Intro: Intermeccanica came into existance in 1959 when a chemical engineer by the name of Frank Reisner founded Construzione Automobili Intermeccanica in Turin, Italy. Born in Hungary in 1932, Frank Reisner fled Budapest seven years later with his parents to Montreal, Canada.
After marrying in 1957, Frank and his wife Paula, both car fanatics, built and raced a sports car for a while before visiting Europe and deciding to move to Italy. Mr. Reisner designed racing chassis for Giannini Automobili SpA in Rome before settling in Turin. The first Intermeccanica products were, innocently enough, speed equipment kits and free-flow exhaust system for various automobiles. In 1960 things got more interesting when a Formula Junior racing car, one of the first rear-engined ones, with a highly-modified Peugeot motor was constructed. The same year a prototype of an aluminum two seater coupe called the IMP (short for Intermeccanica-Puch was developed.
Later various sportscars followed and in 1975 Frank developed what Intermeccanica would be most famous for, a replica of the Porsche Speedster. The fact that so many Speedsters, costing quite a bit at that, could be seen on the streets of California greatly influenced the decision.
Frank moved back to Canada in 1982 and the Roadster RS Porsche replica was the first product of Intermeccanica International Inc.
Currently Intermeccanica International offers a choice of the following high-quality hand-built vehicles: The Roadster 356 (RS), the very aesthetically authentic replica of the 1959 Porsche 356 A Convertible D, and the Roadster Turbo, which looks like a mixture of Porsche 356 and modern 911. Also, one VW Kubelwagen replica has been constructed and more should be coming this year.
|
