The American Sports Car that nobody knew existed
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- Опубликовано: 30 авг 2023
- The Apollo GT was a handmade, Italian/American sports car made for 2 years, designed to be a middle ground between American reliability and power and European style and handling.
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The shape of the convertible fixed a lot of the strange imbalance around the rear windows, haunches and tail on the coupe. It’s an absolute stunner.
I bought one of these in Arizona at the Barret Jackson auction in 2004. It didn't sell when on the block and I recognised it as the Thorndyke Special from Herbie: The Love Bug. I went and found the owner and we struck a deal, and I immediately paid for it to be transported back to London. I think it was $17k or though it may have been the $ equivalent of £17k. It was the rarer 5 litre version. I went to the docks to collect it and drive it to the showroom where I worked, open minded, but not overburdened with high hopes. It was kind of wonderful. Torquey and easy to manipulate along the road. It had DTM style exhausts which made no sense and were terribly loud. Octane magazine borrowed it and did a cool article. We sold it to a German guy who flew over as soon as he saw the advert, paid the £35k asking, no quibble and that was the last I saw of it.
Wow sounds like it worked out well for you!
Would that specific 5.0 liter Apollo happen to be the Red one that made the cameo appearances
in "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo?"
Had the Side Pipes on it and a round patch panel on each side to cover over the
Holes cut into the body?
Nice return 💪
Wiki says.....
"A pair of Apollo 3500 GTs were used to portray the Thorndyke Special race car which was featured in The Love Bug, a 1968 Disney movie. One of the pair has been fully restored.[5][6]"
@@lancerevell5979
Yes. One of them is now up here in Canada out in Ontario.
That one was the one that slid down the hill backwards and into the Pond, in the Film.
The rear Quarters were rotted and nearly non-existent up to the rear bumper when they originally found it.
All the water damage on that Italian Body was Savage.
I grew up in San Mateo CA and my father had an investment company and brought home a red one of these for the weekend on loan as incentive to invest in the car.
I was 8 or 10 and immediately fell in love with it, especially after he took me for a ride in it.
I assume they didn’t invest in it because he never really spoke of it after that.
I was lucky to get a ride 😁
The Thorndyke special is an Apollo GT?! Wonderful! I have watched this movie ever since was a kid, and I never figured out what that car was, until now. I thought it was a Jaguar, too!
Some of the interior shots in the movie were inside an E-Type. The Apollo was actually too valuable at that time to cut up for filming. Possibly the same beat-up Jag that replaced Jim's Lamborghini LM after Herbie smashed it to a pulp.
@@Monacomaverick Thanks! That's nice to know.😄
Everyone I knew who owned British cars, except my sister, learned to do their own maintenance and work, because no local mechanics knew how.
Nearly as bad as Italian cars.
That little aluminum Buick 215ci V8 was popular in a lot of these independent cars. It later morphed into the Rover V8 motor.
I know that the way you describe the production of body panels hammering them on molds was a very common practice back when there were hand built car bodies. I was a very average body repair man, but my Dad who has passed away a few months ago used to learn and work in a body shop where they were building cars from scratch.
That was in Switzerland and many great cars were built in Switzerland: Graber, Carrosserie Worblaufen, Beutler, Ghia Aigle were known car building companies. Those cars were as famous as those built in Italy at that time.
I would say then term you are dancing around regarding hand building cars is "Coachbuilders" or Coachbuilding".
@@dongarnier5890 I am German speaking and we call that profession "Carrosseriebauer". I think that term is describing the profession more accurately than the English term. I bet you would have "danced around that term" as well if you would have had to find the German term.
@@dongarnier5890 ¨than¨
The Apollo is stunning that’s for sure! And now I need to rewatch The Love Bug. Excellent video!
I think these guys were on target in every aspect but the one that would have given them the time needed to iron it all out and establish the reputation that these beauties deserved - and of course, it always comes down to financing. Kind of like the music industry back in the day, where a promising group would be signed, given a producer, and then subsequently supported through their first 2 or 3 "sophomore" album releases until they had defined just what their sound was going be, and with proper promotion if things worked out the world would sit up and take notice.
For the price these cars sold for, they were expensive but not excessively so, and lord knows those who could afford them are likely very happy campers today.
I look at these and it seems so clear that the whole venture was very much a labor of love. And that part of the story is my favorite.
Really hits home that this was over half a century ago to hear Ford mentioned in the same sentence as "reliability".
Ouch...Found On Road Dead
This channel is just getting better and better
I was senior in HS 67-8. A classmate rebuilt one he bought wrecked (!?!). Yeah, sure... what everyone did (not) I already knew a bit about them due to Road & Track mag. It had primer...never saw when he finished (graduation, etc). I had a 64 MGB and it broke down as if on schedule.
Just like your friend I bought a wrecked Apollo GT few years back I'm trying to do the same thing with 2 cars
Great! maybe make a youtube vid (no big production) just showing what you did/will do and finished product. Love it!@@63GTDriver
Right on schedule, lol.😂
I had a very interesting encounter on a car meet with classic Alfa Romeos. I met two guys who arrived with a 1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Spider. I was there with my graduate 67 Spider.
We discussed Sixties GTs and sports cars. When I mentionned the Iso Grifo one of the guys showed me a pictures of his early Iso Grifo. Then he showed me a very spiecial car he owned. He said you will not know that one. I said right away: This is an Apollo. This guy never expected that I might recognize the car. No one else ever did. Actually I did not know it neighter before Jay Leno showed one on his channel.
Wow a car as beautiful as the E type i must check their price in the US at the time.I was born a few miles from the Lotus factory in 1956 so I grew up in the glory days of sports cars and drove only MGs Spitfires and an X19 until I reached 40 .And although this car would have been above my price range It is tragic it did not have the success it deserved.Thank you for bringing it to my attention .
That blue convertible is absolutely stunning!
Oh "stunned". Right. Just "stunned"... I'm so "stunned"...
@@daryllect6659 Like i got hit in the head with a cartoon hammer🤣Nice Blazer! Looks sweet.
But it's long been established that red makes any car or motorcycle go faster! 😂
@@lancerevell5979 I don't know about motorcycles, but it's a fact that red cars get more tickets.
8:50 It sounds a bit like they built a TVR, before TVR in a way! Exactly the same 3.5L Buick alloy-block V8 too (though I guess Rover modified it over the years).
They did. As built by racers and hot rodders in the states, they often displaced about 305 cid, close to 3.5 liters.
@4:11 I noticed Australian vehicles driving down the LEFT side of the road as you discuss the European experience of Brown!
I love this channel. Totally awesome.
Great presentation! Thanks, Rob
First time seeing your channel, this is the type of car stuff I live for, sub and you're definitely on my radar now. Keep up the great work 💪
What's not to love? Absolutely gorgeous! Thank you for this video.
Awesome video! Subscribed and excited for more, keep up the great work!
Weird. I thought I had posted a comment before. There was a follow up, IMC licensed the design and let Intermeccanica sell bodies and frames to a company here in Dallas, TX called Vanguard. They bought enough for 22, assembled 11, including a Pontiac powered one, and then the shop foreman bought the remaining 11 and finished those out. It was called the Vetta Ventura. I visited the old "factory" not too long ago and then contacted some of the guys who built them on the Dallas History Guild group on the Book of Faces, who passed along a few newspaper clippings.
Where was the factory in Dallas? I know where the head office was
@@tetchuma I'm pretty sure it was that same building on 2224 Commerce Street. The interior photos look like they were taken on the right hand side.
@@tetchuma BTW, nice avatar. I used to build parts for Specialty Auto out in Forney before he passed. I still miss talking to him. He'd drive up in his own Delorean to pick up parts.
@@sabinespeed4146
2224 Commerce?
Vetta was located at 2227 Irving Blvd.
Or was that just their head office?
All the Vetta literature says Irving Blvd
"Vetta Ventura"? Funny how "Apollo" and "Ventura" were the names eventually given to Buick and Pontiac's version of the Nova.
What a shame that the low price really was its undoing. It deserved to succeed. Thanks for making this video.
When dealing with rich people, they really get off on having something that you can't afford. They also really get off if you don't have enough to get by, if you happen to work for them, like the Walton family who owns Walmart. It doesn't matter if the products they buy are good, case in point the new Bugatti's...
I wouldn't call $6,000 in 1962 "low". More expensive than a Corvette by far.
Just discovered your channel, I really like your presentation style, it’s like watching a university lecture on cars
Panhard has an interesting history as pioneers in the auto industry and also as great innovators.
I'm quite surprised that the builder chose to go with a metal body instead of fiberglass as the Vette used. Admittedly, steel made for a much prettier body.
It's a nice looking car, except for one thing. There is a mismatch between the rear wing and the door. The waistline suddenly droops there. Otherwise it is gorgeous.
Seeing that cover of Sports Car Graphic brought back memories. That was my favorite car magazine in the late 1960s. A good blend of car reviews and racing coverage.
Neat to see this video, as I just saw one at a Cars & Coffee in Vail just this past weekend. A lovely looking car. This one in particular had been shown at Pebble Beach.
Thanks for an excellent production 👏👏
Im a car enthusiast and can't seem to recall it.
But then, when you detailed it's Motion Picture appearance in The Love Bug, it suddenly dawned on me 😮
Such a shame it never caught on and faded into history.
Such a Beauty 😍
New subscriber here. Just found your channel and enjoyed the amazing story of this particular car, great job! 🙂👍
Raised in East Texas, I was about 11 years old when I happened to see a Sunday edition of the Dallas Morning News with a picture of a cool car and the headline "Beep Beep Detroit, Dallas is in the Passing Lane." It was the Texas version of the story of the Vetta Ventura. Been curious about them ever since.
I'm happy the algorithm bring me to this small (for now) channel!
Not me who just recorded a video on this exact car who now has to release it in 6 months LOL, fair play beating me to it.
Damn, sorry! You should still release it!
Nah no worries! No point in having our videos take views away from each other by releasing at the same time. Sick car though, always loved these!@@bartscarstories
@@rarecars3336 Well that's considerate of you! lol I don't pay attention to other people much so don't hate me if I end up making something similar to you. I'll check out your channel! and yeah its a very cool car.
Haha no hatred here lol just really wild timing!@@bartscarstories
You should still release it, These stars don't get enough press.
There was no V8 powered AC Ace the Ace was powered by a Bristol straight 6 derived from a pre-war BMW. LW@automotive historical services.
Ah you are correct, thanks!!
Yeah, I did a double-take when he said that. WHAT?
The Bristol 6 was a pre-war engine designed by BMW for the BMW 328. Bristol stopped building the outdated engine,, which caused AC to go with a Ford V6. AC also built a few with Ford V6's, but Ford stopped building/selling them. That is why Shelby was able to get AC interested in the Cobra.
I'm from NY, and I remember these coming out when I was a kid. So they were mentioned, maybe even featured, in a mainstream magazine like Car and Driver, or Road and Track. Too bad they didn't stick with the 215, considering what Repco and McLaren were able to do with them. I thought the small, aluminum, American V8 was brilliant, and I was shocked when GM sold the rights, which they regretted later. Great video!
Is this the brick v8 that was licensed to Rover in the UK?
@@markwoodger2 Not sure why you call it a brick, but yes it is the engine licensed to Rover. In an era when a powerful V8 got perhaps 0.8 hp per cubic inch, these little Buick engines delivered more like 1.1 hp per cubic inch. They were good performing engines (as long as you kept water and oil in them) but were small by American standards. In the sixties and seventies, cubic inches was the answer to any performance question.
@@markwoodger2 Yes, that aluminum V8 was sold to Rover and became the Rover V8.
Buick also made a V6 based off of that V8. They sold it to Kaiser-Jeep and later bought it back from them. It became the ubiquitous GM 3800 V6.
@markwoodger2 Brick? Whoever owned Rover at the time, yeah. They actually bought the entire rights. Then GM asked to buy them back. No dice! The Oldsmobile version was used in the first McLarens, before the big block Chevy. Lots of people had put them in MGs, long before MG did. Healys, Triumphs, and others too. They still do.
I think "brick" is an auto-corrected misspelling of Buick.
Used to see one in commute traffic in San Francisco in the late 70s. Very good looking car.
Was it black?
@@63GTDriver It was red. Would see it on 101 near Sausalito
I've heard of the Apollo but I never really knew anything about them. Thanks for such an enlightening lesson with great footage of the cars.
Amazing! I had no idea, thank you for this nugget. Beautiful car. They beat GM and SHELBY to the American exotic sportscar formula! Corvettes were just then getting fast. Finally.
Beautiful car, great video.
Excellent stuff bro
YA GOTTA LOVE THAT OLD STYLING OF SPORTS CARS BACK WHEN , that would ve made a great option for anyone to own even a collector today !! AND I HAD NO IDEA THIS WAS THE CAR IN HERBIE I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS A JAG ETYPE
These were introduced about the time I was born, but I've always been interested. Seems every time I get ready to buy an obscure, unknown supercar or high-performance homologation, the rest of the world discovers them and the prices skyrocket.
Dual Ghia, AC Cobra MkII, Allard, Kurtis/Muntz, Iso, Devin, Griffith, Apollo, Monteverdi, Ferraris running Chevy drivetrains, etc. Would love to have just one. Any one.
I think that is my father, Marshall Green in 1951 racing the MG TD with the checkered flag!
A sweet car I had never heard of. Thanks.
that was very entertaining! thank you :)
At 4:31, while you're talking about that dude making his way to Europe, I'm pretty sure you've used footage of Australia, given that there's a Holden parked at the side of the road.
This video was well made as well as the Apollo. I Wanted to fast forward on it d/t time restraints but, I couldn't They kept it interesting
Kinda like a Jaguar, Corvette, Porsche and Camaro all in one. Beautiful.
Great piece. It would be interesting to see who has the dream of building their own car in the 21st century.
Mate Rimac
Great video! And, what a beautiful car.
Owned a 1967 MG Midget and later a 1974 TR6. Enjoyed them both. Later came the Miata and eventually a BMW 645i. Top down driving is the most fun.
Don Miller purchased a red one when he signed with the Dodgers. There was a group of guys who met at Lake Merritt in Oakland on Sundays for get togethers. Great post, should have got mine just because car was made in Oakland.
I didn’t know that much about them but now I know they are a beautiful car I would love to have
The author of this book and a link to buy it are on Jay Leno’s garage RUclips Chanel along with this car. Also this car I believe was in the Herbie movie. The first herbie disney movie.
Currently that video doesn't actually have a link and if you go to the apollogtbook site to buy it you can't because its not in print
Very cool video about a beautiful car i never knew about.
completely fascinating and well put together, as for the car - beautiful, what a good try, it was well worth it.
I've never cared for this body style from this period. The Jags and Ferrarris of the 60s (and the Apollos) just look like incomplete thoughts to me. That black convertible Apollo, however, is gorgeous. Fixes all the line and flow issues in the back end.
That Buick 215 engine went on to become the Rover 3500cc engine which found its way into the MGB in 1973, the Morgan V8, early Range Rovers and many other European cars.
Don’t forget about the 1954 Kaiser Darien it was a little too late for the company to keep it going but it turned out to be a great car with the sliding doors that slid up into the front fender
Splendid video.
I use to see these on the streets of CLifornia in the late 60’s and early 70’s, I have always thought they were coll looking.
Rear is an E type.split fenders.
The Love Bug!! I’ve always wondered what that car was, very cool to know!!!👍🏻👍🏻
Rob Northrop ... what a "suprise" :D .... thats like Willy Messerschmitt and his Kabinenroller in Germany ...but that one was a compact tiny thing , not a sportscar .
Thanks Bart
Nice ride!
$6000 in 1962 needs to be in more perspective, than as $60,000 today. It was about $1500 higher than a Corvette, or rather Corvette was 3/4 the price of an Apollo. Today, that would price the car over $100,000, not $60,000.
Sports cars are an interesting market. Unlike many car buyers of today, who will simply buy what they perceive as a good deal, people were more marque-oriented, especially with sports cars. As the Apollo GT didn't have a marque yet, it was a gamble. So they had to attract those simply wanting a fancy, higher-end sports car, and those people were already captured by Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, and Jaguar.
The Buick 215 hurt, as it went out of production after 1963. This meant a re-engineering of the car, as the weight of the iron block Buick 300 would change much about the car. It wasn't simply installing a new mounting system.
What might have saved them was approaching Buick early on, and partnering with them on the car. This would have given them a dealership network and the potential for more financial support.
I never knew what an Apollo was, until I saw the very first red model, in the story. And then I said, out loud "" THE THORNDIKE SPECIAL!! " Herbie, the love bug! As a kid, I just thought" Race Car ". But, later on, as a young adult, what is that?!? It's neat, what ever, it is. To this day, Herbie,... has to be, one of the top auto race movies, of all time! Does anybody remember the cars, portrait, in that movie? Sure, it was Disney, but the cars! I'm in my middle 60's, and I can watch today!! : ()
history of the whole company and every gearhead that worked there, just the caaaar duuuude
Amazing for the 60's.
I remember seeing one of these as a kid in a parking lot.
A very cool car❗️
🚗🙂
4:10 "Brown traveled to Europe" - showing pictures of Melbourne, Australia.
Yeah, the old VC Valiant and HR Holden there.
As a Brit, this was totally new to me and it looks wonderful! What a shame it didn't get the support it deserved, both from relatively weak publicity and, I suspect, an unsupportive response from Buick. Thank you for bringing it to the attention of this 81 y/o petrolhead!
Very interesting car.
Back when I was dealing with GT sixes and spitfires one of the running jokes was, do you know why the British drink warm beer! Lucas makes refrigerators too.
Beautiful car, even by todays standards.
Now I finally know what that Thorndike Special was!!!!! ThankYou😅
Nice street scene from Australia @ 4m:06s.
there was a Buick model called the Apollo for 3 model years in the 1970s on the same chassis as the Skylark and later somerset
I owned a Buick with that engine, mine was quick and reliable
The Apollo looked like a Ferrarguar. They built a car they can be proud of, though.
The Car is reminiscent of a Jag E type, an Iso Rivolta and a Datsun 240 Z ... before any of them looked like that so, I have a question... where did their inspiration truly come from ?? probably these 3 Legends.
I do like the design of the Apollo GT pleasing yo the eye l got one small criticism is that you showed some stock footage which was supposed to be England or Europe infact it was Australia
Milt and Ron were my dad's buddies. Used to ride around in Milt's Apollo when I was a kid.
2:43 That lady looks like she's hiding the car after a bank heist with how fast she pulls it in the garage. 🤣
I know Bob, he was the shop manager at Specialties Auto in St. George Utah, he and I got to be friend. Great guy.
The Buick 215 motor ended up as the rover 3.5 engine used in many British cars.
It reminds me of the tale of the Monica. So much effort made with so little capital to make a car for a niche that wasn't there.
Now you know where Datsun got their idea for the 240Z!!
I was telling myself the same thing...
The Z was a mix of designs including Ferrari GTO and the the Jag XKE but mostly the Toyota 2000Gt
@@k3corvette35the japs are known for copying other countries ideas
I'd say the Z was a scaled down Ferrari 365 GT 2+2. Google up some pics and you'll see..
XKE mostly. Even the front suspension was improved from earlier jaguar style dual wishbone designs. The Japanese just did it ALL in a better and lighter fashion.
Now I know where my Mazda Miata NA's smile came from.
Thank you for this video! I recall reading a very funny article (maybe in Road & Track?) about showing the Apollo at the New York International Auto Show. Perhaps you can locate the article. The one thing I seem to remember: people were baffled trying to identify the car. Even the name Apollo wasn’t as widely known because it predated the NASA Apollo space program. One curious onlooker called it an “Apple-O”.
"The Apollo GT Was an American Ferrari You Never Heard Of"
- Doug DeMuro
The bodies were hammered out in italy, then sent to America where the buick V8 and running gear was installed. Gorgeous car, no matter the brand,
I knew it existed. I had a subscription to Road & Track.
what a beautiful convertible
It is, better than the fastback.
It's the face of the animated car in the original Techron commercial!
88 Total Cars. 55 are left? All beauties.
I woulda liked one.
A guy I knew had a dead one of these sitting in his back yard for years. He sold it, then found out it was serial #1 - oh well. It was dark blue as I recall.