1964 Triumph Italia 2000 Coupe

The Italia 2000 GT was the concept of Commendatore Salvador Ruffino, an Italian Triumph importer. He wanted to create a sports coupe with the proven reliability of British engineering and the design artistry of contemporary Italian coachbuilders. He hired Giovanni Michelotti to handle the design and arranged to have the cars built by Alfredo Vignale. Ruffino negotiated a handshake deal with Standard Triumph to produce 1,500 cars with hopes to deliver one to each Triumph showroom worldwide. The TR 3A chassis was selected and shipped to Vignale in Turin, and the Italia went into production in 1959. Initial sales were good, but Triumph entered some difficult financial times, and the Italia project was brought to a halt. The new management team viewed the Italia as competition for the soon-to-be-introduced TR 4 as well as their competition cars. Only 328 of the intended 1,500 units were built.

This 1964 Italia 2000 GT is one of the last of the 35 2000 GT cars believed to have been imported into the United States and underwent a full body-off restoration between 2010 and 2017. Car number 295 of 329 Italias bodied by Vignale sold for approximately $4,500 new in 1959, and it was originally equipped with Lay Cock de Normanville Overdrive. This car won a 'Gold Award' earning 399.5 of 400 points at the 2018 Vintage Triumph National in La Crosse, WI.