by Mike –
Recently I wrote about this Iso Grifo targa conversion that will be for sale by RM at their Monaco auction.
I said,
There is no mention of who did the targa conversion but the way the title is written it could be interpreted as if Bertone did the targa conversion which seems highly unlikely to me.
I suggest that RM should not have used Bertone in the title.
A My Car Quest reader, Patrice Harlet, wrote in to let us know a little more about the history of this Grifo and who actually did the targa conversion.
Text and photos by Patrice Harlet
I first saw this Grifo in the 1980s at ACP in Courbevoie close to Paris.
The owner of the shop, Mr. Desmas, decided one day to cut the roof. He used an electric saw and did it. At that time, if I remember well the roof was made of transparent plastic like plexiglass, unfortunately I have no picture.
Later I had the opportunity in the late 1990s to drive the car. It belonged to a guy named Dutilleul; the car was red with white leather with Borrani wires wheels. It had a Ford engine with an Edelbrock air filter, a ZF 5-speed transmission and the roof was made of soft black plastic.
The car drove well but there was a noise in the gearbox and some vibrations because the body had not been reinforced as it should have been. Some years later the car was for sale in France, I believe that Alexander Oet bought it.
Below are some pictures I took at Dutilleul’s the day I drove the car.
Iso Grifo #381
Iso Grifo #381
I do not know where the picture below comes from, it may be in Alexander’s garage…
Iso Grifo #381
Electric saws don’t kill cars, people kill cars.
Bonjour,
Elle a déjà été sauvée de la CASSE vers1980 c’est déjà bien.
C’est celle du Garage ACP ex Claude D.
Voir Bizzarrini et Iso Grifo Ford BA devenue Targa Boite 5 ZF.
JF PINEAU
0608259199
Vous pouvez voir cette voiture sur FACEBOOK
Jean François PINEAU alias Facellio.
https://www.facebook.com/facellio
You can see the roof cut on Pineau’s link
Photo de l’ ISO Grifo prise chez ESPACE CENTURY le 1er à La Boule à NANTERRE 92000. FRANCE
I bought this car in Paris back then .
What I still remember is that I took it for a spin ( drove good ) but after we had a stop at the terras to have a drink . When we came back we had a flat tire , when jacking the car up we could not open the door anymore .
This happens by the way sometimes with 60 s American convertibles also …
After some time I traded it for a fully restored E type conv . The Grifo then went to Romania to a car collector who also ha a Mangusta and several others .
If they reinforced the chassis this looks now after restauration a very nice car with a beautiful color combo / buy .
It was a good driver before, 5 spd ,351 cleveland with chrome wires( no borani) and central locking which is quite unusual on a series 2 Grifo
If I not would have the original factory series 2 Targa ( sold new in Paris, ave Foch ) , I would definitely buy this back as a driver !
I do have pictures of before and will look them up ..
Greetings
Mvg. Alexander Oet
De cette Grifo Ford , j’ai vendu la BA il y a 6 mois , je l’avais gardé 25 ans.
Il me reste encore le jeu de 4 ou 5 roues d’origine de cette voiture . Campagnolo a batons.
JF PINEAU
The only Targa version ever made by Bertone was Grifo # 097, the one
wth the brushed stainless steel roof panels. All other Targa were converted
by Pavesi inclusive the sun roof versions ( tetto appribile).
Some weeks ago I got a call regarding this Grifo from someone named
Eugene, from the R&M headquarters in Toronto. He claimed he got my
name and phone number from the R&M representative in London.
We went through all the pictures (approx.16) one by one and I had to
name him all parts that were missing or incorrect.
It took us about an hour to get everything done, incl. the findings that the
body is not straight and the dimensions left and right side are not even.