by Mike –
Searching my photo archives today I found a few photos that needed more explanation. For some I have an explanation but for others I do not.
Iso Rivolta GT
Above is an Iso Rivolta GT with a custom front. It has the hood and nose design usually found on an Iso Grifo. It looks good but it is not the way it left the factory.
Iso Grifo
Above we have an Iso Grifo with the hood design from an Iso Rivolta GT and the side scoops in front of the rear wheels from the Lamborghini Miura. One owner wants his Grifo to look like a Rivolta GT and the Rivolta GT owner want his car to look like a Grifo.
Cadillac
I suggest when one stores a classic car outside, as above, it is not a good idea to cover any part of the car with plywood and to hold it down with heavy spare parts. After 30 years or so this will certainly have an effect on the consistency and continuity of the patina.
This will not be good for the preservation class at Pebble Beach nor the future value of this classic as an “untouched original with a terrific patina” at an auction such as Gooding.
Iso A3/C and Mike Gulett
This is me above looking at an Iso A3/C with my Bizzarrini logo hat on. I should have put on my Iso logo hat for this photo.
Bugatti Veyron
A $2 million Bugatti Veyron broke down on the side of the road in the rain. What else is there to say?
Bizzarrini GT 5300 Strada – photo by Darren Frank
Above my Bizzarrini GT 5300 a few years before my ownership with the custom made air dam commissioned by Ken Phillips, the original owner, because “the front end lifted a little at 150 MPH”.
As you can see below I do not use the air dam mainly because I have not experienced this slight lifting described to me by Ken Phillips. I have the air damn hanging on my office wall, waiting just in case it is needed.
Bizzarrini GT 5300 Strada
Concours d’Elegance
Above is one photo from the worst Concours d’Elegance I have ever attended. You can see the vast empty space with no cars. What you can’t see is that this was a few hundred yards from the main show field which also had a vast amount of empty space.
There was plenty of room for all of the 150 cars to be in one easy to access location. To get to this location shown here we rode in chauffeured golf carts. This event was a one time only event.
Concorso Italiano
Above are two beautiful Bizzarrini GT 5300s with their hoods open. The photo would have looked much better if the owners would have kept the hoods down.
Strale Daytona (Iso)
This car above does not have a body – it was brought to The Quail in mid-restoration – without a body. Even so we all appreciated seeing this car.
I am sure I have more photos that need explaining. But this is all for now.
If you have a classic car that you want to sell you can sell it on My Car Quest – click here.
The GT with Grifo front and the Grifo with the GT hood are fabricated by Diomante Italy.
Thanks Simon – I wonder why he made such drastic changes to the original design?
The Bugatti on the side of the road takes the cake. Just goes to show that it takes more than a 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty to make a classic.
How would you like to be the tow truck driver? No pressure there.
Hallo Simon, hoe gaat het? Long time no talk. The GT was rebodied after a crash by (Pagaso’s) Pedro Serra. The Grifo with the Miura rockers is/was the (in)famous Ennezetta Grifo – the last one built before the bankruptcy with VIN 413. But it got “restored” and renumbered to VIN 223 by Diomante and got marketed like the 7L Prototype for a while. it was very well done, though.
Maurice – I thought No. 413 was built after Iso shut down.
Mike
The Iso “Daytona” at the 2012 Quail was not a restoration but a recreation being commissioned by the owner. Iso never made a “Daytona”. Car was identified as a Rivolta chassis at the show.
Piero was incensed! He tore off the xeroxed flyers attached to the car with pieces of painters tape, then he demanded to know who was building the car. A fellow seating behind the car said he was the builder. With a very red face he told the fellow no that He “Piero” was the builder, and that this was an outrage.The car was quietly removed from the field that morning. I was talking to Piero and Winston about the change from Chevy to Fords when Roberto came up and told his father about the car. Very embarrassing.
This is a re-print from Canepa Design for sale ad for the 1966 Iso “Daytona”.
Chassis No. IR 330039
This historically significant vintage racecar has recently undergone a complete mechanical and cosmetic restoration to the highest standards. It has been accepted to compete at the prestigious Monterey Historic Races where it was raced with distinction. It is equally at home on the racetrack, tour or concours. The car has current FIA and FIVA papers.
This Iso Rivolta is the one-off prototype Daytona commissioned by Carlo Bernasconi of Milan in 1965. It features similar specifications to the Iso Rivolta LeMans cars from 1964 which include Superleggera construction. The body was built on an Iso chassis by the famous Modena carrozzeria Neri e Bonaccini (Nembo).
Ray,
This car at The Quail is not Chassis No. 330039 is it Chassis number is 420587 (both Iso Rivolta chassis) – both cars likely made by Neri & Bonacini in the 1960s and branded Strale Daytona or NEMBO II. Somewhere along the line they were rebranded Iso Daytona which is not correct.
The Chassis 039 car was sold at the RM auction in 2010 in Monterey and labeled a 1965 Strale Daytona 6000GT Prototype (Iso Daytona).
Read all that is known about these cars at the three Posts at the links below:
Part 1 – https://mycarquest.com/?p=23385 – by Mike Gulett
Part 2 – https://mycarquest.com/?p=23493 – by Jack Koobs de Hartog
Part 3 – https://mycarquest.com/?p=23749 – by Jack Koobs de Hartog
I don’t remember the car leaving the field at The Quail and Roberto was not there.
Mike
Yes , I know the car is not 039, and the Quail 2012 catalog has no listing of 587. AS I noted it had printed flyers on the car listing it as a Rivolta chassis.
I have read about the “Daytona”, from numerous sources, From one off- prototypes to as many as 5 cars. None attributed to Iso, and 0039 being sold as a one off prototype. I think the point Roberto and Piero were making was, they were not built by Iso.
This is an ad for 587 in 2008
http://www.finecars.cc/en/detail/car/32742/index.html
This is the car you say is the mid restoration “587” at the Quail?
I guess I am just too confused.
Ray,
I agree it is confusing and all the answers are not known but many questions are answered by the 3 articles I posted.
Certainly these cars were not made by Iso. They are custom bodied cars built by Neri & Bonacini on an Iso Rivolta chassis. If you read the three articles I have posted you will see original photos from Road & Track in August 1966 calling these cars NEMBO II – a name used by Neri & Bonacini.
Yes, the link you posted is this No. 420587 that was at The Quail in 2012. It was at Canapa Design for sale in that link and bought by my friend Phil White who is having a complete restoration done.
It was not in The Quail catalog because, as I understand, it was not finished but the event organizers wanted the car to be shown anyway in the unfinished form.
I don’t recall any car being “quietly removed from the field that morning”. I was there all day with two cars on display.
Hey Mike. actually; it was already PARTLY built (including VIN designation) before the bankruptcy. Then Maurizio and Roberto saved and finished the car with the left over parts from the Iso factory. After that finish (with the black bumpers) it got sold to Diomante and he changed the car into what it is now.
Thanks Maurice – it is always great to learn something new.
Nembo in Italian means superman.
Recently we found out with the help of Lee Holman that the Nembo Bizzarrini was commissioned by Holman and Moody, however the car was not finished in time by Bizzarrini and it was cancelled by the owner, hence Holman and Moody canceled the build.
From this we learned that the car was assigned a chassis # by Bizzarrini / Autostar the Nembo chassis was numbered F/0219.
Holman and Moody supplied the Ford engine and transmission, but due to the cancellation Bizzarrini had to ship them back.
The Ford drivetrain had been installed into the NEMBO and Bizzarrini then knew that a Ford Big Block would fit into his car, he later built a similar car for LeMans
The Nembo Bizzarrini has never been seen since, still missing.