IKA Torino Sedan

1970 IKA Torino 380S

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Birmingham, U.K. | November 15-16, 2013

1970 IKA Torino 380S

It’s not often you see Argentinian cars come up for sale. Most people probably don’t even realize there are cars native to Argentina. Here’s the brief history of IKA: in the early-1950s, some Argentinians met with U.S. automakers, hoping to lure some production to South America. The only manufacturer to take the bait was Kaiser and they created a wholly-owned subsidiary known as Industrias Kaiser Argentina (IKA).

They built mainly Willys and Jeep products in the early days before becoming a joint venture with Renault in 1959. In 1962, they formed another joint venture – this time with AMC and they built Rambler-based cars, such as this Torino. 1975 was the end of the road for IKA, when it was absorbed entirely into Renault.

The Torino was introduced in 1966 and built as an IKA model through 1977 (and as a Renault-badged vehicle from 1978 through 1982). This is a very famous car in Argentina. Why? Because in 1969, IKA sent three cars to the 84 race at the Nürburgring. The team’s manager was none other than Juan Manuel Fangio himself – the most famous Argentine racing driver of all time. One of the Torinos finished first but was not awarded the win due to penalties. It was a big deal in Argentina.

This particular car was Fangio’s personal ride. It’s all original and is being sold by his family. The engine is a 3.8-liter straight-six making 215 horsepower. There is no pre-sale estimate available, but you can read more here and check out the rest of Silverstone’s auction lineup here.

Update: Sold $45,644.

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