1974 Intermeccanica Indra

Country of Manufacture: Italy
Year:              1974
Vin #:             11002525
Model Type:  2 Door Coupe
Body Designer: Franco Scaglione
Engine:           Shelby Ford 418 Cobra Jet (standard drivetrain was GM sourced)
Horsepower:  360 bhp at 5400 rpm
Torque:          420 lb. ft. at 3200 rpm
Transmission: Ford 4 speed gearbox
Suspension:  
Front- Independent, unequal length A arms, coil springs, Koni shock absorbers, anti-roll bar
Rear- de Dion, coil springs with Koni shock absorbers, anti-roll bar
Brakes:           Front- 11 inch ventilated discs, servo booster
                        Rear- 11 inch ventilated discs, servo booster
Top Speed:    165 mph

History:   The Intermeccanica company was founded by Frank Reisner, a Hungarian Canadian who ventured to Turin Italy after a brief period in Montreal where he built a VW powered Devin sports car. Intermeccanica’ s business was initially building speed parts for Fiats: carburetors, intake manifolds, camshafts & oil filters etc. Next up were a Formula Jnr race car and another highly successful race car, the Fiat based Imp. Expanding on the idea if building hybrid cars with custom Italian chassis & bodies powered by mainstream drivetrains, and targeted at the American market, resulted in the Apollo which, as various American partners filed bankruptcy, changed names to Griffith, Omega, Torino and finally Italia. These cars were variously powered by Oldsmobile alloy block V8’s initially, but Ford V8’s for most of the successive models. The final model for the then based Italian company was the Indra.  This car was the result of an informal “arm’s length” partnership with GM’s Opel of Germany. German race car driver and sportscar distributor, Eric Bitter was also heavily involved in fostering the relationship, as was Bob Lutz, then working for Opel. Unfortunately, without notice, GM decided to not sell its engines to Intermeccanica and prohibited its German subsidiary from selling parts. It was a devasting development and led to Reiner closing shop, moving to California and ultimately to Canada. Intermeccanica to this day continues to build replicas, primarily various Porsche 356 models.

This factory built Indra coupe is unique in that it has a Shelby tuned Ford 428 Cobra Jet motor and Ford 4 speed gearbox rather than the normal GM drivetrain

Production:   While questionable, formal reported production #’s are: 127 Indra’s of all types were built 1971-74. This comprised 27 fastback 2+2 coupes (this car), 40 notchback coupes and 60 convertibles,

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