hasn't been met yet, but this Italian-American beauty is something any collector and enthusiast would love to own. Photos courtesy of luxurybrokersinternational