I know this is a BMW forum, but I thought you guys would appreciate this being sports car enthusiasts. Those of you who are familiar with Triumphs may remember these two extremely rare models: the Italia and the TRS LeMans.

The Italia (1959) was a daring concept for Triumph. It was a beautiful fixed roof 2 seat sports coupe (in the same spirit as the M Coupe) whose hand hammered body was made by by Michelotti, the famous Italian coachbuilder. The chasis and running gear was all TR3. It was not a kit, it was a legitimate factory official Triumph that was assembled at the Triumph plant in Coventry, England. The bodies were shipped from Italy to England to be mated to the chasis. Only 329 were ever built because it was just too expensive for a Triumph (it cost almost as much as an XKE). It is estimated that only 50 still exist. Since the coachwork is all hand hammered, if an Italia is damaged or rusted, the only option is to find one of the few authentic panel beaters in the world to fabricate panels for it. On a personal note, I had the rare opportunity to see one in person at the VTR Nationals about 10 years ago in Dallas. Two ladies had driven it from New England down to Dallas in the July heat for the VTR!

The TRS was Triumph's factory LeMans racer. They built 4 of them for LeMans. They raced in 1960 and 1961 and won the Lemans team prize in 1961. One of the four original TRS cars is in the US in the hands of Charles Runyan at the Roadster Factory in western Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, it was purchased sans engine. The original hand built Sabrina twin cam engines was so valuable to the that it was removed for use in other racing cars when the TRS cars were retired. The engines were probably destroyed years ago due to racing.

Now Revington in England is building the Italia and the TRS brand new to the lucky few that can afford them. Hand manufactured aluminum bodies made on wooden bucks that were created from the original car's panels. Check out the attached pics.

Now for the BMW tie in. Revington will allegedly fit engines into these based on the buyer's specifications (and budget!). Wouldn't it be the ultimate cool to order an Italia with an S54 engine (if it would fit)? Even an S52 would be amazing in it!

Now if I could only win the lottery....