by Mike –

The pinnacle of the Iso GT car is the beautiful Grifo. More and more car lovers have recognized the Iso Grifo in recent years as a great GT that compares very favorably to period GTs from Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and all other GT manufacturers. This helps explain a dramatic increase in the value of the Iso Grifo over the last few years, which has kept pace with, or exceeded, the market appreciation for collectable cars.

The combination of the vision of Renzo Rivolta, the engineering expertise of several key Iso employees like Pierluigi Raggi, the technical contributions of Giotto Bizzarrini (the engineer in charge of the development of the Ferrari 250 GTO) and the brilliant styling of Giorgetto Giugiaro of Bertone resulted in one of the most admired sports cars of the past fifty years. Nuccio Bertone also played a critical role in the creation of the Iso Grifo.

1972 Iso Grifo For Sale

Make: Iso
Model: Grifo
Year: 1972
Chassis number: #387
Exterior: Red (Ferrari Rosso Corsa)
Interior: Black Leather
Engine: Ford 351 Cleveland – original engine
Transmission: ZF 5-speed
Air-conditioning
ZF power steering
Configuration: RHD (can be converted back to LHD; the seller estimates this would cost approximately $40,000 USD)
Odometer: 56,000 km (35,000 miles)
Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Clear Western Australia title and full registration, all Australian taxes paid
Vehicle can be delivered to the port of Fremantle, Western Australia for international shipment (the approximate cost for shipping to the US West Coast, including import duties and other fees is $24,000 USD by air (boat would be less) – estimate supplied by Martin E. Button, Inc., Cosdel International Transportation)

This is an excellent opportunity to own a beautiful Iso Grifo at an attractive price.

History

Iso Grifo #387 is one of the last Grifos made and one of only thirty-four 5.8-litre Ford engine Iso Grifos. It is fitted with a 5-speed ZF gearbox, air-conditioning and ZF power steering.

Leaving the Iso production line on 12 September 1972 chassis number 387 was first registered in Italy on 28 June 1973 in the Province of Como to Mario Zappa where it resided on the edge of picturesque Lake Como in the town of Mandello Del Lario.

This Grifo was originally painted white with a blue velour interior. Service records indicate that #387 was owned until at least January 1975 by Mario Zappa. The car was painted red with the interior retrimmed in black and exported to the USA sometime between 1975 and 1982.

George Clark (a well-known member of the US Iso & Bizzarrini club) owned the car from 1982 until 1994 during which time it was kept in storage. The car was purchased in 1994 with 45,000 kms on the odometer, and exported to Australia, where it was subject to a light restoration and conversion to right hand drive, at this point an original Iso ZF power steering system was installed.

Being a later car, #387 benefitted from factory epoxy primer, combined with low usage and years of dry storage. As a result only minimal rust repairs were required during restoration. The restoration involved a bare metal repaint to Ferrari Rosso Corsa and a retrim of the interior in Black Connolly leather hides. The engine was disassembled and inspected, showing minimal wear no machining work was required. During the 21 years with the current owner the car has travelled 11,000 kms.

Current condition summary

Iso Grifo #387 is in very good driver condition, its body remains in original condition not having had to go through the ordeal of extensive rust repairs or panel replacement. Some improvements have been made to the car to suit the hot dry environment in Western Australia including uprated air-conditioning and engine cooling (alloy radiator with modern electric fans). This Grifo can happily sit in traffic on a 43° Celsius (109° Fahrenheit) Perth day and keep its occupants cool. The original York compressor, condenser, radiator, and fans are all available with the car.

The performance of the car has been improved through a quad down draft 48mm idf Weber set up on an alloy inlet manifold and alloy cylinder heads. Original Holley carburetor and heads are all available with the car. A stainless header and exhaust system have also been fitted to the vehicle.

No. 387 has benefitted from a full suspension rebushing, rebuilding of the Koni dampers, brake calipers, master cylinder and various other systems whilst remaining in use. The vehicle could benefit with a new front windscreen.

The car comes with the original left hand drive steering column and pedal assembly making the conversion back to LHD relatively easy. The Iso ZF power steering box can be remounted to the left hand side of the vehicle.

This Grifo is a well sorted car that is a pleasure to drive whilst being extremely fast and usable, even in modern traffic. It would not take a big investment to bring #387 up to concours standard. Alternatively #387 makes for a truly exotic grand tourer that still covers great distances at speed in complete comfort.

There is no evidence of accident damage, there are some minor dents on the sides as a result of other car doors bumping the car when parked and there is no rust.

Known ownership history

28 June 1973 – 1975 Mario Zappa Mandello Del Lario, Como Italy
1975 – 1982 Unknown
1982 – 29 November 1994 George Clark Cambria, Califorina USA
29 November 1994 – current Brian Mangano Perth, Australia

Featured by invitation to the celebration of the motorcar event Australia.

Restoration summary

• Body bare metal repaint – 1997
• Interior re-trimmed – 1997
• Instruments restored -1997
• Engine rebuild, new bearings, cam, lifters and timing chain – 1997
• Gearbox service (4th gear synchromesh needs care when cold)- 2000
• Differential serviced – 2004
• Suspension fully rebuilt – 2004
• Brake system fully rebuilt – 2008
• Cooling system upgraded – 2012
• Air-conditioning system upgraded to R34a – 2012
• CHI alloy heads – 2013
• Original Holley Carburetor rebuilt – Sept 2015