From the VTR website (www.vtr.org): The Italia 2000 GT (to call it by its full name) was produced over the period 1959 to 1963. Produced is a relative term when it comes to Italias, since something less than 300 were ever made. "Serious" marketing efforts in the U.S. included each original owner having to sign a contract that included among its clauses the fact that no body panels or trim pieces were available as spares! Couple that fact with the $5000 list price, which was perilously close to that of an E-type Jag or fuelie Corvette, and you can imagine that the average U.S. sports car buyer didn't exactly beat down the doors to purchase one. Some cars sat on dealer's lots for over two years before being discounted and eventually purchased. Italias were produced by a combination of Standard-Triumph (rolling, engined chassis and components), and Vignale (body manufacture). The Italia was produced with the blessing of Standard-Triumph, but was not an official Triumph model.

From the VTR website Italia history, originally authored by Jamie Palmer (me): To begin, let me explain that almost all Italia history is open to conjecture, and while doing research for this page, I have found that many sources contridict each other...so take all of this with a grain of salt.

The Italia was introduced at the Turin Auto Show in 1958. Its similar styling to the TR-S Le Mans cars is quite evident; both came from the pen of Giovanni Michelotti at about the same time. It is believed that the car was built with the hopes of interesting Standard-Triumph in producing the car. There has been much speculation over the years that the factory considered producing the model with an aluminum body and the TR-S "Sabrina" twin-cam engine, however, no proof of this rumor has surfaced. Standard-Triumph did obtain one of the first Italias built for evaluation purposes, and copies exist of a document where a Mr. R. Smith of the "Research and Experimental Department" tested TS51639LCO on the M.I.R.A. track on Feburary 17, 1960. It is worth noting that even though the car had only 1200 miles on it, it achieved a corrected lap speed of 109.3 MPH in overdrive, and it is noted on the document that "one other T.R. only has lapped at a speed exceeding 109 MPH."

As Triumph struggled through its labor troubles, Ruffino S.p.A., the Italian Triumph import agent at the time, decided to put the car into production, but with a steel body and a relatively standard TR-3A chassis. There were many detail changes as time went on. The biggest change occured between the first and second cars produced; the first prototype had a "droop" nose, glass-covered headlamps, and many other unusual features. By the time the car re-appeared at the next Turin show, a fairly "standard" specification had been worked out. Build dates of these chassis show that they began around July 1959, and ran through mid-1962.

It appears that Standard-Triumph lost interest shortly after testing the Italia, probably due to no fault of the car's, but more likely because it would provide competition for the soon-to-be-introduced TR-4. Consequently, it is alleged that S-T reneged on some of their agreements with Dr. Ruffino, and that production, distribution, and ultimately the car itself were damaged by this.

Thanks to some research done in the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Museum archives, it has been determined that a total of 297 TR-3A and 3B chassis were shipped to Italy to be built into Italias, although it is not clear whether all were used or not. The highest serial number I am aware of at this time is #329 (Italias received their own, small Vignale # plate as well as the original TR-3A/B commission plate), although higher numbers have been rumored over the years. Only the last cars, commission numbers TSF501 to TSF530 were built on the TR-3B chassis. It appears all of these cars came to the US, and were sold mainly in Florida. Most of the early US cars were sold through Stutz Plaisted Imports in Salem, Massachusetts.