Intermeccanica Italia
| Intermeccanica | |
|---|---|
 1972 Intermeccanica Italia Spyder
|
|
| Torino / Italia | |
| Production period: | 1968-1970 |
| Class : | Sports car |
| Body versions : | Coupé , convertible |
| Engines: |
Otto engine : 5.7 liters (228 kW) |
| Length: | 4521 mm |
| Width: | 1676 mm |
| Height: | 1270 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 2489 mm |
| Empty weight : | 1240 kg |
| Previous model | Apollo GT |
| successor | Intermeccanica Indra |
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The Intermeccanica Italia was a two-seater sports car from the Italian car manufacturer Costruzione Automobili Intermeccanica , which was offered as a coupé and a convertible between 1968 and 1970 . It was a so-called hybrid, i.e. a vehicle that combined a European body with American drive technology.
Development history
The Italia was the last link in a chain of sports cars that began in 1963 with the Apollo GT and had been sold successively by different manufacturers in the USA , each with its own name . Most recently, the car was called Omega GT. They had different drive units; What they had in common, however, was the bodies that were manufactured in Italy at Intermeccanica in Turin and connected to the chassis and engine in American workshops; Changes during the construction period were only minor. When in 1968 the last American manufacturer who had dealt with this project gave up the effort, Intermeccanica took over the rights to the design and in future produced the cars entirely itself.
The design of the body, on which the Italian designer Franco Scaglione had worked years earlier , remained largely unchanged. The main difference between the Italia and its immediate predecessor, the Omega GT, was the side air inlets in the front fenders. Intermeccanica also took over the drive concept from the Omega GT, using a 5.7 liter eight-cylinder from Ford , which developed 310 SAE hp and had a very high torque. This gave the light car exceptional elasticity. In 1970, Auto Motor und Sport determined in a test that the Intermeccanica covered the speed range from 22 km / h to 220 km / h in fourth gear.
production
Like its predecessors, the Intermeccanica was initially primarily intended for sale in the USA. Frank Reisner , the owner of the company, was able to win a dealer who undertook to sell around 100 vehicles per year on the American market. When it was first introduced, the car was presented as Intermeccanica Torino ; the name should be a reference to the city of the manufacturer. However, since Ford had protected this designation for a number of its own sedans , Intermeccanica had to rename the car after 97 copies had been produced. The car was now called Intermeccanica Italia. Another 411 vehicles were produced under this name.
In 1970, Intermeccanica began to offer the coupés and convertibles on the European market. Erich Bitter took over sales and a few years later he produced his own car with a very similar design, the Bitter CD.
literature
- Gericke´s 100: 100 years of sports cars. 1905–2005: One Hundred Years of Sports Cars in One Volume , Düsseldorf 2005. ISBN 3-938118-00-8 ; P. 265.
- Bella Italia : Driving report from Intermeccanica Italia in Motor Klassik 7/1998, p. 36 ff.
