Maserati raised eyebrows when it recently introduced the Levante, its very first SUV. But the idea of a high-end Italian off-roader is not new. A firm called LaForza—that’s Italian for “The Force”—offered a posh, rugged SUV to Americans during the late 1980s and early 1990s, though sales were low and it’s rarely seen today. If you want to one-up the Range Rover crowd, there’s a LaForza in need of minor work currently listed on eBay Motors.
LaForza isn’t a household name, so a brief history lesson is in order. The SUV started life as the Rayton-Fissore Magnum, a heavy-duty 4×4 that shared many mechanical components with an Iveco truck designed for the Italian army. LaForza asked Tom Tjaarda—a designer whose portfolio includes the DeTomaso Pantera—to make minor visual tweaks to it in order to pass it off as a premium model.
The truck received a new grille and a set of alloys, though it still undeniably looked like a utility vehicle. The story was different inside, where it was treated to soft leather upholstery, thick carpet, and real walnut trim on the dashboard and door panels. True to its Italian roots, it featured an instrument cluster made up of several round analog gauges.
Don’t assume that the LaForza used an Alfa Romeo- or Lancia-sourced engine. LaForza, knowing that its main market would be the United States, struck up a partnership with Ford and fitted the SUV with a 5.0-liter V8 engine. A supercharged version of the eight-cylinder was added to the lineup a little later in the production run.
Expensive and obscure, the LaForza was never a success, even in a market with a seemingly insatiable appetite for SUVs. It was pulled from the United States market after a few short years and brought back with an array of improvements. But the arrival of more modern luxury off-roaders like the Mercedes-Benz ML and the BMW X5 swiftly drove the final nail in its coffin.
Built during the first year of production, the example listed on eBay Motors is currently bid to a modest $1,200, though the reserve hasn’t been met yet. It’s registered in West Virginia, so the next owner can drive it right away and fix it up as time and money allows. The engine has been fully rebuilt, the brakes are new, and the exhaust has been replaced. In short, the big and relatively expensive issues have already been addressed. The remaining work is comparatively minor.
It may look like a Fiat Uno on steroids, but this LaForza will undoubtedly introduce some Italian pizzazz to a suburban roadway—and provide a fascinating story at your next local car show.
