When I first spotted this project car on eBay, I thought it was a genuine Intermeccanica Italia, a limited-production roadster that rarely appears for sale. However, upon reading the description more carefully, this is a custom replica of an Italia, albeit one that does a surprisingly decent job of copying an already obscure car. The seller claims this incomplete project is a far cheaper path to owning a desirable high-performance roadster that can trade hands in the six-figure range if in good shape. Check out this fiberglass replica here on eBay with an asking price of $14,950 or best offer.
Now, someone really wanted their own Intermeccanica. The seller notes that a custom jig was made and a full fiberglass mold taken of an original Italia to create the copy. However, there are some liberties taken here, such as with the side skirts and the clamshell-style hood. If those wheels look like they came off of Mustang Cobra, that’s because they did – and underneath, the replica uses Mustang II front suspension with a four-link rear end welded in. Say what you will, but someone put some sweat equity into this Intermeccanica copy to bring it to life. The side skirts don’t look right to me, but that’s a minor grievance.
The interior is incomplete, which likely represents a fairly significant chunk of time and money. I imagine if you choose to not raid a corporate parts bin of some kind, it will be incumbent upon you to figure out what will work from center consoles and dash panels, molds will have to be made, and then you’ll commence the wiring phase. It would appear some of that work has already begun, but it doesn’t look like the builder behind this project got very far. It’s nice to see a custom panel was in the works for the gauge cluster, but again, it will be up to the next owner to complete it.
Other areas of TBD projects, according to the seller, include “….fuel setup, interior, driveshaft, transmission, rear spring perches welded in, brake lines, front bumper area needs some work, gauges, exhaust, lots of finishing work, etc.” The title traces back to a 1968 Ford “two door”, which the seller believes once belonged to a Ford LTD. While prices for top-shelf Intermeccanicas are strong, I’m not sure there are enough people pining to own one that building a one-off replica makes much sense. Then again, the world of replicas and fiberglass sports car is vast and deep, and for the right price, I’m sure someone will figure out a way to finish this project to its full potential.
Those odd side skirts, which the original Italia didn’t have at all, might’ve been added if the body rides higher on its (Mustang II?) donor chassis than the original, or if the side rails/rockers of that chassis ran too wide to allow for the rolled-under sills like the original had, so the skirts bridge the gap and/or cover the donor car’s rocker panels. Looks like they were also planning to run side pipes through those coves in the skirts.
Why just one horrible engine photo? GLWS.
One of my bucket list cars, but I don’t see more than 2K for this shell, even the VIN plate appears to have been poorly restamped, better to let it finish its return to the soil!
“Easy” to finish says the seller. Ha!
It’s a bitsa, and the Viper inspired skirts are atrocious.
This guy is dreaming. Pie in the sky. Even if you were to assume that everything on the car is fine (and I’m not sure that it is), and you just need to pick up where they left off, that’s a lot of work left to do for a mediocre replica (I’m sorry, but you don’t have to look hard at the pictures of it and real Italias to see the differences).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it’ll be a cool car in the end, but it’s not even in the same ball game as the “$120K + Easy” cars it’s supposed to be emulating.
Very cool looking and a possible fun car to complete. Price is a little heavy to be in this state. If priced more reasonably and my current circumstances were different. I would love to complete this car. Good luck to both the buyer and seller.