by Wallace Wyss –
Through the years I’ve looked at thousands of pictures of Italian cars. Some images stuck in my head. Like the one-off Titania, not only the unusual name (Titanic? Named after titanium?) but because of the shape, I always thought it had been from the late ’50s but was shocked to find that not only was it ’66 but 3/4 of the car looks like the already existant Bizzarrini GT 5300 Strada (descended from the Iso Grifo A3/C). It also is said to be capitalizing off the design by Frank Costin of a car called the Amigo.
Another thing that surprises me is that the designer is named Franco Scaglione, a brilliant if mercurial designer of the times most famous for the BAT Alfas and the Alfa 33. I have read that this car had its debut at the 48th Turin Salon in 1966. They say it had a Ford Anglia 1500 cc 106E engine, a tiny engine for that long hood but it would still do 124 mph. With a V8 I am sure it would have topped 170 mph.
The car was built by Intermeccanica who also built the Apollo, a car contracted to Intemeccnica to build by a California car maker. After that came the Torino, the Italia and Indra.
So my questions are many but who can answer? Why would a brilliant designer copy so much of another company’s design (in the Iso Grifo A3/C ) so much? Why would they show it with a tiny engine? Where is the car now? Is the body titanium?
The only car I can compare it to is the Bizzarrini Europa with a similarly sized four cylinder engine and similar lines.
And so it is–a mystery wrapped up in an enigma. We can’t ask Scaglione–he died in 1993 after quitting the auto business in disgust. Can’t say it inspired the Iso Grifo A3/C–maybe it was the other way around?
Hey, life is full of mysteries…
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss is the author of 8 car histories.
Another mystery car is the Shelby Lone Star. I believe that there’s only one in existence. It’s a red one and it’s a mid-engined V-8. I’d love to see an article on this recently restored rare & priceless vehicle.
The very deep windscreen looks to be from the Italia
Taitania is a Russian girl’s name.
I enjoy your articles & more importantly (imo) the Historical perspective you bring; names, influences, behind the scenes “tid-bits” and all around knowledge that comes from Being There, Bravo. Looking forward to more, best in 2021.
Jack
Southampton, NY
titanio is Italian for titanium but Titania is spelled differently than your suggestion .. Still, I’d go with the Russian girl because it sounds so James Bondish to have a Russkie filly in the mix….
m guessing at the Italian but it sounds like there was going to be a choice of three types of body materials available including aluminum-magnesium and two others, one version an all out racing version at 800KG.
More info on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/146844439052764/search/?q=Titania%20Veltro%20.
Ora vi spiego una cosa che forse nessuno sa o ricorda. Titania è il nome di questa meraviglia….ma perchè? Non c’entra nulla il metallo o cose simili. Babbo scelse quel nome facendo riferimento al Teatro: Sogno di una notte di mezza estate di Shakespeare e Titania, era il nome della Regina delle Fate., la più bella di tutte.
Translated:
Now I’ll explain something that perhaps no one knows or remembers. Titania is the name of this wonder …. but why? Metal or anything like that has nothing to do with it. Santa chose that name by referring to the Theater: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare and Titania, was the name of the Queen of the Fairies., The most beautiful of all.
Wallace: I have a copy of Scaglione’s drawing of this car as part of the research I did for my book on the Apollo GT. It certainly is a wild design, and the car was nearly built by Fred Rickketts’ Vanguard Motors, a company that assembled overstock bodies of Apollo GTs as an attempt to keep Intermeccanica afloat while International Motor Cars (IMC) of Oakland CA sought new financing.
I must ask you, however, to rephrase your description of Intermeccanica’s involvement with the Apollo. It was the coachbuilder (just as Pininfarina is the coachbuilder to Ferrari). The Apollo was designed, styled, engineered by Milt Brown and Ron Plescia and assembled by IMC in the USA (and by its successor, Apollo International of Pasadena).
Intermeccanica built one car for the 1963 Turin show, but that is the extent of their involvement with complete cars. So, bodies were built for the Apollo GT by Intermeccanica. But it is NOT an Intermeccanica.
Robb Northrup
President
Apollo Owners Registry