1965 Apollo 5000GT Coupe

The Apollo 5000GT was a grand touring performance vehicle that had a factory-rated top speed of 150 MPH and could race from zero-to-sixty in just 6.8 seconds.

From 1962 through 1965, Apollo built 88 examples of their 5000GT. This was the final evolution of a merger between Italian styling with American drivetrain. The car was conceived by Milt Brown, a California-based engineer, who brother together seamless styling with impressive handling and performance. The body was designed by Ron Plescia, an Art Center School of Design graduate.

This car is powered by a Ford 260 cubic-inch V8 engine mated to a Borg-Warner T-10 4-speed manual transmission with a Hurst shifter and linkage. The chassis was built on a ladder-type frame with a welded-on-front cross-member directly sourced from a Buick Wagon which enabled the simple bolt-on of the entire front suspension. In the back is a live axle setup that was of four-link design and its triangulated setup was highly effective at taking both longitudinal and lateral axle loads. Carrozzeria Intermeccanica of Turin, Italy built the bodies and fitted the interior. They were then sent to Milt Brown's International Motors location in Oakland, California for final assembly.

This particular original example is fitted with English glove leather interior, wood steering wheel, Jaeger instrumentation, ArtiKar air conditioning, Bendix-Dunlop servo-assisted disc brakes, and Borrani wire wheels. This car spent many years stored in a garage. It is believed to be one of two Apollos featured in the 1969 Herbie movie 'The Love Bug'.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2016