With some cars, you have to act quickly when one comes on the market. Recently we helped a friend with the purchase of a 1907 Itala 35/45hp when this came up for sale. The well-known Itala has been driven a lot by the former owner and we hope the new owner will continue to use it a lot. He has already planned a trip with the car to Italy so that will be great fun and something to look forward to. The car is impressive any way you look at it. Not only is it reliable and strong (with its 7,5l engine) but most parts on the car seems to be original. However, not all history its known yet and we are hoping to find out more.
The History
Much is known about the last 70 years but the first years of the car are still a blank and we are looking for more information on the Itala with chassis number 656. What we know is that the car had been found in a field in Abingdon around 1950 by Group Captain Rexford. He was participating in a night rally with his Lagonda and had a quick stop whereby his eye fell on the glass of a headlamp in the yard. The car seems to have been parked for some while in this field of J. Lloyd’s yard and Rexford waited the rest of the night for the farmer to wake. He then quickly made a deal whereby he became the new owner of an Edwardian Itala.
When he found the car, the Itala had a Landaulette body. He worked for two days to get the car ready to get it back home. He removed the body and fitted new tires. As can be seen in the photos, the car had become badly weathered through the years but all essential parts were there. At that time, the car had the registration number LX 7314 or LX 7014 (see photos). When the car was ready to move, Rex towed the Itala back to London behind his Lagonda and the restoration started.
The original chassis, engine, gearbox and axels were all restored and a new body was made. It became a four-seater, open tourer style of body. First it was what looks to be dark green in colour and later it became red. The Itala got the registration number LW 9720 and was first seen in public in 1956.
Rexford participated in many events with the Itala and the car proved to be very reliable.
When renowned Bentley restorer David Ayre planned to participate in the 2007 Peking-Paris rally, he asked long-time family friend Rexford if he could take over the mighty Itala which he succeeded in doing. He started to restore the car over again to make it completely ready for the deserts of Mongolia and the other challenges down the road. The car then got its current body which was a copy of the famous Borghese car, that participated in the original 1907 race and now is housed in the Biscaretti collection in Turin. The Itala got license number UG-5. The car has now done the Peking to Paris rally twice, driven through Africa, seen all the routes in Europe including the infamous Via Flaminia rally and has driven through South and North America and the Far East. It has even won a prize at Pebble Beach.
The history since the fifties is well known (even though we have a limited number of pictures) but we hope someone can help us further with the early history, how it came out of the factory, where it was built and who the first owners were. Please share the information / pictures in a comment below. Or send an e-mail to office@prewarcar.com. Thank you very much in advance.
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