If you have never heard of a vehicle made by Apollo, you are likely not the only one. Apollos were only in production from 1962 to 1965 and only made a total of 90 vehicles in their short history as an automaker. The Apollo 3500 GT Spider was a product of a young California Engineer by the name of Milt Brown. His goal was to create an American counterpart to European GT’s such as the Aston Martin DB4 and the Ferrari coupes made popular at the time.
The Apollo 3500 featured an Italian handmade aluminum body by Intermeccanica and had the option of being a two-seat convertible or a fastback. Power came from a 3.5 L V8 Buick engine paired with a 4-speed manual transmission. Coming in with a max power of 225 hp, Apollo claimed it could reach a top speed of 150 mph.
Made to be a very lightweight car, the rear-wheel drive Apollo GT Spider weighed in at 2,540 lbs. The base price at the time was only $6000.
Frank Reisner, a former chemical engineer born in Hungary, established a company producing car bodies that were painted and trimmed for the Apollo 3500. This same body was also used for the Texas-built Vetta Ventura, which was pretty much the same car with a different name.
International Motor Cars sold 42 Apollos until 1964, when production of the Apollo Spider had to stop due to a lack of financing. In a state of panic, IMC agreed to make a deal with Reisner to continue supplying the body and chassis to a company called Vanguard, who then marketed and sold the automobiles as the Vetta Ventura. Vanguard would only make 11 Ventura vehicles.
Another 20 Apollo GT Spiders were later made by Apollo International. As you can see, there were many different people who did not want the Apollo 3500 GT Spider to go extinct. Now, Worldwide Auctioneers has somehow found a pristine 1964 Apollo 3500 GT Spider and is being offered without a reserve price. One of only 90 vehicles in existence, you can be sure this one will get noticed.
Disclosure: Clicking on these links and making a purchase may earn us a small referral fee, at no extra cost to you. Learn more here.
