Iso Rivolta GT, The Exclusive Italian-American Ferrari
The Italian manufacturer Iso is, as a rule, unknown. The few who are aware of its existence do so thanks to one of their most legendary sports cars, the Iso Grifo, which we already talked about previously at Buscouncoche.es . However, the firm came from a much more modest past.
After being founded in 1939 thanks to Renzo Rivolta, it was not until after World War II that the production of small motorcycles began. Over the years and the growth of the brand, in the 1950s they ventured with a small utility car.
This was the Iso Isetta, based on the well-known BMW Isetta, and it is that under the same platform various manufacturers sold their own Isetta under license. It only lasted two years on the market (until 1955), at which point the brand stopped its activity.
It was not until the 1962 Motor Show that Iso was heard again, which showed a tremendous evolution with respect to its first stage. The Italians would make the launch of their new product, the Iso Rivolta GT, in honor of the founder of the brand.
Unmistakable Italian style
It was a slim, high-performance Gran Turismo coupe in a 2 + 2 cabin configuration. From certain angles it can be mistaken for a Ferrari or Maserati of the time. This effect is due to the fact that Bertone, in charge of its design, also collaborated with the other two firms.
Thus, the Iso Rivolta GT looks purely Italian, as well as very proportionate. The glass surface is just enough and necessary, and there is no room for meaningless fine lines in a car whose 4,750 mm length looked equally athletic and stately demeanor.
The new car was the result of an ambitious project that tried to position Iso as an elite manufacturer, something like an Italian Jaguar, which it achieved to a lesser extent. With a market as demanding as the European one, they could not afford to create a beauty that was not as good on the inside.
Conditioned by the market to which it was aimed, the Iso Rivolta GT was presented with a spacious four-seater cabin lined entirely in leather and wood, with the steering wheel, pedals and button panel in aluminum. Despite the taste with which it was built, the press said that it was of poor quality for its price.
American strength twice
As would later be repeated with the Iso Grifo, the Iso Rivolta GT combined Italian and American engineering, specifically with Chevrolet origin engines. These would offer up to two different configurations, the same ones already available in the Chevrolet Corvette of the time.
They were known as Rivolta GT IR 300 and GT IR 340. As its name suggests, the former delivered 300 hp of power, while the most powerful offered 340 hp. This force was drawn from a 5.3-liter V8 block, capable enough to move the 1,750 kilograms that the car weighed.
Object of desire
It is curious how a car designed in the European style triumphs on the other side of the pond. In fact, it is estimated that more than half of the production went to the United States, production that stopped in 1970 after 797 units manufactured.
The few units assembled, coupled with the experiment of mounting a large American engine block on a slim Italian grand tourer, has made the Iso Rivolta GT an object of desire for collectors. Today, the few units that go up for auction reach six figures, when in 1963 it cost the equivalent of 9,000 euros.
