Solved - NEH 57: Volkswagen Italsuisse (1960) by Frua

[Carnut]

1 point for the Puzzler who can identify this car and who built it:

[aa]

nsu prinz 4

[Carnut]

nsu prinz 4

No relation, sorry.

[Carnut]

Up to the Experts then..

[75america]

1960 VW 1200 by Italsuisse, designed by Pietro Frua

[Carnut]

That's the car!

[João]

Sun Valley isn´t it?

[Carnut]

I've never seen it referred to by that name I must confess.
Are you sure that's not just the name of a dealer who sponsored the car on the stand or something?
It's only referred to as the Italsuisse wherever I have seen it, either on the Net (incl Stefan Dierkes's brilliant site) or in books (incl Alberto Fornai's 2004 book, although it doesn't even get a mention in Detlef Lichtenstein's "Pietro Frua und seine Autos"!)

[Djetset]

I have this as being sold under the model name of Sun Valley too.

[Carnut]

I have this as being sold under the model name of Sun Valley too.

I've just been checking through my books and can't find any reference to the name 'Sun Valley'.
Where did you see that?
You mean they SOLD some of these?!

[Djetset]

It's mentioned in a few books I have back home which I can dig out when I'm back there at the weekend and send over early next week.   Also, if you type 'Italsuisse VW Sun Valley' into a search engine, this car will appear on a number of websites instantly.   Happy surfing! 

[Carnut]

Found this on the net.  If you Google in 'Volkswagen Sun Valley' you get nothing but if you Google in 'Volkswagen Italsuisse' you get quite a lot.  I reckon Sun Valley was probably the name of the Porsche dealer in Florida...

QUOTE
The other interesting thing about his column is the Frua-bodied VW 1200 pictured at the top right. Known both as the Italsuisse Volkswagen and the Volkswagen Sun Valley, this coachbuilt special got a lot of attention when it was unveiled. There was even a plan to put it into limited production, and a Porsche dealer in Florida was ready to act as the distributor in the USA, but VW refused to supply the necessary chassis to Frua. It's understandable that VW wouldn't have been very enthusiastic about aiding the development of a car that would be in competition with the upcoming VW 1500, not to mention the fact that, although they were affiliated for a time in the late '50s, by 1960 Frua and Ghia were at odds. Frua's relationship with Ghia soured while they were working in collaboration on the designs of the Renault Floride/Caravelle and the Volvo P1800. Cutthroat politics behind the scenes in Turin. More information on the Italsuisse VW can be found on this site devoted to the work of Pietro Frua.



In the caption Glaser reports that "with VW coming out with a larger model, probably in 1961, there is speculation that the newcomer may be influenced by the styling of this body." What he didn't know is that the designs of both the VW 1500 sedan and VW 1500 Karmann-Ghia had already been finalized by late 1959 and were already in the prototype stage by 1960. Considering the close yet contentious relationship between Ghia and Frua in those years it's even possible that the VW 1500 Karmann-Ghia was an influence on Frua's design rather than the other way around.
UNQUOTE

[Allemano]

There's even a photograph with a VW Sun Valley plate in front of the car...

[Carnut]

There's even a photograph with a VW Sun Valley plate in front of the car...

Yes, it clearly was also known by that name, as it says in the blurb I've quoted above.
I think however that's the name that the Florida Porsche dealer would have marketed it under in the USA, as "Italsuisse" would have been a complete non-starter Over There!  So he might have used his own Dealer name and sold it as a special from his Dealership.

But I'm only guessing.  Anyone out there know the full story?  Stefan?!

[targhediferro]

Another picture of this fine car.

[DHoffmann]

And a colour period photo I just pulled up.

[grobmotorix]

A better version of the puzzle photo: