The story of the Intermeccanica Italia is an unlikely one, filled with misfortune and perseverance. To begin with, 'Italia' was the fourth incarnation—from no less than three different nameplates—in the production life of this machine, which despite numbering only 342 total units spanned nearly 8 years. Born in 1966 as the Griffith Series 600, just six examples of this steel-bodied 2-seater were produced before that marque went bankrupt. Several of the incomplete Griffith chassis' were shipped to Ford racing gurus Holman and Moody and the car reemerged as the Omega (using Ford mechanicals in place of the Griffith's Mopar guts).

The Omega phase lasted a very short time, during which time a total of 33 cars were sold, but when Omega production ceased, Intermeccanica founders Frank and Paula Reisner decided to move production of their creation in-house. After some subtle reworking of the front fascia (which more clearly aligned it with its Italian design heritage) and the addition of a convertible version, the car was reintroduced as the Intermeccanica Torino GFX. Power train supplier Ford owned the rights to the 'Torino' name, so the moniker was changed to 'Italia' after the first 28 units were produced.

All Torinos and the first eight Italias used Ford's 271hp 289ci V-8, but for 1968 the new Ford 302ci/250hp V-8 took its place. Midway through 1969 the Italia got another engine, this time stepping up to the Ford 351ci/325hp V-8. All versions were backed by a 4-speed manual gearbox.