The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
By Wallace Wyss
We’re supposed to be hunkered down because of the plague. I get it.
But being a car guy, I can’t help (properly masked of course) going to Malibu at dawn each Sunday morning to see what’s at the informal cars ‘n coffee. And recently I was rewarded with the sight of a 1967 Bizzarrini GT5300 Strada so fresh from France it still has French plates (or are those vanity plates?)
The Iso Lele, the last of the line.
Photos by Alessandro Gerelli
Story by staff
Last week Alessandro Gerelli sent us these photos from a small but interesting group of Isos gathered at the old Bresso plant on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Iso Lele. Looking for additional information, I resorted to my copy of Winston Goodfellow’s book, ISORIVOLTA, The Men, the Machines,* published in 1995 by Giorgio Nada. It brought to mind the years that shook the world of the automobile as we knew it. The ten years of Iso cars, from 1963 to 1973, witnessed enormous changes in the industry, and the history of Iso is a chronicle of those times. [Read more…] about Iso Lele, 1969-1974
Iso Grifo A3C impressive at this year’s Iso meet in Bresso.
Story and photos by Alessandro Gerelli
At the very beginning of the EXPO 2015 that is held in Milan from May to October, the local fansorganized an Iso Rivolta meeting in Bresso, just inside the old, now neglected factory.
As already told in VeloceToday, (“Iso Rivolta Anniversary” of 2002 see archived story), there was a dream to build an Iso museum and other attractions, but the project was delayed due to the crisis that involved the whole Italy. [Read more…] about Iso Meeting in Bresso, Italy, 2015
Thirteen years have passed since our faithful Italian correspondent Alessandro Gerelli submitted this story about the 50th anniversary meeting of Iso enthusiasts at Bresso, Italy. And what has changed?
The prices!
Iso Rivolta GT at the 2002 meet.
October 11, 2002 Iso Rivolta Anniversary
Story and photos by Alessandro Gerelli
The Iso Rivolta company was born in 1939 in Bresso, a small town just bordering Milan in the north of Italy. Iso was characterized by an amazing variety of production during its life including refrigerators and water heaters, motorbikes, small city cars, sport cars, and other sundries; most of which were manufactured after the end of WWII. The founder, Renzo Rivolta, was as interesting as the product line. He even built the factory in the park of his villa! [Read more…] about Iso Rivolta Anniversary, 2002
Peter Whitehead hustles his four-seat racer through a turn. Photo by Racecarshot.com.
By Brian Winer
You would think, in a country like Italy, that once seeing Ferrari V12s or Maserati V8s in action, any Italians thinking of building high performance cars to compete with them would throw up their hands and say “It is useless to compete—you cannot improve upon perfection.”
And then there were guys like Renzo Rivolta who, after venturing from the refrigerator making business into cars with the tiny BMW Isetta in the fifties, decided to make a grand touring coupe.
Not using an Italian engine, of great complexity and cost, but an off the shelf Chevy V8 with an iron block, iron heads, overhead valves, low tech but high horsepower.
The result? A four seater coupe that can be out there on the same race course as a Ferrari or Maserati four-seater and blow their doors off. And if you live in the U.S. and blow a part, hey, you stop at Auto Zone or the nearest junkyard. Try that with your Ferrari or Maser.
The first Rivolta was shown in the Turin show in 1962. If you dig into its history you find that it actually was a phoenix arising out of the ashes of a British project called the Gordon Keeble.
After almost 20 years, the Iso Rivolta Grifo 90 is back again. Photographed in front of Villa Erba in Cernobbio during the Villa d’Este Concours, Mako Shark (an Italian Company dealing with high-tech manufacturing) presented the latest version of the Iso Grifo 90.
The Iso Rivolta company was born in 1939 in Bresso, a small town just bordering Milan in the north of Italy, and was characterized by an amazing variety of production during its life. They made refrigerators, water heaters, motorbikes, small city cars, sport cars, and other sundries, most of which were manufactured after the end of WWII. The founder, Renzo Rivolta, was as interesting as the product line. He even built the factory in the park of his villa!
[Read more…] about Iso Rivolta 90 Reborn Again