International Motor Cars Buick Apollo GT

Everybody wants to build their own sports car. Enzo Ferrari, Ferruccio Lamborghini, Donald Healey, Carroll Shelby, and a handful of others have succeeded, while thousands of others have failed to produce more than a handful of their ultimate dream ride. Many disappeared due to abysmal engineering, idiosyncratic styling, or temperamental mechanics. But while International Motor Cars built only 88 Apollo GTs from 1963 to 1964, it was poor financing that lead to its demise, not anything having to do with how the cars worked or looked. In fact, the Apollo GT was one of the finest and most striking GT cars of the 1960s. And, although it was intended to be sold in turnkey form, a number made it out the doors only partially completed. It was a rags-to-riches-to-rags story, one worth repeating to each new generation of would-be Enzos.

The guiding light behind the Apollo was engineer Milt Brown, who grew up as a car-crazy kid in California during the 1950s. He had a high-school friend named Ron Plescia who shared his affliction, and the two of them often schemed about building their own sports car. In the 1950s, Brown took a "car-guy vacation" to Europe to visit famous sports car factories and take in as many races as possible. After returning home, Brown embarked on his first manufacturing project, producing six of his Apache Formula Junior racing cars in 1960. These Fiat- and Peugeot-powered racers were very attractive, but in the rapidly evolving F-Jr class, they were soon outclassed (in 2004, one was lovingly restored and run in the prestigious Monaco vintage F-Jr race).

Brown returned to Europe in the early 1960s for his honeymoon and couldn't resist stopping by the Monaco Grand Prix, where he met Hungarian-born Frank Reisner. Reisner was born in 1932, and his parents had fled to Canada during WWII. He earned a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan before getting a job in the paint industry. When he took a vacation to Italy in 1958, he and his wife decided to put down roots and get involved in cars. Reisner's company, Carrozzeria Intermeccanica, built specialty cars in Turin, Italy. The low cost of labor, allied with a ready supply of skilled fabricators and bodymen, meant Reisner could build complete cars for much less than they could be made in America. There was no assembly line as such, only apparent chaos as a horde of bodymen hammered the steel body panels into shape over tree stumps with wooden mallets. Brown and Reisner made a deal, and Brown went to work on a design for his new car, which his wife suggested should be named Apollo for the Greek god of the sun. A new company, International Motor Cars, was set up in Oakland, California, to build and develop the new sports model.

Brown designed a simple steel ladder frame based on parts from the Buick Special. This compact sedan was GM's attempt at a smaller, lighter, more European-inspired econobox. Although the suspension was conventional Detroit practice with A-arms in front and a live axle in back, the new engine was a great design. It was a small (by Detroit standards), 3.5L (215 ci), all-aluminum V-8 with 190 hp. Coupled to a three- or four-speed manual transmission, it was a great choice for a sports car (Morgan, Triumph, MG, and Rover would later use versions of it). Brown's chassis used the Buick front suspension and, in back, a live axle with four locating links. A longer pitman arm was fitted to speed up the steering, along with softer springs and revised suspension geometry.

Brakes were Bendix power discs up front with Chevy drums in back. Dunlop wire wheels with knock-off hubs were standard but Borrani wire wheels were an exotic option. Brown picked up a used Buick with a toasted interior to serve as a donor car for the first chassis, which was constructed in the garage of new partner Ned Davis. The 4-inch-square steel framerails were joined by round Buick crossmembers that mounted the Buick suspension, with a sway bar added for flatter cornering.