It's unreal how many Apollos I've seen in San Diego.
Showing posts with label Apollo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apollo. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Tuesday, May 05, 2015
one of only 77 Apollo 3500 GT made, I've never even seen one before
Built at Intermeccanica in Italy for International Motors in Oakland, CA. The company was started by three fresh-out-of-college kids, who were able to convince General Motors to sell them Buick Skylark rolling chassis (try that today!), which were then modified and sent to Italy for the bodywork.
The body sits on ladder frame construction, paired with a 215 cubic inch aluminum Buick V8 engine, and finally married to the suspension setup found in the 1961 Buick Special, utilizing a four-link trailing arm suspension, with coil springs, on a live axle.
The 3.5 Liter Buick engines were mated to the super smooth Borg Warner T-10 four speed gearbox to deliver sports car performance, after being tweaked to a then-considerable 225 hp.
The company had no money for marketing and only a single dealer in Northern California. The cars, however, were actually pretty good, being favorably compared to Aston Martins and Ferraris in contemporary road tests. The company’s 15 minutes of fame occurred when a yellow Apollo was chosen as the “bad guy’s” race car in the original Herbie, The Love Bug movie.
EXCEPT, there were reported to have been seven cars that were sold off the boat directly and completed by their owners. This occurred when the company ran short of cash and needed a quick infusion. All except one of these cars were completed (five got small-block Chevy motors, one got a small-block Ford) and put on the road after being purchased. This is that car. It was reportedly sold to a sailor in the Merchant Marine, who trailered it to a small shed in a large industrial park outside of San Francisco. He started to disassemble the car in preparation to install the drivetrain, cooling system, steering, wiring harness, etc., when he apparently got a call to duty. He locked the shed and sailed off, never to be heard from again. The car remained in the locked shed where it stayed, without drivetrain, etc, from 1964 until 2004, when the industrial park came under new management. The new management company conducted an inventory, at which time the small shed was determined to have been abandoned and the lock was cut off the door. The Apollo was discovered sitting on jack stands, wheels in the corner and windows rolled up. The paint had suffered damage from the chemicals in the surrounding air, but the entire car was was just as it was left in 1964. The management company took possession of the car in payment for past rent on the building.
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2012/05/09/hemmings-find-of-the-day-1964-apollo-5000gt/
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Vetta Ventura brochure and owner's manual. Only 19 produced








After the production of the Apollo, Intermeccanica then supplied the bodies to a firm in Texas, which used them to make a car called the Vetta Ventura.Production of the Apollo was resumed in 1964 but this venture was dead by the following year. In all 88 Apollos were made, together with 19 Vetta Venturas, and is considered a "Texas Apollo". This car is not to be confused with the Warrior, made about the same time, in the same city, by a company with a similar name. 19 vehicles were produced.
One finally showed up online http://barnfinds.com/ferrari-275-fighter-1967-vetta-ventura/
another on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222754969083036&set=a.1617402035143
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