1975 Iso Grifo. Photos by Jeff Koch.
First shown as a concept in Turin, Italy, in 1963, the Iso Grifo was the Italian automaker’s second attempt at a Bertone-styled grand tourer. Like the four-seat Rivolta IR 300 that preceded it, the two-seat Grifo, launched in 1965, relied upon a blend of Italian design and American V-8 power, and proved popular enough to remain in production until 1975. This year’s Concorso Italiano, scheduled for August 15 at the Black Horse Golf Course in Monterey, California, will pay tribute to the golden anniversary of the production Iso Grifo’s debut.
Iso’s heritage wasn’t in automobile production; instead, Renzo Rivolta’s company (then, Isothermos) focused its prewar efforts on refrigeration and heating. In the postwar years, it became Iso Automotoveicoli S.p.A., and turned to production of motor scooters and bubble cars (namely, the Isetta) to address the immediate demand for affordable transportation. Profits made from licensing the Isetta to BMW allowed Rivolta to realize his dream of producing a world-class grand touring car, though he was realistic about his firm’s engineering and production limitations.
For chassis engineering, Rivolta turned to former Ferrari engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, whose company, Società Autostar, also designed the V-12 engine used by Lamborghini (with ongoing enhancements) from 1963 until 2010. Bizzarrini penned a steel platform chassis used for both the Rivolta and, in shorter wheelbase form, the Grifo, but a disagreement between the two companies ultimately saw Bizzarrini produce its own Grifo-based sports car under the Bizzarrini banner.
Rivolta relied upon Bertone for the Grifo’s styling, and a young Giorgetto Giugiaro lent his hand to the design. While the Rivolta IR 300’s styling, also penned by Bertone, was somewhat polarizing, the Grifo’s design was both more aggressive and, perhaps a bit more mainstream. Up front, quad headlamps were originally contained within a split grille, and fenders omitted the prominent “eyebrows” found on the IR 300. A pronounced greenhouse (including an oversize rear window) gave better-than-average outward visibility, and the Grifo’s fastback design gave it a sportier appearance than its stablemate.
Power initially came from a Chevrolet Corvette-derived 327-cu.in. V-8, rated at 300 horsepower and mated to a synchromesh four-speed transmission. Later models would offer a 427-cu.in., 400-horsepower Chevrolet V-8 as an option, and in 1972, Iso switched to Ford as the supplier of its V-8 engines. The 351-cu.in. Cleveland V-8 was rated in the neighborhood of 325 horsepower, representing a small step up from the previous base Chevrolet engine. A Ford-equipped 1975 Iso Grifo, pictured here, was reviewed by Jeff Koch in the August 2013 edition of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.
Front-end styling evolved slightly with the introduction of the Series 2 in 1970, which featured pop-up headlamps in a lower nose and deleted the previous version’s split grille. The car retained its basic overall shape for the duration of its production run, which ultimately amounted to 413 cars over a 10-year period. Never intended as a mainstream model, the Grifo’s price point may have been its biggest limiting factor; at launch in 1965, it stickered for $14,986, at a time when a Ferrari 275 GTB could be had for $13,900 and a Corvette Stingray coupe sold for just $3,947. For a brand short on cachet, the Grifo’s pricing was certainly on the ambitious side.
To commemorate the Iso Grifo’s 50th anniversary, Piero Rivolta, Renzo Rivolta’s son and Iso’s last president, will be on hand at the 2015 Concorso Italiano. The very first Iso Grifo, the A3/L first shown in Turin in 1963, will also be on display, courtesy of the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California. All Iso Grifo owners are invited to participate in the gathering as well; for additional details, visit Concorso.com.