The Intermeccanica 356 is the company’s replica of the Porsche 356 Speedster, the model with which a Turin coachbuilder best known for the Apollo and the Italia turned into a maker of replica cars. The first one was built in 1976, a year after Intermeccanica had left Italy for California.
Intermeccanica 356 at a glance
| Maker | Intermeccanica (Intermeccanica International Inc. from 1982) |
|---|---|
| Type | replica of the Porsche 356 Speedster |
| First built | 1976, Santa Ana, California |
| Body | open two-seater |
| Original car | Porsche 356 Speedster of the 1950s |
| Company base | Vancouver, Canada, since 1982 |
| Related models | Roadster (1959 356 convertible), 1958 Speedster, turbo look versions |
| Other replicas | Checker Taxi (1979), Volkswagen Kübelwagen Type 82 |
| Company founded | Turin, 1959, by Frank and Paula Reisner |
| Current head | Henry Reisner |
Based on the English and Italian Wikipedia articles on the company; neither has a separate page on the 356 replica, so the article is shorter than usual and sticks to what those pages say about the model.
History of the Intermeccanica 356
A coachbuilder in search of a product
Intermeccanica was founded in Turin in 1959 by Frank and Paula Reisner, at first making tuning kits for Renault, Simca, Peugeot and DKW. A Formula Junior racing car with a Peugeot-based engine followed in 1960, then 21 aluminium-bodied coupés built around the Puch 500, one of which won its class at the Nürburgring. The company went on to build bodies for the Apollo GT, then the Italia grand tourer and the Opel-engined Indra. That Italian phase ended in 1974 when General Motors changed its policy and Intermeccanica lost its supply of Opel and Chevrolet parts.
Replicas from Santa Ana
The company moved to California in 1975, first to San Bernardino and then to Santa Ana, and began to build replica cars instead of its own designs. The Porsche 356 Speedster replica appeared in 1976: an open two-seater that reproduced the shape of the light 1950s Porsche, built by the same workshop that had once made Italian steel bodies. In 1979 a replica of the Checker Taxi followed, a very different kind of car that showed how far the company had moved from grand tourers.
From Santa Ana to Vancouver
The economic crisis in California at the end of the 1970s forced another move. Intermeccanica settled in Vancouver and took the name Intermeccanica International Inc., which it still uses. The 356 replicas continued there, and the range grew around them: the Roadster, a replica of the 1959 Porsche 356 convertible, the 1958 Speedster, and turbo look versions of both. In the mid-1990s the company added a replica of the wartime Volkswagen Kübelwagen, the Type 82. Frank Reisner died in 2001 and his son Henry, who had worked in the family business since his school years, became president.
Design and features
- Speedster shape: an open two-seater body modelled on the Porsche 356 Speedster of the 1950s.
- Hand-built: the cars are made in small numbers by Intermeccanica in Vancouver.
- Turbo look: a wider, more aggressive body option offered on the Roadster and Speedster replicas.
- Long production: the replica line begun in 1976 has been kept alive and updated instead of being replaced.
Intermeccanica 356 versions
- 356 Speedster replica: the original replica of 1976, still part of the range.
- 1958 Speedster: the later Speedster offered by the company.
- Turbo look versions: Roadster and Speedster bodies with wider turbo-style arches.
- Roadster: the related replica of the 1959 Porsche 356 convertible.
The 356 replica belongs to the same programme as the Intermeccanica Roadster, and the company’s Italian years are covered in the article on the Intermeccanica Italia. More cars are in the Intermeccanica collection.
Video: Intermeccanica 356 Speedster Drauz (Convertible D)
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Intermeccanica, English Wikipedia: replica programme, 1976 Speedster, Vancouver range
- Intermeccanica, Italian Wikipedia: move to California, company history, Frank and Henry Reisner
