By Dean Larson

Photos: Seller, BringaTrailer.com

While largely known for their Porsche 356 replica cars, New Westminster, Canada, based Intermeccanica has built many unique cars over the years. From the stylish Apollo GT and muscular Italia, to the quirky Indra and Kübelwagen, Intermeccanica is somewhat of a well-kept secret in the collector car world.

One of the company’s lesser-known creations is the Squire SS100, a small Jaguar SS100 recreation produced for the U.S. market. The 50-car run was commissioned by Auto Sport Importers, Inc. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and built by Intermeccanica between 1970 and ’75. The car was built with a ladder-type frame utilizing Ford suspension front and rear, along with a 250 ci Ford straight-six.

And while the darling little Squire isn’t quite as collectible as Intermeccanica’s other models, the value of these replica roadsters may have snuck up on you. Take this ’72 model for instance, which sold on BringaTrailer.com earlier this year for $17,000. Similar cars can be found with asking prices between $16,000 and $19,000, suggesting the Squire’s status is a cut above your average roadster of its type.

This 1973 model is currently up for auction on BringaTrailer.com, and could be a nice opportunity to invest in an affordable Intermeccanica. The car is in overall presentable condition and boasts some recent updates and mechanical upgrades.

Most importantly, the car’s factory torsion-bar suspension up front has been tossed out and replaced with modern coilover shocks. It’s up to the market to decide on how important originality is here, but I wouldn’t count on it detracting much from the car’s value — providing the conversion has been done well. The seller also reports that the carburetor has been rebuilt, along with servicing of the ignition system.

There are a couple things that will likely bring the hammer price down a bit on this car though. For one, it’s a C3 automatic, which likely gives up a bit to the four-speed cars. Also, the car could use a bit of reconditioning in the interior and engine bay, along with a tear in the convertible top. It can also be seen in the photos that the car’s paint and brightwork require refreshing, which would add considerably to restoration expenses.

So what’s the right money on a car like this? Well that’s hard to say, but there’s probably some meat on the bone if you were able to get the car for around $9,000 and do some of the work yourself. Should you pay considerably more than that, that profit margin will erode quite quickly, especially given the troubled paintwork. But hey, we all love a good project anyhow, right?

See the Squire here on BringaTrailer.com.